Version 4.51 online

[ArtF]

Hi Guys:

  Version 4.51 has been updated to include a fix for helicals not meshing properly with same handednes s.

The plating facility is under developme nt, you can select it, but it will not do anything for you yet.

Thx
Art

[Mooselake]

Looking forwards to the plating screen working.  I see it even mentions tabs

I just cut my first Grasshopp er!  Hope to test it soon, after making the plates.  Made another sacrifice to the tool gods, my tool change location was in a straight line between a hold down and a first cut 

I noticed a couple items.  The left and right links are at diagonal angles.  To save material I angled the blanks and jogged around the part to make sure they fit, but if it's easy to change them so they align with either the x or y axis it might be helpful.

I'm not sure how to make bigger shaft holes for bearings (or smaller holes for shafts) without editing the dxfs, since it doesn't look like you can generate gcode for the parts one at a time.  Is there a way?

Cutting shafts with line segments sure generates a lot of lines of code.  The compactne ss of arcs, and letting the machine controlle r pick the segment size just, well, seems better.  Is an option for using G2/G3 instead easy enough to be reasonabl e?

Thanks for Grasshopp ers, Art!  Between being all thumbs and poorly developed CAD skills (the pencil and t-square generatio n...) there's no way I'd have been able to make one without GM.  Can't wait to see what happens next.

Kirk

[ArtF]

>>I noticed a couple items.  The left and right links are at diagonal angles.  To save material I angled the blanks and jogged around the part to make sure they fit, but if it's easy to change them so they align with either the x or y axis it might be helpful.

  Ill see what I can do..

>>I'm not sure how to make bigger shaft holes for bearings (or smaller holes for shafts) without editing the dxfs, since it doesn't look like you can generate gcode for the parts one at a time.  Is there a way?

  Yes, but a bit awkward at the moment.. on the output manager is a shaft override so when selected for a gear will change that gears shaft diameter for the hole by adding offset to it..negat ive or positive. The plateing facility will allow an option for bearing OD's in a plate..

>>Cutting shafts with line segments sure generates a lot of lines of code.  The compactne ss of arcs, and letting the machine controlle r pick the segment size just, well, seems better.  Is an option for using G2/G3 instead easy enough to be reasonabl e?

  I find that creates trouble with some geare types, not sure if I can change that one.

>>Thanks for Grasshopp ers, Art!  Between being all thumbs and poorly developed CAD skills (the pencil and t-square generatio n...) there's no way I'd have been able to make one without GM.  Can't wait to see what happens next.

Nice to hear, thats the entire point!..

Art

[Mooselake]

>>I'm not sure how to make bigger shaft holes for bearings (or smaller holes for shafts) without editing the dxfs, since it doesn't look like you can generate gcode for the parts one at a time.  Is there a way?

  Yes, but a bit awkward at the moment.. on the output manager is a shaft override so when selected for a gear will change that gears shaft diameter for the hole by adding offset to it..negat ive or positive. The plateing facility will allow an option for bearing OD's in a plate..

So, if I understan d correctly, generate the parts twice and pick the ones with the right holes.  In my case the pawls would need 1/8" holes, the links and wheel 1/4".

Do the pawls need spacers on the curved pieces so the links don't lift too high, or are they just decoratio n?  On your picture it likes you did a little taping there.

Kirk

[ArtF]

Kirk:

   I generated the pawl parts twice, the curved parts are meant to have movable spacers to adjust for linkage rise..but , I find them not to be necessary, so I just put tape ( now a clip of plexi) across the curved bit so the link hits is squarely to the end of the curved part. Thats works, so it looks like no adjustmen t is necessary, just weighting as you can see I added weight to each wheel part to balance it, no other adjustmen t was necessary .
  As to the shaft sizes, the deadbeat will have the size specified as shaft diam at the top, the pawls will have the selection fo shaft dia on the tab screen. I dint find I needed any differenc es as my pawl shafts are all the saem size.

Art

[ArtF]

Hi Guys:

   I forgot to mention as this release was a bit early..th at Steve Fox, one of our users donated a program he wrote
to calculate all possible gear combinati ons for a clock train given how many gear/pinion sets you wish to use. As of this release,
youll find the program in the GearoticM otion folder. Its called ClockGear ing.exe, there is a small doc file on its usage in the folder
as well. Thanks to Steve for sharing this with us, I hope it helps.

Thx
Art

[ArtF]

Hi Guys:

   A quick snapshot of the new plating facilitie s output. While I cant really generate any type of case for you ,
what I can do is give you a tabbed, ( or not tabbed ) box to hold your gears for testing, or as a case to be modified
that at least is certain to be properly cenetered fro your shaft bearings. .

 Thought you might to see how its going..

Art