Special thanks for the inspiration and info to Mathias Wandel:
Right angle gears video
I also wan to thank Peter Brown for his inspirational video.
Tools and materials I propose:
Lathe
This is a classic vintage animation toy. I just made my version of it, out of bass wood and plywood.
After making a rough but working prototype, it was time to make the final version of the project.
I set the fence of my table saw at the correct width and cut my plywood pieces to size. For the cross cuts I used my cross cut sled.
The gear box would be joined with half lap joints. I created them on my table saw. I set a stop block on my cross cut sled and did a series of passes to create the grooves. I sanded a little bit with a sanding block.
To make the gears I created templates based on Mathias Wandel’s gear generator. Mathias has also made many tutorials on making wooden gears so I followed his instructions quite a bit.
I added tape on the plywood and then glued the templates on the tape with spray adhesive. This would help me remove the templates easily, once I was done. At this point I marked the centers of the gears and removed most of the material on the bandsaw.
To cut the bevels of the gears I made a new base for my bandsaw that has 14 degrees angle. I cut half of the bevels. The blue lines of my templates. Then I flipped the base over and cut the mirrored bevels ( the red ones). I sanded with a popsicle stick which had sandpaper glued on it with double sided tape.
At this point I glued and nailed the gear box sides together. Using a wet rag I wiped off the excess glue.
I made a few holes with the drill.
The gears are glued on 6mm dowels.
Using a hole saw, I made some spacers. On the bandsaw I made relief cuts, so I can remove the spacers easily if I have to. The spacers are fixed in place with a screw.
I added a spacer and two washers to each gear. At this point the gears worked nicely.
I made a handle which I shaped on my belt sander.
I filled the nail holes and sanded everything smooth with my random orbit sander.
Following Mathias advice I varnished everything so the gears wood work a bit smoother. I used clear water based varnish.
The top piece was made out of basswood. I had to glue two pieces together, so I first flattened them on the jointer - planer machine.
I then glued the pieces together. Once the glue was dry, I squared my stock on the jointer and table saw.
At this point I drew my guide lines and cut my grooves on the table saw. For the diagonal grooves I made a simple 45 degree jig so I could hold the piece on my cross cut sled.
This worked out and I mounted the piece on my lathe using a face plate.
I shaped the top with the bowl gouge. I only used a flat chisel as a scraper to clear it’s bottom corners.
During the assembly I added my wax and oil paste to all the meeting surfaces. Then I assembled all the parts together.
The grooves were too large for the animation effect to happen so I made a paper insert for the top with smaller slots. Perhaps in future I will remake the top.
Then I added my animation inside the top and started playing.
This project was more difficult than I originally thought. But it worked out in the end.
I hope you liked this one, because that was it. See you soon with a new project video.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
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