Making pinwheel gears P

inwheel gears are both

an effective and visually
interesting way of making
gearing for automata. They are
not difficult to make but care
Different methods for successful gearing: part 1 must be taken to construct them
accurately or they will not func-
by Marc Horovitz • Denver, Colorado, USA • Photos by the author tion properly.
When a gear rotates, its teeth
bear against the teeth of an ad-
jacent gear, causing the second
gear to rotate. In industry, gears
must be efficiently designed and
made, and there are certain
types of standard gearing that
accomplish this. Gears’ teeth do
not slide across one another but
actually roll against each other
with little friction.
Pinwheel gears are not ef-
ficient, nor do they need to be.
Absolute precision is not neces-
sary for them to function well,
but some understanding about
how gears work will be helpful.

How gears work

Without going into a lot of
gear theory, here is some basic
information. Two or more gears

Pinwheel gears not only function well and are

relatively easy to make, they can add charac-
ter and interest to your automata.

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 36 January • February 2019

working together is called a should be between each tooth.
gear train. All of the gears in the Pinwheel gears are best I find that 1/4" (6mm, for 3/16"-di-
arranged with
train must be compatible with axles at 90° ameter [4.8mm ] pins) or 3/16"
one another, meaning that the A from (4.8mm, for 1/16" [1.6mm] pins)
distance between the teeth in If gear A is
each other. works well. Any dimension will
each gear must be the same as driven, gear B will B do—there just needs to be more
that in all the others. This is not rotate half as fast. space between the pins than the
difficult to accomplish, as will be diameter of the pin.
described later. For this example, though, I’ll
One of the most useful things use 3/8" (.375" or 9.5mm) pitch
about gears is gear reduction, B and 1/8" (3mm) wood dowel for
which can be handy when creat- the pins. This means that there
ing automata. Consider two A If gear A is must be .375" between each
gears, one twice as big as the driven, gear B will tooth, as measured from the
other, working together. If you rotate twice as fast. centerline of the teeth.
drive the small gear, the larger Figure 1 Suppose I want to make a
will revolve half as fast as the pinwheel gear that has eight
little one. If, on the other hand, With care, the teeth. There will, naturally, be
axles can be
you drive the large gear, the arranged
eight spaces between the teeth.
smaller one will revolve twice as Figure 3 parallel. So, eight (teeth) x .375" (space
fast (figure 1). Also, two gears between the teeth) = 3" (76mm),
working together will revolve in I which is the circumference of
opposite directions. If you want the circle around which the teeth
them to revolve in the same will be spaced.
direction, just insert a third gear A Circumference is calculated
B
(of any size) between them. by this simple formula: C = πD,
This is called an idler gear, as it If an idler gear (any size) is introduced between 1. Draw a circle of 2. Divide it into eight where C is the circumference,
two gears, the rotational speed of gears A and B the correct size. equal segments. Where ever
doesn’t do any work aside from is unchanged. However, gear B will now rotate in
π (pi) = 3.1416, and D = the
the lines intersect, that’s the
changing the direction of rota- the same direction as gear A centerline of a pin. The axle
diameter. Since we know the
tion of the third gear (figure 2). goes through the center of circumference and the value of
Figure 2
Pinwheel gears work best the circle. pi, we can find the diameter of
when one shaft runs 90° from the circle by dividing the circum-
the other. However, if the teeth Designing your gears 3. Draw a larger circle the size of the ference by pi: 3 ÷ 3.1416 =
are fat enough, they can be Perhaps the first thing to de- finished wheel. .955" (24.3mm).
made to work on parallel shafts cide is the pitch of your gears, Figure 4 The easiest way to draw a
(figure 3). meaning how much space there circle that’s precisely .955" in

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 37 January • February 2019

diameter is by using a drawing guide for your drill. When align-
or drafting program on your ing the point of the awl with the
computer. (There are several free intersection, I find it useful to
ones online.) Then you simply approach it from a 45° angle,
divide the circle into eight equal laying the awl nearly flat on the
parts (figure 4). Wherever a line work until the point is where I
intersects the circle, there a pin want it (photo 3), then standing
is placed. Draw a larger circle it up and pressing.
to represent the outside edge Once you have gone all the
of the pinwheel. This method way around the circle, it’s time
works for pinwheels of any size, 1. The computer printout is glued to the wood. 2. A sharp awl is used to mark the holes. to drill the holes. It’s important
though six pins is about as small that the holes be perpendicular
as is practical. If you are very to the wheel. The best way of
careful and use tools such as a doing this is with a drill press.
compass, caliper, and protrac- Mount a 1/8" drill in your ma-
tor, it would be possible to hand- chine and drill the holes (photo
draw the circle and its divisions. 4). Drill the center hole the
size of your shaft—1/4" (6mm)
Making your pinwheels is good. If you use a backing
There are different ways of board under your work piece,
making pinwheels. I’ll describe a the holes will be clean on the
couple of them in these articles. bottom side, too.
Once you have your draw- 3. To precisely locate the center of the hole 4. Holes must be drilled parallel to one anoth- Now roughly cut the wheel out
ing, print it out. Decide what with the point, lay the awl flat. er, preferably with a drill press. of your base piece. A scroll saw
the body of the wheel is to be (fret saw) is good for this (photo
made of. I like using Baltic birch 5) or you could do it by hand
plywood, either 3/16" (4.8mm) or using a coping saw. I drew the
1/4" (6mm) thick. For this wheel, outer diameter of my wheels too
I’ll use 1/4" ply. close to the pins so, when I cut
Glue the printout to the wood the wheels out, I just cut them a
(photo 1). Then, carefully place little bigger. Also, you can see
the point of a sharp awl or in photo 6 that my wheels are
bodkin precisely on the intersec- nowhere near round. To make
tion of two lines, and press it them really round, you can
into the wood (photo 2) to form 5. Finished holes. Note the outer circle is too 6. Wheels are roughly cut out with a scroll saw make a simple jig (photo 7) and
a dimple. This dimple will be a close to the holes. or coping saw. use a belt sander. Clamp the jig

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 38 January • February 2019

loosely to the sander bed and
slip the wheel over the pin. Then
move the wheel into the moving
belt until it sands the edge up
to your line (photo 8). Tighten
the clamp, then slowly rotate
the wheel into the belt, which
will true it up nicely (photo 9).
Remove the paper, sand off any
glue, and clean up any rough
edges. You should be left with 9. A wheel, mounted on the fixture, is sanded
good wheels (photo 10). 7. The rough-cut wheels. 8. A sanding fixture made from scrap. round on the belt sander.
Now it’s time to make the
pins. I cut my pins to a length of
5
/8" (16mm). To do that, I made
a simple L-shaped gauge out
of a scrap of plywood (photo
11). The inside dimension of the
long leg of the “L” is 5/8". I like
to hold my work in the vise for
cutting but you can do it on any
flat surface with care. Hold the
gauge up to the dowel, hooking
the short leg over the end. Posi- 10. Finished wheels. 11. Cutting gauge for the wooden pins. 12. The gauge is used to position the saw.
tion the saw blade at the end
of the gauge, and cut the pin
(photo 12). When you have cut
all the pins (photo 13), chamfer
the ends. This means to sand the
edges to around 45° to relieve
the corners and remove any
burrs. A good way to do this is
with the belt sander, twirling the
pin against the belt as its run-
ning (photos 14, 15). You could 14. Chamfering a pin by twirling it against the
also do it with a piece of sand- 13. Rough-cut pins. moving sanding belt. 15. Finished pins, ready for the wheel.

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 39 January • February 2019

paper laid on your bench. to glue them in place. If you’re
When all the pins have been comfortable with that idea, go
cut and chamfered, they can be for it. I like my automata to be
put into the wheels. Put a drop as completely disassemble-able
of glue into the hole (not on the as possible. Given that, I prefer
pin—photo 16) and slide the pin to pin the wheels to their shafts.
into place. Do this on a flat sur- To do this, I first drill a hole
face. Excess glue will squeeze for the pin (usually a piece of
out the bottom, which can be 1/16"-diameter [1.6mm] brass

wiped off. When finished, set rod) into the edge of the wheel,
the wheel aside for the glue to 16. Glue is applied to the inside of the holes. 17. Finished pinwheels. through the center hole, and
dry (photo 17). When it’s dry, part way into the other side
you can sand off the bottom side Centerlines not in Perfect (photo 19). I then insert the shaft
where the glue squeezed out, to the same plane alignment into the wheel, in its proper
pretty it up. position, holding it in place with
The wheels can now be test some tape, if necessary. Then
run. Assuming you have their I lower the running drill into
frames in place, with axle holes the hole just drilled, and drill
drilled for the shafts, cut the through the shaft. With the pin
shafts to length and slip the in place (photo 20), a secure
wheels onto them (photo 18). BAD GOOD connection is made that can be
Don’t fix them in place yet. 18. Gears being test fitted to determine their unmade in a moment simply by
Note: It’s fairly important that Figure 5 optimum positions on their shafts . withdrawing the pin. Be sure the
the centerlines of the two shafts pin is long enough that it can’t
be in the same plane, as shown be accidentally pushed in too
in figure 5. You’ll get much far, making it impossible to re-
better results this way. Rotate move. If you like, you can bend
the wheels against each other, the end of the pin over 90°.
making sure that they engage From this point, you should
properly and smoothly. When be able to make pinwheels of
you’ve determined the optimum any size to suit your needs. In
positions for the wheels, mark part two of this two-part series,
them on the shafts. I’ll talk about a way to make
There are a couple of ways more precise pinwheels quickly
to mount the wheels on their 20. The finished assembly, smoothly turning. through the use of a specialized
respective shafts. One way is 19. Gear being drilled for the retaining pin. The ends of the retaining pins can be seen. tool that you can make.A

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 40 Back to Contents pg. January • February 2019