GearHeads Corner

Hi Art,

I cut bevel gears the other day (epicycloidal teeth) and prepared the stock based on the DXF output from Gearotic. Apparently the DXF is wrong. See the attached image. The black profile is the one output from Gearotic. The blue one is extracted (using a CAD program) from the STL file generated by Gearotic.

While at this, I would like to ask for something. As you know, CAD programs don't work with STL files. So, an STL from Gearotic cannot be edited/modified in a CAD program. However, the STL output from Gearotic on its own isn't good enough, as it does merely the teeth, while I need the whole gear including the hub. And sometimes there may be special requirements for the hub profile (several diameters). So preparing a blank for such is quiet a piece of work trying to combine the STL with the CAD generated hub. Would you please consider a means of creating custom hub in Gearotic?

Thanks,
Dan

Hi:

  Thx for the note. I may have used the wrong pitch cone calculation when making the
blanking outline.I will check it out to see.  I hear what your saying for the STL's, they are very hard to edit,
but STL's are constructions, unlike most formats, and how they get constructed and in what order plays
a huge part. It has to be one of the most lamented things for 3d printers, the difficulty
in editing an STL. I will consider what it would take to add a collar to bevels, their very hard
to design by algorithm, but Ill see if instead of capping the back with a tesselation  I can
add a collar to that mix. Collars were a late addon for 3d printers, they seem to work well in
gears generally, but bevels are a very odd man out when it comes to the way the construction
works, tortuous logic in there in many ways..  Ill see whats possible.

Thx
Art

Thanks Art!

Dan