Last Spring I was blown away by the incredibly clever mechanical mechanisms displayed at the Da Vinci exhibit at the Tech Museum of Innovation. In particular I was taken by the simple way in which he figured out to build a saw mill, powered by a water wheel. The mechanism use two half lantern gears attached to a common shaft, they alternatively engage gear pegs on a larger wheel so the wheel turns back and forth, irregardless of which way the input is rotated.
The model is made of 1/4" inch birch plywood and 1/4" dowel rod. The model can be cut out with a jug saw, circle cutter, and the holes drilled with a 1/4" twist bit, but much better results can be obtained with a laser cutter.
The dowels are cut by hand. I have used Google Sketchup to export the drawings to a DXF file.
Close up of lantern gear engaging main wheel.
YouTube Videos More models.
Photo Album - Makers Faire
My Robot got runover by a cupcake. My GoPHR robot. PIMP and GoPHR side by side. Some young fans. Now how does he do that?