This page is an attempt at listing the most useful and common mechanisms that are within our means to build in class.
Gears Resources
- Making Pinwheels
- Gear Generator
- Gear Generator (free version)
- Gear Generator (advanced version): ask me for access
- My Gear Making and Gear Spacing Tutorial
- How-To
- More How-To
- Features
- Meshing Gears @ 90 degrees:
- Imagining a box created by the interior surfaces of the gears …
- A very loose fit can be achieved by spacing the center of each gear’s shaft from the corner of the box by a distance equal to the Pitch Diameter of the gear.
- A better fit can be achieved by spacing one gear (as described above), while aligning the Tooth Root of the 2nd gear with the same edge. If using the “Gear Template Generator”, this can be achieved through the following equation: (Pitch Diameter) = 2*[ (Distance from center of gear shaft to edge of box) + (Tooth Spacing)*(1.25) ]
- Making Boxes
- Box Maker Program
- Choose “advanced options” to modify cut width.
- For material 0.12″ thick, a cut width of .008 makes an extremely tight fit.
Great Resources
- An amazing collection of animated mechanisms, by Nguyen Duc Thang: https://drive.google.com/a/hightechhigh.org/file/d/0B-ptsBCDJBomOTFTM2w2WnBGTGs/view?usp=sharing
- David Rector’s Linkage simulation Program: http://blog.rectorsquid.com/download-linkage/
- Force Effect Motion: Available on iPhone & Android Devices, as well as online: https://forceeffect.autodesk.com/frontend/fe.html
- 507 Mechanical Movements, recently put online!
- A few examples of ratchets.
The Geneva Wheel
Also known as: (also known as “Geneva Drive” or “Geneva Stop”)
What it does: It turns constant rotating motion into move-pause-move-pause.
Formal Description: click here
How to design:
- Video: click here
- Photos: (below)
- Alternate Versions