Shaft material, bearings, and fastening gears to shafts

[Tmasters]

I've just started with Gearotic and a TAZ 5 printer, and it's wonderful!  My first few trial gears came out great.  But as I see all the mechanical marvels on thingiverse and elsewhere, and am now making my own gears for silly machines to come, I wonder about the practical aspects, especially shafts.  What material do tinkerers use for shafts?  Where do you buy that material?  How do you fasten gears to shafts so they don't rotate or slide?  Do most people just use nylon bushings in the framework in which shafts rotate?  Where is a good place to buy those?  Thanks for any hints to get me started in actually building things!

Tim

[John T]

Hi Tim,
If you're working in wood or plastic, I would recommend that you go to the nearest hobby store.  They have a good supply shafting materials (piano wire) in various sizes and brass tubing that will fit perfectly over the piano wire.  I usually use 1/8" but you can easily go up or down from this size.  The Brass tubing makes a good bearing surface but if you're in wood - steel on wood will last a long long time.  To stop gears from turning on shafts I will grind a small flat spot on the shaft and thread an Allen Screw through the boss and tighten on to the shaft.  Tighten gently if you're working with wood. 

[ArtF]

Tim:

  If your 3d printing your gears you can also use hexstock for the shafts and print the gears you want locked
with a hex shaft hole, and print the gears you want to spin with a round hole..

Art