1 Jun
2006
1 Jun
'06
5:12 p.m.
I am wondering
aobut making lantern pinions the right size. Yes, the
tooth profile on the meshing gear in the plotter would be wrong, but
would it matter? And a lantern pinion is a lot easier to make than the
original type.
I am unfamiliar with a lantern pinion... what is that? from solid metal, you have 2 disks fixed to the spindle
with holes round
them, nad pins (called 'trundles') going through said
holes acting as the
teeth. The result looks like a little cage around the shaft.
The advantage, when it comes to making them, is that you only need a
dividing head (to put the holes round the circle at an even spacing), you
don't need the right milling cutter to cut the spaces between the teeth
as you do for a normal-type of pinion.
The disadvantage here is that the teeth on the meshing gear should really
have a different profile. I don't think that would matter in one of these
plotters, though.
-tony