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Small diameter gears


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Attempting to model deck mounted manual center board winch, 1:50 scale, that consists of two gears, 1/4" and 1/2". 

Design of winch is ca 1885 and is patterned from photos of original vessel. Have no access to metal working tools,

and fabricating them from wood results in less than satisfactory , if

any results. Gears can be of any material or color as size is important.

Any suggestions are welcomed.

Bridgan Bob

 

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Hello bridgman,

 

My first instinct would be to look at resin 3D printing. Assuming you don't have a printer, there are a number of US businesses (e.g. Shapeways) that will print your designs for a reasonable price. Or possibly you could reach an agreement with a MSW member local to your area.

 

As for the actual design files, you could check online STL repositories, actual industrial suppliers such as McMaster-Carr, or just make your own. If you need these gears to actually function and mesh properly there will be a bit more work involved with tolerancing and getting the proper involute curves.

 

Feel free to reach out if you decide to pursue this option and need some help with creating the CAD.

 

Cheers,

starlight

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10 minutes ago, bridgman said:

How are things in Michigan?

Bob, we're having a pleasant September and it looks like we're going to have a nice fall which probably means we're going to have a horrible winter. How about yourself? 

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Plasticard or card would work well (seal the card prior to cutting and then reseal it after painting for best effect).

Building: 1:64 HMS Revenge (Victory Models plans)

1:64 Cat Esther (17th Century Dutch Merchant Ships)
 

On the building slip: 1:72 French Ironclad Magenta (original shipyard plans)

 

On hold: 1:98 Mantua HMS Victory (kit bash), 1:96 Shipyard HMS Mercury

 

Favorite finished builds:  1:60 Sampang Good Fortune (Amati plans), 1:200 Orel Ironclad Solferino, 1:72 Schooner Hannah (Hahn plans), 1:72 Privateer Prince de Neufchatel (Chapelle plans), Model Shipways Sultana, Heller La Reale, Encore USS Olympia

 

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I found the clock- or watch-wheels are too thin and their teeth normally are too deep to represent such gears satisfactorily. 

 

Try to work out the number of teeth on the respective wheels by counting e.g. a quarter of the circumference, or whatever is visible. You then can try to find on-line some (old) engineering textbooks that give you an idea of the relative proportions of the teeth. On this basis you can draw on the computer an enlarged image of the gear (it's a lot simpler and precise to draw at 20:1 or 10:1 scale than at the original 1:50 scale). The print it out at the right size and stick two carefully aligned copies onto each side of the material that you are going to use. No you can use files or even a skalpel to shape the teeth.

 

If on the model you won't be able to see parts of the gear, you don't really need to shape the teeth and save yourself time. Make sure that for meshing gears you draw the same 'modulus' or 'diametral pitch' (check on Wikipedia what this means).

 

Of course, such gears probably wouldn't really work, but they can be a good representation - better than clock- or watch-wheels.

wefalck

 

panta rhei - Everything is in flux

 

 

M-et-M-72.jpg  Banner-AKHS-72.jpg  Banner-AAMM-72.jpg  ImagoOrbis-72.jpg
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  • 2 weeks later...

Wefalck:

Found some gears of the right diameter, "jewelry making gears", but as you noted thin. Will stick two together and see how they look mounted

on the winch frame. Their profiles are good machine representations. Much less frustrating than my attempts to form gear profiles.

The joys of 1:50 scale. Thanks for the suggestions.  

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