[Plugin] SPGears

pilou · 14 Oct 2014, 16:12

It would be also amazing if it supported Sketchy Physics

Why it does not ?
Just make Components or Groups with your gears and you can use SketchyPhysics for anything!

jumpjack · 14 Oct 2014, 21:15

It would take years to make each single part of a gear & worm sketchy-compatible.
It would take 2 seconds using a script.

jgrundman · 22 Oct 2014, 19:08

@jumpjack said:

Has this plugin been updated? Does it support worms too now?
It would be also amazing if it supported Sketchy Physics...

Jumpjack:

Yes, this will work with Sketchy Physics (SP). That was the primary reason for making this plug-in, hence the "SP" in "SPGears". Specifically, it creates a (mostly) accurate collision mesh, which allows the gears to mesh with each other in SP animations. To make that happen, each tooth had to be a discrete group with its own collision mesh. The downside is that each gear becomes a relatively complex object and can bog down SU and Sketchy Physics.

Everyone:

Thanks for the great feedback and I'm sorry I have not been able to complete any updates. Life keeps getting in the way and I don't know when/if I will get back to it. Until then...
-J-

Chrisu02 · 24 Oct 2014, 09:34

Hy guy`s

I like this plugin and using it for 3D printing long time, but now i need to make some hypoid gears but it seems that it won`t work

looking like this:

I tried out serval value`s

My problem is that the helix is straight then the bevel value is 0° but i needs to be curved

the next problem is to make them fit together, is it possible to make a differen value (teethsize) as a fixed parameter so the rest of the gear may be calculated to this ?

im no programmer so i dont know if this would even be possible or home much work it would be. ?

Chri

jgrundman · 26 Oct 2014, 22:21

@chrisu02 said:

I like this plugin and using it for 3D printing long time, but now i need to make some hypoid gears but it seems that it won`t work

Chris,
You are partially correct, it will not make a TRUE hypoid gear. The problem is the helix angle sits at the outside diameter, not the pitch diameter where it is supposed to be. If you can calculate the desired helix angle at the mid-point (pitch diameter) based on the helix angle at the outside diameter, then you might be able to get very close to a true hypoid. Keep in mind that this was never intended for production accuracy (call me short-sighted, if you must) but should work well enough for Sketchy Physics animations. Version 2 is planned to be more accurate, but as noted in a recent post, I'm not making any commitments on when it would be available.

@chrisu02 said:

My problem is that the helix is straight then the bevel value is 0° but i needs to be curved

Try specifying a large bevel angle (70-80 deg.), a decent number of teeth (50-100+) and a medium helix angle (25-45 deg.). With a larger pitch diameter (10") and a smaller face width (3") you'll get a large gear that looks similar what you posted. The bevel angle of the pinion (small gear) is the the difference between the bevel of the large gear and the intersecting angle of the axis of both gears (90 deg. - 70 deg. = 20 deg.). The helix angle is also different on the pinion. I think it is a similar calculation (90 deg. - 35 deg. = 55 deg.), but I'm not positive; I haven't make a hypoid set in a long time. If that does not work, then I suggest looking for gear engineering reference information. That's what I did.

@chrisu02 said:

the next problem is to make them fit together, is it possible to make a different value (teethsize) as a fixed parameter so the rest of the gear may be calculated to this ?

In order to make a mating gear, it has to have the same diametral pitch [P] (arc length of one tooth and space). You can use gear formulas (via a web search) to figure out how to calculate the dimensions you need to specify a mating gear. Once you've got that figured out, getting them to mesh properly is a bit tricky. I think I had to tweak the helix angle on one of the mating gears to make them mesh better, but again, it's been a while.

@chrisu02 said:

im no programmer so i dont know if this would even be possible or home much work it would be. ?
[/quote]

Almost anything is possible, but I'm not a strong programmer or an engineer, so for me, it will be a lot of work, hence the uncertainty regarding the release of version 2. However, it (backlash) is on the growing list of changes intended in the revision.

sigskjel · 11 Nov 2014, 20:42

Crossed helical gear - shaft angle off
Some time ago I'd modelled an little crossed helical gear to use in some project. This project got skipped, but I'd had the gears made on a 3D printer, just to see how it works. Now SDGear are a really handy plugin for sketchup, number of teeth 26, pressure angle and so forth, and helix angle 45. I'd ordered two of these to make a crossed gear. Now I'd just received the finished gears, but the shaft angle is off by an significant value too! I'd just checked the crossed helical gear math, and that's done correct, two 45 deg. gears make 90 deg shaft angle. Anybody have any idea of what's gone wrong?

Cincerely, Sigmund

jgrundman · 12 Nov 2014, 14:09

@sigskjel said:

Crossed helical gear - shaft angle off

Sig,
You should have tried fitting the "drawn" gears together to check fit beforeprinting. You would have seen that things don't line up properly. The problem is how the gears are drawn, so getting things to mesh correctly requires some trial and error. Sorry for the inconvenience. I've added it to the list of changes.
-J-

mikaelgu · 14 Nov 2014, 09:27

I just want to say that it's great to see you developing this again! I once used the plugin to design and print a set of bevel gears and I managed to get a set that meshes just fine (I did do a lot of checking in Sketchup before printing though.

Again, thank you for you hard work, it's much appreciated!

Mikael

jumpjack · 6 Jun 2015, 10:16

I think this site could be very interesting for the developer of this plugin:
http://www.epi-eng.com/propeller_reduction_technology/gear_design.htm

jumpjack · 9 Jun 2015, 09:35

I think an important upgrade (which probably would not require a major upgrade to 2.0) which could be very useful: specifying number of teeth should result in creating gears of different diameter but with same teeth size; this would make it much easier to make "compatible" gears.

(look at http://sites.google.com/site/simgears for the trial of an STL gears generator)

rogerphillips · 9 Nov 2015, 14:39

Brilliant plugin - I managed to quickly 3D Print a replacement gear for my broken laminator, using this plugin and some extra lines

wimve · 17 Feb 2016, 20:58

@jumpjack said:

Has this plug-in been updated? Does it support worms too now?
It would be also amazing if it supported Sketchy Physics...

Good plug-in but I miss the follow up.
Nobody who can pick up the challenge ?

Repair the inch-mm problem
create a corresponding worm
small help

In addition: how do I create a corresponding worm ?

wimve · 1 Mar 2016, 11:38

@wimve said:

@jumpjack said:

Has this plug-in been updated? Does it support worms too now?
It would be also amazing if it supported Sketchy Physics...

Good plug-in but I miss the follow up.
Nobody who can pick up the challenge ?

Repair the inch-mm problem

create a corresponding worm
In addition: how do I create a corresponding worm ?

Nobody ?
I especially need some help with making a worm gear.

CarlMiddle · 4 Dec 2016, 20:09

How do you punch a hole through the gear? I've tried several different ways and it just won't do it. I want to 3D print it with a D shape hole to fit my motor but it won't let me!

jumpjack · 5 Dec 2016, 10:28

The resulting gear is an object: double click it to edit it.

jonathonlt · 18 Apr 2017, 14:32

MY FIRST POST ATTEMPT ..LONG TERM PROJECT FOR AUTO-MATED TRANSPORT REQUIRING ,GEAR RACK,, I SEE IN YOUR MAGIC LITTLE WINDOW ENTER GEAR DIAMETER or RACK LENGTH ,,AS YET UNABLE TO CREATE A RACK LITTLE TIME ON LINE HENCE ALL DONNA,S TO WIKI PIDIA AND THE KNOWLEDGE AT THE MOMENT JON

jgrundman · 19 Apr 2017, 15:57

@jonathonlt said:

MY FIRST POST ATTEMPT ..LONG TERM PROJECT FOR AUTO-MATED TRANSPORT REQUIRING ,GEAR RACK,, I SEE IN YOUR MAGIC LITTLE WINDOW ENTER GEAR DIAMETER or RACK LENGTH ,,AS YET UNABLE TO CREATE A RACK LITTLE TIME ON LINE HENCE ALL DONNA,S TO WIKI PIDIA AND THE KNOWLEDGE AT THE MOMENT JON

Jon,
Sorry, but I never got around to adding racks to this version, and it is not like to happen. BUT, there is good news. I am currently working on a "pro" version that will include both racks and worms, plus many other features and enhancements! I know folks have been waiting a long time for this, but the wait is almost over. I know I've stated before that I was "working on it" and had nothing to show for it, so here's a quick sneak peek...

More detail to follow; very soon. Really.

-J-

DingBEN · 6 Jun 2017, 10:59

WIN 7 Pro, SketchUp Pro
Pardon my green-ness, but I installed 1.0 and realized there is now a 1.2
I installed 1.0 via some link here, NOT the ZIP!
I want to install 1.2

Where is the 1.2 download link? no download link on that page
or how to install from zip, since the 1.2 zip extracts an .rb file NOT an .rbz!?
It recommends to uninstall old versions!? HOW is that accomplished!?
I see nothing in the menus to uninstall extensions.
One thing I noticed on 1.0: the handle(cursor) does not want to latch on to the best inferred handle... it seems to snag around it and latch on to any other close point

Thank you.

jgrundman · 7 Jun 2017, 14:21

@dingben said:

Where is the 1.2 download link? no download link on that page
or how to install from zip, since the 1.2 zip extracts an .rb file NOT an .rbz!?

The link for v1.2 is at the top of the first page of this thread. To install a .rb plugin, just copy the extracted file into your plugins folder (C:\Users*usernme*\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp 2016\SketchUp\Plugins). Restart Sketchup and the plugin should now be listed in "Extension" menu.

@dingben said:

It recommends to uninstall old versions!? HOW is that accomplished!?
I see nothing in the menus to uninstall extensions.

These earlier versions predate the extension managers, so they are installed & uninstalled manually. To remove the previous version, just open the plugins folder, as noted above, and move/delete the older version.

@dingben said:

One thing I noticed on 1.0: the handle(cursor) does not want to latch on to the best inferred handle... it seems to snag around it and latch on to any other close point

The plugin does not have any effect on the cursor, so the issue is most likely with Sketchup's limitations working with very small (< 1/64" or 0.39mm) measurements. While programmatically we can work with smaller distances, manual operations using the cursor will not always cooperate. The simplest solution is to scale the model up, make any changes, then scale it back down. It's only a rough workaround, so some geometry may behave unexpectedly when you scale back down.

Keep in mind that Sketchup is CAM (modeling) not CAD (design), so it has some limitations. This is one of them. Another that has frustrated new users is that objects are collections of edges and faces, so curves are not going to perfectly smooth. It's usually not a problem unless you 3D print a model because the curves will be a series of flat faces and edges, making mating surfaces a bit clunky.

Good luck and thanks for trying the SPGears plugin.

DingBEN · 8 Jun 2017, 05:22

Thank you so much for the prompt answer.

YOU MAY WAN TO BE AWARE OF THIS:
Unless I keep a separate record(messy) I have no idea what version is running

Extensions Menu shows: SPGears_mjg(no version)

so I did this:

in Plugins folder
/// I renamed SPGears_mjg.rb to SPGears_mjg_v1.0.rb(may need to remove)
/// and I placed the SPGears_mjg_v1.2.rb
Extensions Menu still shows: SPGears_mjg
/// but the new ShatfDiameter options shows in the SPGears Parameters dialog
/// thus it is running the SPGears_mjg_v1.2.rb
/// tried the Shaft Diameter... creates no centered hole for the shaft at all ?

Also, creating 2 beveled gears of different radius.. 48 and 24 teeth
Number of Teeth: 48 24
Pressure Angle: 20 "
Pitch Radius: 10" 5
Face Width: 3" "
Helix Angle: 0.0 "
Bevel Angle: 45deg "
Shift Diameter: 0.5, or 0.375, or 0.3125 "

The teeth line up at the large(outside) face end, but fail to line up at the small(inside) face end

Is this due to incorrect/missing parameters?
(can you point to some instructions?)