![](https://www.spikenzielabs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/gearsinadil-647x198.jpg)
The idea here is to make a board that I can interchange gears on a whim, and see the different speeds that gears turn in ‘real life’. For inspiration, I flipped through one of my most all time favourite books, 507 mechanical movements. Now available for free online, http://507movements.com Love it!
![](http://www.spikenzielabs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/gearsinadil.jpg)
With the gears created, I exported them as PDF, and then into Adobe Illustrator. There is a command in illustrator to ‘Simplify’. This makes laser cutting much simpler. Strongly recommend using that command on CAD / other output files before cutting. Here is an example of one of the gears in illustrator.:
Note the fewer line segments that appear on a gear after using the simplify command. (Blue dots).
![](http://www.spikenzielabs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/perf_acrylic_begin1.jpg)
Above is the main drive gear, with the spindle cut out. My measuring was very exact. Took about 5 pounds of force to get the acrylic gear squished onto the spindle. I think some of the residue from the tape testing is lending a hand keeping it solid. The blue colored board is actually clear acrylic with blue protective film still in place.
I based the spacing on a .5″ spacing, so any of the gears that I’ve generated can mesh perfectly with any other. The holes are laser cut at .08″. This is the perfect size to send a 4-40 tap through.
![](http://www.spikenzielabs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/gears_laid_out.jpg)
Note how you can see right through the center hub of the two gears above. This was the pint that I started to feel really great.
Tapping acrylic is something we first tried years ago on our Povard POV electronics kit. Since then, we’ve been tapping acrylic at a feverish pace, and have burnt through a few drills.
![](http://www.spikenzielabs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/tapping.jpg)
Here is how we tap. The tap going through a 1/4″ ring gear. I have centered some holes at 15 degree increments. Zipping the drill in, and reversing it out leaves a very solid threading in the acrylic. Doing it at high speed versus low speed makes no difference.
Creating a stepper motor mount was pretty simple. I need the center of the stepper spindle to be coming through one of the holes in my board. I lined up the mount holes on the stepper, and cut them through the .5″ spacing hole board.
![](http://www.spikenzielabs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/mountedmotor_noscrew.jpg)
Notice how you don’t see the mounting brackets of the stepper? Measured out perfectly they are directly below the holes cut in the acrylic.
Fitting it all together, I slid the main drive gear back in place, and then loaded in the rest of the gears. Tapping only the holes that I need to use.
![](http://www.spikenzielabs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/4gears.jpg)
Last minute change for the mount.. I realized that I didn’t have the clearance under above the motor mounts to send a nut & bolt through, so I made a pressure fit pinch plate. This way I don’t need to counter-sink the mount holes. Peeling away the blue protective sheet underneath.
A few other gears created, a push-bar, and here is what I ended up with.
Stepper Motor & Gear Testing a video by SpikenzieLabs on Flickr.