Gears

How it started (quoted tweet) / How it's going (just arrived)

Finally got most of the bugs out of a major update to my homebrew python milling library... I can now generate tool paths for complex polygons like involute gears!

As a bonus, I can also now clear pockets inside convex polygons

The simple path offset algorithm that I started with couldn't handle shapes like this

The new algorithm calculates the next offset where the shape of the path changes, using that information to incrementally get to the desired offset in steps. This is similar to how a "straight skeleton" is constructed. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_skeleton

When shit gets real… and precision is fixed

I can now cut gears with my homebrew cnc milling code

Wheeee… a 2:1 gear reduction

More fun with gears

Scaling up production and populating a gearbox… an 8:1 reduction so far

Ok, I’m going to call this a successful test of my new code: a 256:1 gear reduction fidget spinner, or something, not sure what