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Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Author: Ed

Mini-lathe Metric Threading: Stackable Change Gear Generator

Although OpenSCAD’s MCAD library includes a gear generator, I don’t profess to understand the relations between reality and its myriad parameters, plus I vaguely recall it has a peculiar definition for Diametral Pitch (or some such). Rather than fiddle with all that, I start with an SVG outline from Inkscape’s Gears extension and go all 3D on it.

So, the “gear blank” looks like this after extruding the SVG:

Mini-lathe change gear - 42 tooth - SVG import — Mini-lathe change gear – 42 tooth – SVG import

Producing this is a lot easier in OpenSCAD than in real life:

Mini-lathe change gear - 42 tooth - solid model — Mini-lathe change gear – 42 tooth – solid model

OpenSCAD centers the blank’s bounding box at XY=0, which won’t be exactly on the bore centerline for gears with an odd number of teeth. One tooth sits at 0° and two teeth bracket 180°, so the bounding box will be a little short on one side

A reference for gear nomenclature & calculations will come in handy.

For a 21 tooth module 1 gear, which should be pretty close to the worst case in terms of offset:

Pitch dia = d = 21 × 1 = 21 mm
Tip dia = da = d + 2m = 23 mm
Tip radius = da/2 = 11.5 mm
Tooth-to-tooth angle = 360/21 = 17.143°
Radius to tangent across adjacent teeth = 11.5 × cos 17.143°/2 = 11.372 mm

An actual metal 21 tooth gear measures 22.87 mm across a diameter, dead on what those numbers predict: 11.5 + 11.372 = 22.872 mm.

So the bounding box will be 11.5 mm toward the tooth at 0° and 11.372 mm toward the gap at 180°. The offset will be half that, with the tooth at 0° sitting 0.063 mm too close to the origin. Gears with more teeth will have smaller errors.

Given that we’re dealing with a gear “machined” from plastic goo, that’s definitely close enough:

Mini-Lathe change gears - 1 mm - 45-50-45-60 — Mini-Lathe change gears – 1 mm – 45-50-45-60

That’s an earlier version with the debossed legend.

The code can also generate stacked gears for the BC shaft in the middle:

Mini-lathe change gear - 42-55 tooth stacked - solid model — Mini-lathe change gear – 42-55 tooth stacked – solid model

In principle, the key locking the gears together isn’t needed and the bore could fit the inner shaft, rather than the keyed bushing, but then you’d (well, I’d) be at risk of losing the bushing + key in one easy operation.

So it’s better to go with the bushing:

Mini-Lathe change gears - stacked 50-42 - installed — Mini-Lathe change gears – stacked 50-42 – installed

Now, to cut some threads!

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// LMS Mini-Lathe
	// Change gears with stacking
	// Generate SVG outlines with Inkscape's Gear extension
	// Ed Nisley – KE4ZNU
	// 2020-05

	/* [Gears] */

	TopGear = 0; // zero for single gear
	BottomGear = 42;

	/* [Hidden] */

	ThreadThick = 0.25;
	ThreadWidth = 0.40;

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly

	Dir = ""; // empty string for current directory

	/* [Dimensions] */

	ShaftOD = 12.0;
	ShaftSides = 4*3;

	GearThick = 7.75;

	Keyway = [3.5 + HoleWindage,3.0 + HoleWindage,3*GearThick]; // x on radius, y on perim, z on axis

	LegendThick = 2*ThreadThick;
	LegendZ = (TopGear ? 2*GearThick : GearThick) – LegendThick;

	LegendRecess = [10,7,LegendThick];

	LegendEnable = (TopGear == 0 && BottomGear > 41) \|\| (TopGear > 41);


	//———————-
	// Useful routines

	// Enlarge holes to prevent geometric shrinkage
	// based on nophead's polyholes
	// http://hydraraptor.blogspot.com/2011/02/polyholes.html
	// http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6118

	module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) {

	Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);

	FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);

	cylinder(r=(FixDia + HoleWindage)/2,
	h=Height,
	$fn=Sides);
	}

	//———————–
	// Build it!

	union() {

	difference() {

	union() {
	linear_extrude(GearThick,center=false,convexity=5)
	import(file=str(Dir,"Change Gear – ",BottomGear," teeth.svg"),
	center=true);

	if (TopGear)
	translate([0,0,GearThick])
	linear_extrude(GearThick,center=false,convexity=5)
	import(file=str(Dir,"Change Gear – ",TopGear," teeth.svg"),
	center=true);
	}

	rotate(180/ShaftSides)
	translate([0,0,-Protrusion])
	PolyCyl(ShaftOD,3*GearThick);

	translate([ShaftOD/2,0,Keyway.z/2 – Protrusion])
	cube(Keyway,center=true);

	if (LegendEnable) {
	translate([0,1.1*ShaftOD,LegendZ + LegendRecess.z/2])
	cube(LegendRecess + [0,0,Protrusion],center=true);

	if (TopGear) {
	translate([0,-1.1*ShaftOD,LegendZ + LegendRecess.z/2])
	cube(LegendRecess + [0,0,Protrusion],center=true);
	}
	}

	}

	if (LegendEnable)
	translate([0,0,LegendZ – Protrusion])
	linear_extrude(height=LegendThick + Protrusion,convexity=10) {
	translate([-02.5,1.1ShaftOD])
	rotate(-0*90)
	text(text=str(BottomGear),size=5,font="Arial:style:Bold",halign="center",valign="center");
	if (TopGear)
	translate([-02.5,-1.1ShaftOD])
	rotate(-0*90)
	text(text=str(TopGear),size=5,font="Arial:style:Bold",halign="center",valign="center");
	}

	}

view raw Mini-lathe stacked change gears.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

2020-05-18

Pride Lift Chair: Fuzzy Felt Feet

By the Universal Principle of the Conservation of Perversity, the base of the floor lamp just barely doesn’t fit under the edge of the Comfy Chair:

Floor Lamp - copper 70° elbow - installed — Floor Lamp – copper 70° elbow – installed

Well, I can fix that!

Lift Chair Foot - installed — Lift Chair Foot – installed

The feet descend from the fuzzy felt feet on the plant shelves, with the hex head socket transmogrified into a circle to match the chair feet. The support structure grew a flat plate to ensure it doesn’t pull loose from the platform:

Lift Chair Feet - solid model - support view — Lift Chair Feet – solid model – support view

Print ’em out, stick the felt in place:

Lift Chair Feet - assembly — Lift Chair Feet – assembly

Lift the chair (maybe with a small prybar atop some plywood to protect the floor), position the feet, lower gently: done!

While the M2 was warm, I ran off another set for the other Comfy Chair, just for symmetry.

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Feet for Pride lift chair
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU 2020-05

	Layout = "Build"; // [Show, Build]

	Support = true;

	//- Extrusion parameters must match reality!
	// Print with 2 shells and 3 solid layers

	/* [Hidden] */

	ThreadThick = 0.25;
	ThreadWidth = 0.40;

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly

	inch = 25.4;

	//———————-
	// Dimensions

	/* [Dimensions] */

	ChairFootOD = 33.0;
	ChairFootRecess = 5.0;

	FeltOD = 39.0;
	FeltRecess = 2.5;

	FootPlate = 6*ThreadThick;
	FootWall = 4*ThreadWidth;

	FootOD = 2*FootWall + max(ChairFootOD,FeltOD);
	echo(str("Foot OD: ",FootOD));

	FootTall = ChairFootRecess + FootPlate + FeltRecess;
	echo(str(" … height: "),FootTall);

	NumSides = 9*4;


	//———————-
	// Useful routines

	module FootPad() {

	difference() {

	cylinder(r=FootOD/2,h=FootTall,$fn=NumSides);

	translate([0,0,FeltRecess + FootPlate])
	cylinder(d=ChairFootOD,h=2*ChairFootRecess,$fn=NumSides);

	translate([0,0,-Protrusion])
	cylinder(d=FeltOD,h=(FeltRecess + Protrusion),$fn=NumSides);

	}
	}


	//——————-
	// Build it…


	if (Layout == "Show")
	FootPad();

	if (Layout == "Build") {
	translate([0,0,FootTall])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	FootPad();
	if (Support)
	color("Yellow") {
	for (Seg=[0:5])
	rotate(30 + 360*Seg/6)
	translate([0,0,(ChairFootRecess – ThreadThick)/2])
	cube([(ChairFootOD – 3*ThreadWidth),
	2*ThreadWidth,
	(ChairFootRecess – ThreadThick)],
	center=true);
	rotate(180/6)
	cylinder(d=0.5*ChairFootOD,h=ThreadThick,$fn=6);
	}
	}

view raw Lift Chair Feet.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

2020-05-17

Snakeskin

A shed snakeskin appeared when I opened the garage door:

Snakeskin – overview

The skin sits atop the retaining wall next to the door, on a stone(-like) background with poor contrast: even an empty snake has good camouflage!

The exterior looks like genuine snakeskin:

Snakeskin – exterior

I didn’t know the interior has an entirely different pattern:

Snakeskin – interior

As far as I can tell, the snake was going about its business elsewhere in the yard.

To be fair, there’s some luck involved.

Update: After Mitch nudged me, I found the (somewhat the worse for wear) snakeskin again. The head end was split, much as I described, but the tail end was intact (the snake having pulled out like a finger from a glove) and what I though was the inside of the top was the outside of the bottom, just pushed inward to form a very thin double layer.

Today I Learned … to always look closer!

2020-05-16
Monthly Image: Wappinger Dam Gears

A walk around Wappinger Lake brought me to the old penstock controls:

Wappinger Dam – old penstock gearing – E view

Still meshed after all these years:

Wappinger Dam – old penstock gearing – SE view

The “new” penstock intake control, a pair of utterly practical and totally non-photogenic screw drives, sits just to the left of these relics.

A night view of the penstock from some years ago:

Wappingers Falls Bridge – Pixel XL HDR – 2017-09-22

It still carries water to the recently refurbished power plant downstream on the right.

Those gears will remain meshed after everything else rots away …

2020-05-15
Mini-Lathe Metric Threading: 42 Tooth Gear
Going from a 21 tooth gear to a 42 tooth gear means you must reduce the remaining train ratio by a factor of two for a given thread pitch. Here’s a 42-50-45-60 train, with the same -125 ppm error as the 21-50-60-40 train and no screw / washer clearance issues between the A screw and the C gear:

Mini-Lathe change gears – 1 mm – 45-50-45-60

The original 60-40 CD pair has a 3:2 ratio, the 45-60 CD pair is 3:4, so that’s where the factor-of-two reduction happens.

The first pass at the solid model included a debossed legend:

Mini-lathe 42 tooth change gear – Slic3r

With a printed gear in hand, I realized the legend must be embossed below the surface, so as not to rub against an adjacent gear; better modeling is in order.

The general idea is to set Inkscape’s (known-good) gear generator to the correct gear parameters (module 1 → 3.14 mm circular pitch, 20° pressure angle):

Inkscape Gear Generator dialog

Save the outline as an SVG:

Inkscape Gear Generator result

If you do like I did and neatly position the gear at the bottom-left origin, all SVG viewers will show only the Quadrant I arc, probably because Inkscape sets the SVG file to display it that way. I’ve made that mistake before and maybe, someday, I’ll remember.

Load the SVG into OpenSCAD, which will find the entire gear, no matter where it falls in the coordinate space, and spike it at the origin:
```
linear_extrude(8.0,center=false,convexity=5) 
 import(file="/the-source-directory/Mini-Lathe/Change Gear - 42 teeth.svg",center=true);
```
The linear_extrude( … center=false … ) keeps the bottom of the blank at Z=0. The import( … center=true … ) puts the 2D shape at the XY origin. Because OpenSCAD centers the bounding box, gears with an odd number of teeth will be ever so slightly off-center, which would matter a whole lot more in a fancier machine tool than a mini-lathe.

All of which produces a tidy 3D gear blank:

Mini-lathe change gear – 42 tooth – SVG import

OpenSCAD ignores SVG holes, which isn’t a problem for me, because I’d rather punch the bore, keyway, and so forth programatically.

But that’s another story …
2020-05-14
Mini-Lathe Metric Threading: 32 Tooth Gear

While not strictly necessary for metric threading on a USA-ian mini-lathe, a 32 tooth gear can produce reasonable approximations, so I printed a pair from a Thingiverse collection:

Mini-lathe 32 tooth change gear – Slic3r

The model was designed for a slightly different mini-lathe, as it includes a short boss and thinner plate, but it did fit on the shaft:

Mini-Lathe change gears – 1 mm – bad 32 60 65 55

The gear mesh seemed odd, though, and comparing it with a standard 30 tooth gear and a different printed 32 tooth gear (about which, more later) showed it was definitely not compatible:

Mini-lathe change gears – 32 30 odd 32

Yes, the 32 tooth Thingiverse gear on the right is slightly smaller than the stock 30 tooth gear in the middle.

The larger 32 tooth gear (on the left, above) meshes better:

Mini-Lathe change gears – 1 mm – 65 55 32 60

Both of those trains have a 600 ppm error, so they’re definitely suboptimal compared to the results with a 21 tooth gear in the train.

The real reason you need a 32 tooth gear is for exact 25, 50, and 100 TPI threads with a 1/16 inch leadscrew. I don’t foresee much need for those around here, but you can never have too many change gears …

2020-05-13
Mini-Lathe Metric Threading: 21 Tooth Gear

Mini-lathes sold everywhere except the USA have hard-metric leadscrews with a 1.5 mm pitch, so they can cut metric threads without any trouble at all. USA-ian mini-lathes have hard inch leadscrews with a 1/16 inch pitch and require gymnastics to cut decent metric threads.

For inch threads:

Mini-lathe – inch thread equation

For metric threads, it’s upside-down and converted:

Mini-lathe – metric thread equation

Including a 21 tooth change gear at A or C in the train will get closer to metric threads, but the stud holding the B-C gears on my lathe imposes a minimum B gear size. Here’s a 1 mm thread with a 21-30-45-50 train:

Mini-Lathe change gears – 1 mm – 21 vs 30 tooth – AB

Oops.

You can interchange the AB and CD gear pairs, but the CD pair also has a minimum spacing:

Mini-Lathe change gears – 1 mm – 21 vs 30 tooth – CD

If it worked, the 1 mm thread would be off by -125 ppm, which is surely close enough.

Without the 21 tooth gear, the LittleMachineShop gear calculator produces a 45-55-50-65 train that fits much better, albeit with +875 ppm thread error:

Mini-Lathe change gears – 1 mm – 45 55 50 65

Dropping the 21 tooth gear into the LMS calculator produces a (barely) workable 21-50-60-40 train with -125 ppm error:

Mini-Lathe change gears – 1 mm – 21 50 60 40

The very very snug fit of the screw (omitted here) on the 21 tooth gear nearly hits the 60 tooth gear. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Various sources suggest the gears are module 1, 20° pressure angle, 12 mm bore, and 8 mm thick (mine measure a scant 7.75 mm), with a 3 × 1.4 mm keyway (the key itself is 3 mm square, but it’s half-buried in the shaft).

2020-05-12