GearHeads Corner

Art,

I would love to see the photos of your "bat" (and i think I'm not the only one... (grin!)

and Mark, thank you for posting your photos of your scimitar as well as your Clayton Boyer project...they were inspiring to say the least!

best,

kobi

Art, or anyone who has built a "Scimitar"  I understand the need for the bearings, exactly how many bearings are used/needed in the construction?  Does each component require two, one on each side of the part as it moves on the fixed brass rods?  Planning on trying to make one this Winter and need to shop for "parts".  Brass rods can be found in big box stores, have seen some bearings on-line.  Need to learn how many are used.  Hardwood vs Baltic Ply ? Also, can the "ticker" be made to run quieter?

Thanks again.

    Bill

Hi Bill :

  Ill have to make a count of what I used. I tend to overuse if anything. I get bearings from Ebay by the lot
when I see 1/4" bearing, specially if they have a flange. If a piece of wood is to spin on a rod, I like to press
a 1/4" bearing on front and back for strength , keeps the wood shafthole from denting and going oval.

  You can sometimes find bronze 1/4" collars and such that can work as well. Theres no real load, so its all just about friction and helping the wood stay in good shape. Not required, but I like ot add them. As to sound, one could put a
piece of felt on the impact zone.. should quiet it down, but then.. a ticker usually only gets run 10-15 minutes at a time to amuse visitors. :)

  So while I like to do both sides with bearings, its not a necessity. My vanes too were all on bearing ( only 1 ), but
they were only 1/4" thick, so only one would fit. The most important one is that central shaft, it has to spin freely..

Art


Art

Hi All,
I'm not as precise as many of you and in fact I have better luck with no bearings at all and no lubricant either and go for a loose fit.  I have a clock that's been since 2005 with wood on wood and just keeps on ticking.

My Scimitar likewise has no "bearings' as such however I do use brass tubing from the hobby shop and "piano wire" 1/8" for some of my shafts, I do that more for alignment than friction.

I pack my Scimitar to craft markets as a display piece and have no problems with it running - I do keep the run times short because of its noise.  If I wanted to quiet it down I'd try putting leather on the impulse face - that might work.

I have tried in vain to print out the files for Scimitar :'(   I downloaded multiple converters...no joy. My computer has so many "scimitar" files on it now I'm completely lost.
  Does anyone have one to one files that can be printed for gluing to wood for cutting on the scroll saw? Please help, I've pulled out most of my hair in frustration!! I've actually tried tracing the parts on the computer screen, but couldn't find a good view of total parts !!

Desperate,

Thanks,

Eric

Eric:

  Sorry for the lack of drawings for that. Here is an overview drawing with all the pieces I used.
Ive put them in 3 formats, but as I use vectric for my dxf's, I have no easy way to give you a way to
print them out.. Let me know how you make out with these one..

Art

Thanks Art,
  The svg file will allow me to trace parts on my monitor if nothing else, so that makes me happy. Doesn't want to print all the tiles for some reason...I get 4 pages 2 blank and 2 partial of the scimitar shape.
  I shall pursue it further, but as I said....I'm not unhappy about tracing them out. I plan on making one or two for Christmas gifts.

Are the tiles 1 to 1 ? I realize shaft holes and such will be up to me...but will all the pieces fit as displayed in the svg file?

If I get printing sorted, I'll be sure to post the solution. I'm sure there are lots of folks looking for the same thing I am.

Thanks again,

Eric

Eric:

  In theory it should all be 1:1..

  I did a deep search and found my original project file for the gears and
escapement. I include them here as in Gearotic you can tell it to print them
at 1:1 , so at least  the important parts are correct.

  These gears are such arte the most important part, the rest is easily modified as to
size in order to fit these..

  Hopefully, this will help some...

Art

Thanks Art, much appreciated.

Eric

No Problem, hope it helps.

Art