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Grinding my gears. [Cutting a Wooden Gear]
MayGodHaveMercy
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I'm moving into a new house this weekend, and had a little project in mind. I want to make several spoked gears that interlock and spin. Like some sort of modern art disasterpiece. It won't really match the style I have in mind for home decor, except in finish, but I don't care much.
Anyhow, I'm looking for tips and advice on wood choices, the best tools to use (Jigsaw, I imagine), and perhaps any other tips from anyone with (or without) woodworking experience.
The plan, as it stands, is to start with a 18-24" Diameter tri-spoke, 25-tooth gear, and sort of expand from there. I intend to drill out a 22mm hole through the center in order to (hopefully) squeeze a (skateboard/rollerblade) ball bearing in there for maximum smoothocity. Here's the basic design:
So far I've managed to find only one quick and dirty tutorial online. I also found a handy little Gear Template to help with the layout (as seen above). Obviously, this is going to require some semblance of precision when I get to the cutting board, and any tips you can provide would be most welcome.
Anyhow, I'm looking for tips and advice on wood choices, the best tools to use (Jigsaw, I imagine), and perhaps any other tips from anyone with (or without) woodworking experience.
The plan, as it stands, is to start with a 18-24" Diameter tri-spoke, 25-tooth gear, and sort of expand from there. I intend to drill out a 22mm hole through the center in order to (hopefully) squeeze a (skateboard/rollerblade) ball bearing in there for maximum smoothocity. Here's the basic design:
So far I've managed to find only one quick and dirty tutorial online. I also found a handy little Gear Template to help with the layout (as seen above). Obviously, this is going to require some semblance of precision when I get to the cutting board, and any tips you can provide would be most welcome.
XBL: Mercy XXVI - Steam: Mercy_XXVI - PSN: Mercy XXVI
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I am debating if if I would cut the center hole and then work from there(That is the way I am leaning) or do all the tooth work and then find center.
For your center hole don't be tied to a skateboard wheel bearing. There are lots of bearings out there for cheap(A bike shop has access to a bunch of different sizes) so you might want to look for a size that is easy to find a hole saw to fit. A waxed wood bushing might work pretty good to.
Oh, I was just thinking I'd use a skateboard bearing, since I have some laying around my garage. But I probably don't have a 22mm hole saw, so that's something to consider. Any suggestions on what type of wood to use?
This is how'd i'd do it:
Okay, using a jigsaw is gonna suck, cause it's not a very precise tool. It'd be fine to a big circle out but cutting the teeth or anything like that might be a pain in the ass. Well, it's 18-24 inches, so it might be okay. I'd cut with the jigsaw far outside the line then use a coping saw to cut on the lines. Can you find a place with a band saw or scroll saw? That make things a lot simpler. Remember, it's a lot easier to cut off than add on.
To cut inside, drill a hole for the jigsaw blade/scroll saw/coping saw to go into and then cut the spokes out.
Sanding is your friend. I'd sand the faces first, cut everything out, then sand all cut surfaces to fit.
I agree with drilling the hole first. If everything else is cut out, it might be hard to hold the gear without breaking something.
For sure, clamp the wood down to the table while you work. Use a piece of scrap wood or something so you don't bruise or damage your wood due to clamp pressure. Also, since/if you're going to be using a jigsaw, everything is gonna be vibrating up and down.
I have no idea what type of wood to use. I mean, it almost doesn't matter. I see this guy used plywood, that might be the best thing. It's pretty much flat and easy to work with. How thick do you want your gears to be? I could see using maybe some exotic colored wood, purple heart or padauk. oh, walnut/ maple combination would be cool.
The bearing could be simple wood bushing or something. The wax is a good idea. You can also use grease on the wood too. A bronze/steel setup might work also.
Relevant, but probably not helpful in this case.
@b0b: I'm not sure if I'll be powering it at all, to be honest. It's mostly just for aesthetics, though I do want it to be functional. I may add a hand crank or something. The plan, at some point, is to have a sort of "gear network" around at least a couple of corners of the room. Regarding the teeth of the gear, they will be rather large, so I won't need laser precision while cutting, as long as I can be close to the lines. I will probably get as close as I feel comfortable with, and sand away the extra by hand. I may have access to a band saw, but I'm not 100% sure on that. Scroll saw? I don't think so.
@fuelish: You make a good point regarding the grain (lack thereof?) of plywood. I will probably go with a high-grade plywood.
MDF might be even better. It's very easy to work with and you could veneer it with some really funky wood.
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I'm hoping I can paint/stain whatever material I end up using. In the end, it needs to be "Mocha Cherry" to match the rest of my little world. Also, I think the best thing for me to do is to use a Jigsaw to get within spitting distance of my final cut, and hand cut the rest, since I don't have easy acess to the rest of these awesome saws you guys have mentioned. y/n?
Yes. A jigsaw isn't nearly precise enough to do this in one cut, but would be fine for a rough cut and then use chisels, rasps and/or sandpaper to get to your final dimensions.
I would also recommend a high grade plywood. The better stuff is meant for things like cabinets and won't have any voids in the layers and will have a nice hardwood veneer. A piece of solid wood would be impossible to find in the size you're looking for, so you would have to glue up probably 3 or 4 pieces. To do that right is going to require tools you probably don't have, and in the end is going to be more like to warp or crack. MDF would be an option if you're going to paint. I don't think it stains well, but it takes paint very nicely.
It might be a little pricey, but if you go to a real lumber yard (not HD or Lowes), you may be able to find some cherry plywood. As you can see here there is a pretty big price range depending on the quality of the ply.
When you are ready to stain, be sure to test it out on some scrap first. Different woods take stains differently, and some may need a stain pretreament to get a uniform finish.
Unless you are having this machine-cut, stay away from MDF. MDF is nasty to work with in general. It puts of nasty dust. Worse than any other wood I've worked with. It has a tendency to split along the grain of the laminated fiber. Cutting it with a coping saw, as well, will be a pain.
It is extremely strong and durable however, and will rarely warp unless exposed to lots of moisture. So...I would just suggest finding a nicer material to work with. You can laminate almost any kind of wood as long as the surfaces can hold an adhesive.
For detailed work like this the machine you really want is a Scroll Saw. With something this small a bandsaw (unless it is mounted with a very small/thin blade) will have trouble cutting that inside edge of the gear. Large blades simple can't turn very quickly.
Since you don't have access to a Scroll Saw, how about a Coping Saw?
Same thing as a scroll saw, just the hand tool version. With a small blade you'll be able to make the cuts you need fairly easily.
Of course, the visible cut edge is usually considered unsightly, I think it could actually be attractive in this case seeing as you're not trying to pass it off as high end furniture. Very utilitarian.
If I were doing this, I would jig the big circle, use a drill at the inside corner of each gear(to make it easier to turn a coping saw), then cut each tooth out with a coping saw, and finally finsish with a rasp and sandpaper.
I was even going to do a "tester" and shoot some pictures, to show what I am talking about, but I had to work late and just got home. I might get a chance tomorrow.
I doubt you can get the profile very good on all of the teeth and its going to make for one noisy inefficient gear if there are 20 different profiles on each tooth mating.
Just cut them straight, and you can do a much better job getting uniform teeth. just my 2 cents
edit: oh, its for show and may not be powered, well go for the crowned teeth if its necessary for the aesthetics.
First you want to mark it out and then drill inside your corners to give room to turn the coping saw.
Now you make the cut along the marked line. Ideally you would cut inside the line(Which I did not) so you had a little room to make corrections when you finish.
Use a wood rasp to do the rest of the wood removal. Then finish with sandpaper.
You can round the inside corner with a rat tail file.
Sand it out and stain and you are done. This one cut took about five minutes including getting all the stuff out. Take your time on the layout and cutting and it should come out great. You might also want to practice on some scrap if you have never used a coping saw.