I saw this posted a couple of months ago: https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/gear-cutting-machine-preliminary-notes/4392 I was wondering what this is in? Is it working? I’d like to make some gears that look like the gears you get in old clocks, like these:
If this machine can make gears like this and if it’s working, is it possible to get an induction? I’m not sure what the usernames of the people that worked on it before are to tag them!
Not yet!
It came with a label saying don’t touch unless you really know what you’re doing (or words to that effect)
@jonathanjo and I looked at it on the day it came and Jonathan has written a tools page entry on it.
It will require some work and a RA before it can be commissioned.
Ah ok, I’ll keep an eye on the forums then and see if any progress is made on it!
Do they need to be made of metal? If not, laser cutter might be the best solution 
Yeah I was considering that as a back up, I’ll give it a go and see how they fare and if I can make them look like real metal. If not I’ll keep salvaging old clocks and hope I can find enough gears of the right sizes!
Or they can be laser cut in metal. I’ll have an order going in this week and I can add some bits in 0.9mm brass if you like.
Are they functional? You can buy them by the bag on eBay/Aliexpress.
Oh can we cut metal? I thought metal wasn’t allowed in the laser cutter.
On eBay and Aliexpress I usually tend to only find either small gears used in watches, or decorative gears for jewellery. I see occasional listings for the larger clock gears, but they’re usually way more expensive than buying an old clock movement.
I’d like them to be functional but only in as much as I want them to interlock and rotate, they won’t actually be driving anything.
Not with our machine, no; but @RichM has a contact that can put lasers though almost anything.
I use a laser cutting company for bits and pieces for work. They have a minimum order charge so in the past I’ve added members little projects to my orders. I’m working on one now, so if you get me dxfs asap I can get you a quote and go from there.
Which reminds me - @StudioNelle did you want some of those Egyptian bits in thicker brass? I think I can get 2.5mm done off the peg.
Aah I see. I don’t know exactly what I’d need yet (I was mostly posting this to see if it was even an option), so I’ll pass for now, try some other approaches and maybe join in the next order. Thanks for offering!
No worries.
I use this software to generate wooden and acrylic gears for laser cutting on the SLMS laser cutter. It works well for big gears, nor sure how it would work for little ones.
Oh that looks amazing, thank you! I’ll definitely give it a go 
We had some gold mirror acrylic donated the other day. It’s a bit more bling than brass mind you
Ooh, I’ll make some gears and give them a spray and see how they look. I’ll need to give them a bit of weathering to get the look I want, anyway.
Yes, that would be perfect. I’m sending file over now.
Cheers!
