Contents
What wood is used for gears?
It’s vital to use good plywood for the gears. Ordinary spruce or fir plywood has layers that are too coarse, and the wood is not strong enough. But the Baltic birch plywood, with thin birch layers throughout, makes for an excellent material. You may also have some success using UHMW plastic, Masonite or Phenolic.
What is the best wood to make a clock?
In particular, you’ll want to take a look at Baltic birch plywood. This plywood is made from thin slices of hardwood, which gives you great strength, rigidity and dimensional stability. Baltic birch plywood is also visually appealing to look at, and is affordable.
What’s the best way to make a gear?
Start by making a template for the gear shape. There are several ways to make a gear template. You can use the free online gear template generator , or my more sophisticated gear template generator, or, if you are using the box joint jig plans or the router lift plans, you can just print the appropriate sized templates straight from the plans.
What’s the best way to glue wood gears?
I always glue it on by putting a very thin coat of wood glue around the edge of the gear and then pressing the paper template on. Next, use an awl to punch a divot in the center between every two gear teeth.
What kind of wood do you use to make gears?
Ordinary spruce or fir plywood has layers that are too coarse, and the wood is not strong enough. But the Baltic birch plywood, with thin birch layers throughout, makes for an excellent material. You may also have some success using UHMW plastic, Masonite or Phenolic. But regular boards or normal plywood are not recommended.
How are divots used to make wooden gears?
The divots made with the awl help to center the point of the drill on every hole. Note that the drill cuts a bit more away than the template would suggest, but that’s ok. Because my gears have to mesh at 90 degrees, it It’s best to tilt the table when making the cuts on the sides of the teeth.