I've seen a ton of gears along many different prints on this site. Many of which actually function within the print. I've never made gears before, let alone ones that could work without jamming. My question is, for those who use blender 3D, what is the best way to make gears? I mean, I could try to do it by copying and pasting teeth one by one, or try rotating them around a certain point, or even trace out a good drawing of gears. But from what I've seen, I have to believe that there is a standard, or at least a better way, of making functioning gears. Also, I was planning on counting the teeth to make sure there is a nice reduction ratio between certain gears in the system. I am planning on making something similar to this hand crank fan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eojAdYMT0g Thanks!
I'd suggest looking up "involute gear" formulae if you're looking to make "real" gear teeth. I'm expecting a set of gears to arrive tomorrow, coincidentally enough. I modelled mine in Inventor and they have generally come out quite well. (I don't have a clue in Blender, but I'm sure someone on the forum does.)
look for addon under add mesh category named Extra Objets. If you want to create your own style, than is probably the best to use array modifier...
Go here: http://parametricparts.com/parts/8npxd6ur/ ... set up your gear with the pitch and dimensions you need, then export it as STL ( See the [ DOWNLOAD ] button... ), and import it to Blender. It will save you hours of work. Note to non-gearheads.... Pitch and pressure angles of gears that are supposed to mesh MUST match! Change only the number of teeth and (if necessary) shaft size while working with a single set. Watch the tip of the tooth for the minimum dimension. That's where it's likely to be smallest. If anyone creates a worm gear version that works with this, let us know!
The Gears option for Sketchup isn't a regular part of the program - It's a plugin that has to be downloaded from a third party, and doesn't appear to work with Sketchup 2013 (the latest version). According to the download site, it works with SketchUp 6 & 7... several versions back.
you link is dead, the closest site i found is http://store.parametricparts.com/products.html but it doesn't look like what you are suggesting, really appreciate if you can update!!