Nautilus gears with involute herringbone gearing - customizable

thingiverse

Download the newest version, if you haven't already! This project is an extension of my previous project at Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:769012), where I challenged users to test the 2D method used in this project. Since it involves translating that technique from 2 dimensions to 3, I've created a new project as a standalone solution. Normally, fixed-pitch gears are easy to create using OpenSCAD's powerful linear_extrude primitive with the 'twist' argument, making herringbone gearing straightforward for standard gears. However, achieving an exotic pitch curve such as an ellipse or the Nautilus spiral is far more complicated, leading us down the difficult path. Instead, we simply roll a toothed herringbone rack along a raw Nautilus spiral object - and voila! This print was my first attempt. For proper synchronization in this system, you must ensure that the herringbone direction matches on both ends (mirror the parameter s by changing its sign). With CGAL rendering selected via F6, be prepared to wait a long time (~30min) for the output. Click and install the included brackets onto any surface of your choice, ensuring that all gear components are aligned before securing them with glue.