90° bevel-gear drive
Mechanical“A 90° bevel-gear drive for a hand-cranked kinetic display — 2:1 ratio, both shafts 6 mm with D-flats, held in mesh by a small open frame. I will print in FDM.”
Six printed parts — frame, two bevel gears, two D-shafts and a crank. Hit Exploded view to pull the mesh apart.
Mesh
- Axes at exactly 90.0°; centre separation 35.777 mm against a nominal cone distance of 35.777 mm.
- 0.43 mm of backlash at the pitch circle.
- The D-flats are 1.0 mm deep, not the 0.5 mm of a steel D-shaft — a 0.5 mm flat is one extrusion wide and won't print or drive.
Printing
- Every part sits flat except the pinion: its tooth rim overhangs the hub by 2.5 mm. Support it or accept a rough band — it's clear of every mating face.
- Print both shafts upright — the journals need a round surface, and crank torque runs about 2.8 MPa across the layers against roughly 25 MPa allowable.
Assembly — the order is forced in two places
- Output shaft up through the base from underneath, flange into the counterbore.
- Press the gear down onto it until the back face meets the boss — that face sets the mesh.
- Drop the pinion straight down into mesh.
- Input shaft in from outside, through the arm and the pinion.
- The four M3 screws, then the crank last — it sits over one of the screw holes.
Gears and crank are a 0.2 mm push fit on the D-flats; the journals run at 0.4 mm clearance.
