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/2010/1011...96a/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..