I love the ability of 3D printing to print moving parts and 'trapped' parts within 1 print provided the 0.5mm gap between separate parts (in WSF) and I have been experimenting with this ability in many of my designs and this latest design I designed to really test the limits of this ability to 3D print moving parts in 1 print.
It was an ambitious idea to have 28 gears all turning from manually turning just one of the gears but it works!!!
First the description copied from
the product page:
'
Here is a design for all you steampunk fanatics and fans of all things mechanical!!!
The
'Geared Cube' is a steampunk themed desk toy consisting of a cube with 28 gears, all of which rotate in a mesmorising pattern by just rotating one of the gears (although rotating two is easier and produces a smoother motion). In the middle of the cube is a tray that can be used to hold paperclips and other small things. This object is 3D printed as one piece, already fully assembled when it leaves the 3D printer!
The design also comes with a stand so it can stand up on a desk and a lockable lid which is placed on the top of the cube and is locked and unlocked by rotating the gears (the lid locks at the centers of all 4 sides below the gears in the lid). Interchangeable mechanical add-ons may be designed in the future that can be put in place of this lid and driven by the rest of the cogs.
How it works...
This design consists of a cube with 28 gears, on each of 4 sides of the cube are 7 gears: 2 large outer ones that move in opposite directions, the outermost gear has handles on it so it can be easily rotated, the motion between the 2 large cogs is reversed due to 5 smaller gears set within the cube in a similar layout to a planetary gearbox to reverse the gear's direction on each of these 4 faces. Each of these sets of gears on the 4 faces are all liked through the big gear on each of the 4 faces meshing at 90 degrees with the big gear on each of the 2 neighboring sides. This means that if any one gear is spun, they all spin in a memorizing pattern.'
***New YouTube video of the 'Geared Cube' which has now been lubricated with a PTFE lubricant***
***Now Motor Powered!!! Check out the YouTube Video***
Below is the initial computer generated animation: