GearHive

The model

All tile centers are 52 mm apart. The gear with 34 teeth is designed with profile shift exactly for this center distance, and so is the pair of 16 and 52 teeth (ratio 1 : 3.25). The tile with three extra axles (13.9 mm off the center) carries small gears with 16 teeth: one meshes with the 34-tooth gear of the neighboring tile, two of them also mesh with each other and so connect two neighbors. The crank gear is a 34-tooth gear with a handle peg.

Because three gears in a triangle block each other, not all neighbors may mesh. Two layouts of 7 tiles are calculated and run: a ring of six 34-tooth gears with a 16-tooth gear on the extra axle in the middle (photo) and a 52-tooth gear in the middle with six 16-tooth gears around it (second picture). Neighboring gears turn in opposite directions; the flank clearance is 0.27 mm by calculation.

The axle is a tube peg with four slots and a latching lip: the gear is pressed on, the four fingers spring in by 0.3 mm and hold the hub with 0.2 mm of axial play. The tiles are set into each other from above; slotted dovetail pegs with a latching lug hold them against lifting as well. You can print as many tiles and gears as you like. The fit test contains two blocks with a connector, one axle and one hub ring.

View print notes (German)

Print notes included in German; part names are self-explanatory.