First gears!

[dbb-the-bruce]

A milestone for me - I've got a project / goal that I'm working towards - elaborate brass mechanical constructions. Making my own gears is just one of the skills I need to acquire.

After getting some good advice here and purchasing a couple of affordable gear-cutter sets for small gears, I finally cut my first gears:


I also made a few videos - beware! low production quality!
(well, looks like I need to work out how to up load videos, for anyone with machining expierence, they aren't going to be all that interesting, however sill worth sharing).

The dividing head I used - really more of an indexed head, is a piece of home-shop machinist folk-art I picked up years ago. When I finally attempted to use it, found out it had a number of issues. So I ended up putting a fair amount of effort into making it "good enough". It's serviceable for some gear work but has lot's of limitations. Next on the list is acquiring an actual dividing head or a serious re-build of what I've got.

Anyhow, thanks for the tip on the cutters. More posts to follow as I progress.
-Dave

 

[Eddyde]

Awesome job they look great! Please post more pictures of the process if you have em. I find it easier to post videos to Youtube then link them to here.

 

[dbb-the-bruce]

OK, worked out the video thing with YouTube, here is a link to the "first gear cutting" playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF7bBhAoQLJNOM6geh1Sja55f_z9extmQ

Please keep in mind that they are not meant as instructional - only to give my friends and family some idea of why I spend so much time in the basement! (Ha, like you folks wouldn't understand)

Here is another link to a video of a wooden box I made, this will give you some idea of where I'm going with this.

https://youtu.be/EOG-VIngiL8

-Dave

 

[f350ca]

Good job on the gears Dave, but I love the box.

Greg

 

[dbb-the-bruce]

Good job on the gears Dave, but I love the box.

Greg

Thanks Greg. I hope to reach the same level of art working in brass. I've got a bunch of ideas for boxes. In addition to learning and perfecting my skills at machining, I also want to learn embellishment techniques. At this early stage, I'm thinking of engraving and enameling.

 

[DiscoDan]

Damn cool!!

 

[Eddyde]

Very impressive work please keep sharing.

 

[Fitter Bill]

Nice....Great video of the gear making process. Then you did the box. All I can say is "WOW".

 

[Firstgear]

Congratulations!

 

[francist]

After getting some good advice here and purchasing a couple of affordable gear-cutter sets

Any chance you might be willing to share the source? I'm tossing around the idea of getting a set but the prices from my regular suppliers are a little daunting. Thanks!

-frank