Slewing drives function with standard worm technology, in which the worm on the horizontal shaft acts as the driver for the gear. The rotation of the horizontal screw turns a gear about an axis perpendicular to the screw axis. This combination reduces the speed of the driven member and also multiplies its torque; increasing it proportionally as the speed decreases. The speed ratio of shafts depends upon the relation of the number of threads on the worm to the number of teeth in the worm wheel or gear.

As technology has improved, more slewing drives are using hourglass worm technology, in which the worm is shaped to engage more teeth in the gear.This increased tooth engagement results in greater strength, efficiency and durability.

Because of their multiple uses, slewing drives come in a variety of model sizes, performance ranges and mounting characteristics. The drives are well suited for applications that require both load holding and rotational torque from the same gear box. They can also be made with dual axes of rotation, (turning axes at the same time) or with dual drives on the same axis, (two worm threads driving the same ring gear in one axis).