Make Gears with Radial Vector Generator...

[JLT]

Have been dabbling on and off with building a wooden geared clock, and along the way crafted a software tool to assist in generating radial vectors (ie, gears, escape wheels, ratchet wheels, snail wheels, etc) for the purpose of cutting the parts on the CarveWright / Compucarve. Based on resources found on the Beall Tool website (http://www.bealltool.com/clockforum), included in the tool among other profiles is the ability to generate the grasshopper escapement per Guy D Aydlett's well written paper, along with cycloidal gears using the module method.

Am offering this software tool as freeware (with all its warts) in the event that others might find it useful. The core application is written in VB6, and in order to make it easily extensible, the individual radial profiles are written in VBScript. This also permits scrutiny of the mathematical algorithms used to generate the various profiles. Currently it will export the rendered profiles in the following formats: BMP, Adobe Illustrator, and SVG. In the case of the Adobe Illustrator format, this can be converted into CarveWright / Compucarve Designer files (MPCs).

Simply extract the "Radial Vector Generator v1.2" folder. For further information, please see the readme.txt file in the attached ZIP file.

Note: The software tool is attached to this post as a ZIP file, and has been scanned with Symantec v11.0.6005.562.

2016-01-17 JLT: Updated and attached to post the latest Radial Vector Generator software v1.5a. Virus scanned with Windows Defender.

[gregsolano]

Wow I need a dictionary to figure out half of these two paragraphs. LOL. I am sure this is great but I don't want to go back to school and math was never my strong point anyway.

[lilskip]

That is a great Program, It just makes me want to make something with gears. Maybe and over complicated way to turn on the light switch or something. Hmmm the posibilities are endless. Thanks for the program. Great work.

[dvel56]

Can you post some examples of what this program will do? Also have you used this software to create and carve any projects or parts on the carvewright?

Dvel56

[DickB]

Very nice! Thanks for posting this!

[JLT]

Can you post some examples of what this program will do? Also have you used this software to create and carve any projects or parts on the carvewright?



I used a precursor to the utility to create a prototype wooden clock, using the 1/8" cutting bit (see "Prototype.JPG"). I never finished this prototype clock as it was simply a proof of concept, but it would run for a couple of hours on a manual winding. I really wanted to make a more sophisticated wooden clock, and after one of the senior members turned me onto the 1/16" cutting bit, I worked through the kinks of cutting smaller wheels and pinions on the CW (see "Clock - Work in Progress.JPG"). This wooden clock currently sits in the "land of undone projects", as along the way I had also been dabbling with trying to make a replica of a celestial calculator (see recent Projects post), which I'm now pressing to complete.

The utility I posted greatly simplifies the cutting of wheels, pinions, escapements, and other radial vectors. It also pre-calculates the offset of the cutting bit, to provide for a more accurate cut on the CW. I posted the utility a few months back on the Beall Tool clock forum, where it's already been put to good use. Essentially, the tool takes out the tedium of manually cutting wheels and pinions, although some might find that therapeutic.

(Along the way, I might note, the good folks at LHR enhanced Designer to better handle large vector drawings.)

The tool itself, though, doesn't replace the overall design aspect. Anyone who's built a wooden mechanism will tell you that more wood ends up in the scrap heap than on the device itself. See "Scraps.JPG" ; - ).

As a current example, I've made some simple modifications to the "Radiant Lines" script, and am using it to generate the front dial on the celestial calculator I'm making (see sample MPC, which you might have to zoom in on to see the vector). Compare with http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101124/full/468496a/box/2.html, which is what I'm angling for. Thus, the utility takes the tedium out of having to line up, in this case, the 365 line segments in a circular fashion, and lets me instead focus on the nuances of engraving the cast acrylic, which is far less predictable.

So, for the past day, rather than having to draw a mind numbing number of line segments, I've been more productively trying to figure out how to engrave this MPC on cast acrylic, as early testing on scrap showed that the 60 deg bit quickly becomes gummed up with acrylic. After about a dozen experiments, I've arrived at solution involving packing tape, carpet tape, a benzomatic torch, and water based white paint. (See final result at the bottom of "Engraving Cast Acrylic.JPG".)

[SteveEJ]

I just got a warning on a Trojan Injector from BitDefender Antivirus on this program. Please note: I am NOT saying it is intentional BUT it looks like the OP's computer might have a virus or more specifically a Trojan Injector on their system. The info link is: Trojan.Heur.Lm0 and there is not much information on it yet other than is seems to be very effective and a repackaged version of an earlier injector. I hope it is a false alarm as I like the program! Treat this info as you will and be cautious as the virus writers are getting VERY good at what they do.

Sorry to the OP but I needed to bring it up.

[JLT]

Steve, I just downloaded a fresh copy of the ZIP, and ran Symantec v11.0.6005.562 (with the latest live updates) against it, and it returned clean... Are you saying that if you do the same, that BitDefender is indicating there's a trojan?!

[SteveEJ]

Yes. That is what I am saying.. BitDefender showed me the signature and I did a search and found 3-4 items about it. One was even a group that wanted to use it for injecting. I am not a specialist on these things so I just wanted to let folks know.

[SteveEJ]

Yes.. I just tried to download it and Bit Defender 2011 stopped it. Please see the attached picture..

43047

[liquidguitars]

JLT,

Wow this is very cool work.. nice job!

[JLT]

Steve, sorry about not getting back to you sooner... unfortunately the day job gets in the way. ; - )

Downloaded free version of BitDefender 2009, and ran the Deep Scan on my entire machine. Unfortunately, it wiped out (without quarantining, oy) all the EXE's that I had created. Nothing else was detected. The VB Script Control that I'm using in the Radial Vector Generator is a very flexible tool, so I can see where it would raise the eyebrows of a virus scanner. But, I've taken the precaution of setting the "UseSafeSubset" mode, which forces the VB scripts to execute in safe mode and disallow potentially harmful actions.

Basically, BitDefender appears to be erring on the side of caution, and anything suspect appears to be flagged. They permit the ability to submit false positives via their website, which I tried to do, but it only allows you to do so if you have licensed the product, which I'm not about to buy...

[SteveEJ]

Thanks for checking it out. I have been hit too many times to take chances. Most of the time it is by new stuff that are not in the databases yet. I will try to download it again and send it to them so they can check it out and clear it in their database.

Thanks again!

[JLT]

In an effort to save others the learning curve I went through, the following are some basic tips I follow to cut out vector profiles using baltic birch:

* I predominately use the 1/16" cutting bit (not to be confused with the carving bit).

* Use double sided carpet tape to hold down the large wheels. For the pinions (small wheels), I don't cut all the way through the 1/4" birch plywood, but instead, cut down to and maybe a touch into the last ply. This last ply holds the pinion while being cut. I also am at the ready to hit the Stop button should the pinion appear to break loose while cutting. Then, after removing the board from the sled, I punch the pinion out, and remove (via chisel or sander) the last ply.

* Use a sled with a replaceable piece of 1/4" material (eg, underlayment or luan) under the birch plywood. As I cut the various vectors, this 1/4" underlayment will begin to be cut up too, and have less and less surface to hold the carpet tape. I then flip it, use the other side, and then eventually replace it altogether.

* Use a scraper and then damp cloth to remove the carpet tape residue from the 1/4" underlayment, and then let it dry. Otherwise the carpet tape won't hold onto the 1/4" underlayment as well.

* Cut one wheel or pinion at a time on the sled. Since the Designer software doesn't let you order the cuts, if you were to have all the wheels and pinions on a single project, the sequence is such that all the gear profiles will be cut first, followed by all the center arbor holes via the drill function. The problem is that after all the moving around performing the vector cuts, the likelihood of drift is higher, and subsequently the arbors are less precisely placed relative to the actual gear profile.

* Also note that the resulting vector and arbor from the Radial Vector Generator is sometimes not exactly centered on the 15" x 15" MPC file, but instead is sometimes off by .007" in both the X & Y direction. Have never figured out whether it was something caused by my program, ai2mpc, or designer. The arbor is still centered relative to the gear profile, but if you replace the drill hole with another arbor hole (eg, a square bossed arbor as I have done in the past), that .007", if not taken into account, will result in a slightly offset arbor hole, which is not good...

[liquidguitars]

Also note that the resulting vector and arbor from the Radial Vector
Generator is sometimes not exactly centered on the 15" x 15" MPC file, but
instead is sometimes off by .007" in both the X & Y direction. Have never
figured out


It's Designer... I surprised you can get centered as well as you do..

[kool69sporty]

JLT, this has been a great post. I've downloaded and tried the Vector Generator; very nice (and no problems with gremlins, either). Your recent post about carving one gear at a time is so logical, thnx for the idea. The issue you raised about carves being off-center (seconded by LG) does present a problem for tight tolerance fits. Is the problem predictable or random? Anybody have a solution?
Regards, Joe

[DickB]

I took a different approach. I split the gear vectors into sections, essentially isolating two teeth for smaller gears and four teeth for larger ones. I cut these teeth to depth of .2" and the rest of the gear to .25", in effect creating tabs .05" thick. I cut four gears at once with no problem. I designed my gears to be cut with the standard 1/8" bit. I used the CraveWright to drill only a locating hole in the center of the gears. In Designer I placed a 1/16 hole .1" deep using the 1/16" cutting bit, but then I substituted the standard carving bit when I ran the project. This places a nice centering hole for my standard drill bits and drill press.

43489

Here is what I have so far:
http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?17999-Wood-gear-electromechanical-clock-project&p=151847#post151847

[JLT]

The issue you raised about carves being off-center (seconded by LG) does present a problem for tight tolerance fits. Is the problem predictable or random? Anybody have a solution?
Regards, Joe

It's only a problem if you choose to replace the generated arbor. For example, zoom in and take a close look at the arbor and the centering of the attached gear profile. You will notice that it's not centered on this MPC "palette", and thus you must take necessary precautions if you need to replace the arbor drill hole, with say, a square hole.


@ DickB, nice technique breaking apart the vector and inserting tabs manually! Never thought of that, and will definitely give the technique a try. Also, the CW does an excellent job on cutting out the arbor holes. I usually cut out a series of test holes, say for K&B brass 3/8" tubing, a range from 0.370" - 0.380" incremented by .001", then test fit the tubing. The fit is noticeably different, even with only a 1/1000" change between test holes! For K&B brass 3/8" tubing, for instance, I've arrived at using 0.372"...

[DickB]

My machine tends to make oblong holes, so I prefer to use the drill press. Interesting to note the difference between specified and actual hole size. I suppose there is some amount of runout that is making the holes a little larger than specified.

[ktjwilliams]

All this sounds very interesting... I recently spent a week cutting gears on my band saw and Scroll saw in an attempt at making a wood gear clock I have a plan for... Drilling holes exact center was a challenge.. The gears were pretty good but still there were subtle differences.. What I had to do was drill the center hole to size then place a dowel on a board mounted to my disc sander... Rotated the gear on the dowel against the sanding disc to ensure exact center.. Now I'm rambling... Long story short ended up having to cut several of the gears over... Very annoying !! I was trying to figure out a way to have the gears cut on the CW/CC from the blue print I have of all the gears escapements and the other parts to put it all together and make it work... Needless to say I lost interest in continuing the build.. Now this has perk up my interest again.... Hmmm !!!

[lynnfrwd]

Bumping this thread. I also added to the name, so people would know what they were seeing.

[oscarl48]

I am relatively new to CW but have been doing woodworking as a hobby for over 20 years. One of the reasons I actually purchased the CW was to design and build wood clocks. Now that I have the CW I realize I have no clue how to design a clock but I am learning. This tool will come incredibly useful to me as I pursue this endeavor. Thank you.

On a side note it is sad that Microsoft abandoned all support to VB6 a long time ago. Great package.

Downloaded the software and easy to convert the svg to jpg or gif with coreldraw. Looks pretty good in designer 2. Can't wait to make some sawdust.

[DickB]

If you search the internet you will find many clock plans including some free ones. They may give you some ideas.

[DickB]

Just this morning I ran the latest version Radial vector Generator 1.5a no problem. This afternoon when I tried Windows Defender flagged it as having a trojan and removed the file from my computer. Same thing happened on my shop computer. In fact Defender (which is built into Windows 10) won't even allow a download of v1.5a now, although it will allow a download the earlier version that is posted.

[oscarl48]

Dick,

Thanks for the info. Odd. Recently I've been trying to look at the gearotic site and my antivirus has not allowed me on the site with a dire warning about a trojan virus. I wonder if there is a theme.

I can now make gears at will with blender but it would be nice to see how they work together and have a software do all the math for you on the gear ratios.

- O

[JLT]

Dick,


I have Windows 10 also, along with the latest Virus and Spyware definitions (version 1.241.72.0) for Windows Defender, and v1.5a doesn't indicate a threat on my workstation. I just now downloaded v1.5a, and it cleanly scanned it. Of course Windows does throw a warning when I go to run it after downloading, but it still runs. I suspect Windows Defender is seeing the "eval" function that I've embedded in the utility to interpret the script files, and throwing that as a concern, despite my setting the eval to "UseSafeSubset" of instructions, effectively putting the execution of any scripts in a "sandbox". Not sure why your Windows Defender is acting differently than mine...


Under settings of Windows Defender, there is a means to add an exclusion, but believe the file has to already be on your workstation...


R, Jon

[DickB]

Well, this is a mystery and a very frustrating one at that. Defender's behavior is to remove the "threat" without option, so one it decides the file is a threat it is gone, making it difficult to list it as an exception.

I disabled Defender on my older Windows 7 and reinstalled the program and that is working. So for the time being I am at least operational on one machine.

On my Windows 10 computer my Spyware definitions were a bit older (version 1.241.50.0 I believe) so I updated them. I'm still fooling around with this machine to get the program to run again - right now when I click to open the program nothing happens. At least Defender is not removing the file. But I don't know what is going on.

[atta456]

Very nice! Thanks for posting this!