http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php Shapeways: Bring your creativity to life in 3D http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=rview&goto=57944&th=11847#msg_57944
If you take three ordinary gears and put them together so that each gear meshes with the other two, then none of the gears can turn because neighbouring gears must turn in opposite directions. Triple gear avoids this problem by having the three "gears" arranged like linked rings - the gears then rotate along skew axes, and the opposite direction rule no longer applies (although see also Oskar van Deventer's Magic Gears for another possible solution).

This is joint work with Saul Schleimer. We were inspired by another of Oskar's designs, his Knotted Gear, which consists of two linked rings that gear with each other, and of course we wondered if it would be possible to do three linked rings!

Youtube video.
Shapeways shop.

]]> henryseg 2012-12-04T07:03:30-00:00 http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=rview&goto=58925&th=11847#msg_58925
Youtube video.
Shapeways shop.

]]> henryseg 2012-12-20T05:09:21-00:00 http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=rview&goto=58934&th=11847#msg_58934 bartv 2012-12-20T09:25:15-00:00 http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=rview&goto=58935&th=11847#msg_58935 henryseg 2012-12-20T09:26:30-00:00 http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=rview&goto=59259&th=11847#msg_59259
]]> henryseg 2012-12-27T09:28:35-00:00 http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=rview&goto=59440&th=11847#msg_59440 Here is a partial solution...]]> henryseg 2013-01-01T05:02:59-00:00 http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=rview&goto=66769&th=11847#msg_66769 Bridges conference on Mathematics, Music, Art, Architecture, Culture in Enschede, the Netherlands in July.



Youtube video.

Baseplate and axle for Triple gear.
15cm axle for Triple gear.
30cm axle for Triple gear.]]> henryseg 2013-04-24T07:39:09-00:00 http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=rview&goto=67948&th=11847#msg_67948
http://arxiv.org/abs/1304.6859]]> henryseg 2013-05-14T14:50:36-00:00 http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=rview&goto=69165&th=11847#msg_69165


Also, here is a video showing how to loosen the gears if they arrive somewhat fused together.]]> henryseg 2013-06-04T13:10:48-00:00