(screwless) Hyperbolic Planetary Gear (with Orbital Gear)

thingiverse

This is a further remix of the cool Hyperbolic Planetary Gearset by jsteuben. As in my previous remix, I modified the tri-joint and connecting-rods so that no screws are needed; the entire thing now just snaps together. I also made the central "24 90" gear slightly narrower to enable the gears to spin smoothly. And I added a handle to the "small hex key" to make playing with the gears more fun :) This time I added an outer orbital gear which counter-rotates around the center, so that this is now an actual "planetary" gearset. Due to the tapering form of the middle gears, the orbital gear stays in place without any cage. The central gear is now printed in two pieces to make assembly easier. Please enjoy! (here's a video of the gearset in action) Instructions Printed using standard settings on Makerbot Rep 2, with rafts. The gears, connecting rods, and hex key will print best vertically. Print: 2 x tri-joint 3 x connecting-rod 3 x skewgear involute 12 90 1 x skewgear involute 24 90 top 1 x skewgear involute 24 90 bottom 1 x orbital gear 1 x display base 1 x hex key Choose colors for maximum fun To assemble the gearset: slide the three connecting rods through the outer (12 90) gears, and make sure they are turning smoothly position the bottom of the central gear (24 90) on one of the tri-joints (the "bottom") insert the three connecting rods with outer gears through the oribital gear, and into the holes of the bottom tri-joint, meshing the gears with the central gear. This is a little tricky to get right; when you're done, the gears will mesh and the whole assembly should turn smoothly. insert the top of the central gear (24 90), line up the pins and holes, and mate it with the bottom of the central gear. A little wiggling may be required to get it in place. insert the other ("top") tri-joint onto the central gear, without plugging in the connecting rods (yet) one-by-one, push the connecting rods into the top tri-joint. This takes a little force, but once each is positioned it will snap into place. spin your gears! Use the hex key as appropriate...