Jim... Regarding the link...I want to applaud you for seeing a mechanism and then seeing an automata on top of it (within it). Have a good weekend. -Jim in San Diego-

Hi Jim... Well, that video certainly fills the brain, doesn't it? 3D printing to the rescue. I love it. Looking forward to seeing the finished assembly. Thanks for sharing this. Cheers -Jim-

Hi Gus... Glad I could help. I do use chain (usually plastic (Delrin)) occasionally when I need to maintain timing. And occasionally I make gears. I suspect that I've not made near enough gears to

Good morning Jim... Thanks for the info. Your post makes me more comfortable with my pending purchase. Yes, Fusion 360 is complicated...but it's capable of most anything...so worth the

I'm somewhat new to the group but have been studying mechanisms and mechanical devices for years. This video intrigues me very much... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=holIbm8Dnrg the movement is

Jim, Thank you, that is very informative. I am now convinced that for this work, motor is the way to go. I will think of doing motor only with a removable hand crank assembly for construction, and

I have only ever used PLA and it is strong enough for moving gears.

That's a great question... I wouldn't say that printing is tedious, but learning Fusion 360 gave me fits. I have used it for over a year and still consider myself a novice. There are plenty of youtube

Jim... This is all very interesting. Tell me, when 3D printing a project such as this...is it a tedious process?...or do things simply print correctly? If in the end, you needed 50 parts...how many

What a great idea!

Hi Gus... Regarding motors: I have only used AC synchronous gear motors. They run at a specific speed. I use the 10 and 20 rpm most often. The photo you mention is a bunch of things that are

Please forgive me if this post gets duplicated.

Yes. Very close. I switched phones and lost pictures of the guts. There are 4 vertical shafts each spinning at different speeds, using a single DC motor in the base. There are 25 spinning rings. Each

Good morning Jim... Thanks for your response. Yes, Fusion 360 does look good. I've got it loaded up and I work with it occasionally. Covid-19 has caused a delay in my printer purchase. I had been

Morning Gus... Give me another day or so to respond to this. One way bearings are interesting...and I want to respond with some graphics. Cheers -Jim-

I highly recommend Fusion 360. The gear design function is a breeze and conversion to a 3D printer format is a snap. The gear shown printed in about 15 minutes and the PLA filament cost was probably

Hi Jim, Thanks for all that info. Have used DC motors, were they powerful, if so, guessing they can be speed controlled. What is a one way bearing ? Is it possible to label the photo you posted under

Good morning Jim... Nice referral. These are quality animations...sort of like a modern-day 507 Mechanical Movements. I'll add this link to the group video page later today. Nice animations. Many

Hi Ron... Thanks for the links. At papermodelers.com I note this automata and toys link. I'm going to bookmark this URL and study over the next few weeks. Cheers -Jim-

I've got a slip ring on order...it's shipping from China. Actually, I ordered 3. I ordered them on 7 May. According to tracking, they have arrived on the east coast of the US. I'm guessing that