Steve, thanks for the detailed explanation, it makes sense that backlash is not important since the gears are always in contact by moving in only one direction.
Wow! Wish I knew about gearotic. I ended up writing a gear generator in onshape - mine uses “profile shift coefficient” rather than the tooth width % to set backlash and clearance… I wonder what the difference is.
There are many different gear profile generators. Some are free or have a nominal fee. I think the profile shift coefficient changes the addendum and dedendum ratios. Gearotic appears to call it pitch shift. Tooth width is a separate parameter.
The divets in the central hole wont negatively mpact centering accuracy. In fact they can improve it. When you use bigger divets you can create.an undersied hole that can stretch to create a very good friction fit. Look up some compliant mechanism designs.
Any modern 3D printer is fully capable of printing the gears. My recommendation is to select one of the more popular printers so it will be easy to find support. Ender 3, Bambu Lab, or Prusa are all great choices.
Steve, thanks for the detailed explanation, it makes sense that backlash is not important since the gears are always in contact by moving in only one direction.
Thanks for the information on gear printing
Thank you this is really great
Thanks
Wow! Wish I knew about gearotic. I ended up writing a gear generator in onshape - mine uses “profile shift coefficient” rather than the tooth width % to set backlash and clearance… I wonder what the difference is.
There are many different gear profile generators. Some are free or have a nominal fee.
I think the profile shift coefficient changes the addendum and dedendum ratios. Gearotic appears to call it pitch shift. Tooth width is a separate parameter.
Great ideas. For the few remaining little blobs, you can remove the "Z hop" in PrusaSlicer by setting "Lift Z" to 0 under printer settings.
Good point. I was showing ways to change the design to reduce as many retractions as possible and didn't mention any software solutions.
These shapes are hilarious and I love it!
The divets in the central hole wont negatively mpact centering accuracy.
In fact they can improve it.
When you use bigger divets you can create.an undersied hole that can stretch to create a very good friction fit. Look up some compliant mechanism designs.
I will keep that in mind for tight holes. I let the gears spin on the arbor, so they need to be a loose fit.
What medium do you use for the printing?
thanks,
Sam
Everything is 3D printed using PLA, which is one of the easiest materials to print.
What brand would recommend?
Any modern 3D printer is fully capable of printing the gears. My recommendation is to select one of the more popular printers so it will be easy to find support. Ender 3, Bambu Lab, or Prusa are all great choices.