[Plugin] SPGears

pastprimitive

So this is an absolutely amazing gear plugin! Huge blessing for me and my 3d printer. THANKYOU!

Small bug that I fixed. The plugin only except's values in inches for the "pitch radius/rack" user input field.

For my 3d printer you pretty much want to work in mm because everything in that world is in mm. Anyhow changes outlined below for making this universally compatible regardless of what unit it designated in the user input fields.

Updated plugin for universal unit compatibility in user input fields.

Select Code 1:

# Generates an Involute Tooth Gear
class SPGear

	# default values for dialog box
	@@teeth = 15
	@@ang_pressure = 20.0  # degrees
	@@rad_pitch = 10.0.inch
	@@face_width = 3.0
	@@ang_helix = 0.0
	@@ang_bevel = 0.0

Change To:

# Generates an Involute Tooth Gear
class SPGear

	# default values for dialog box
	@@teeth = 15
	@@ang_pressure = 20.0  # degrees
	@@rad_pitch = 10.0.to_f.to_l
	@@face_width = 3.0.to_f.to_l
	@@ang_helix = 0.0
	@@ang_bevel = 0.0

Select Code 2:

		@teeth = teeth.abs
		@ang_pressure = ang_pressure.degrees
		@rad_pitch = rad_pitch.to_f
		@face_width = face_width.to_f
		@ang_helix = ang_helix
		@ang_bevel = ang_bevel.degrees

Change To:

		@teeth = teeth.abs
		@ang_pressure = ang_pressure.degrees
		@rad_pitch = rad_pitch.to_f.to_l
		@face_width = face_width.to_f.to_l
		@ang_helix = ang_helix
		@ang_bevel = ang_bevel.degrees

nanolin

As used for a reduction? . as those used in printers Prussian
Thank you

jumpjack

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

pilou

@unknownuser said:

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

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

jgrundman

@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

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

@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

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

@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

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

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

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

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

wimve

@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

@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

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

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

jonathonlt

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

@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...

Youtube Video

More detail to follow; very soon. Really.

-J-