Free or inexpensive 2D cad for clock wheels

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 30/06/2020 11:18:13:

Good, means you've 'clicked' so the rest should follow. Sorry if patronising but I'll show all the steps in case any are new.

Last post left QCAD with 3 circles as the hub and rim of a wheel.

Next button to know is Reset/Idle under 'File'. It goes back up a level. Press it to get back to civilization:

To draw a spoke we need a Line Tool, top right:

Pressing it shows them in the left-pane:

The first four are common cases. The first, draw a line between any two points is most used. Draw a line connecting the two inner circles.

It's a construction line to be deleted later. (Construction lines are often put on a Layer. Simple drawings can happily be done on one layer, but more are great for complicated work. Drawing a wheel template is simple, layers not needed.)

Next press the parallel line button (Red & Black lines like an H):

It makes parallel copies of a selected line, distance set in a dialogue:

Use it to create parallels either side of the construction line.

The construction can be deleted leaving a single crude spoke. Next rotate and copy around the wheel. This is done with a modification tool, selected by pressing the red pencil button.

Press the rotate button, top right. It rotates and optionally copies selected objects around a point, here the wheel centre. More than one line is selected by clicking with the Shift key down.

The rotate dialogue:

Do multiple copies, say 5. Also set the Angle (a) to 360/5 & press OK

OK but not pretty. The spokes can be rounded with another mod tool:

Spoke ends can be rounded to a set radius:

Tidying up can be done with the Mod delete tools. The easiest is only in the Pro Version - 'Break Out Segment' deletes a line between two lines, making it straightforward to clean up the spoke. Worth paying for.

I rotated straight spokes and tidied up after. Better to draw one spoke correctly first and to copy the others from it. Once a single spoke has been drawn any reasonable number may be coped and equally spaced around the hub.

Hope it makes sense?

Dave

Posted by Alan Wood 4 on 30/06/2020 10:05:19:

Look at Gear Wheel Designer by Graham Baxter. This allows all manner of wheel design, spokes, centres etc. It can output as a DXF into Fusion or similar 3D CAD or it can give you a CNC GCode to cut the wheel. I have had a great deal of success with it. Cost is circa USD100. See my various blog entries here by searching on Gearwheel

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 30/06/2020 09:27:45:

Please forgive the apparent digression, but now seems a good place to reference this : **LINK**

http://www.clickspringprojects.com/wheel-crossing-jig.html

... creating a CAD template of JMW’s jig would be a very good start, Chris

MichaelG.

Posted by JasonB on 30/06/2020 17:11:33:

Although mostly regarded as 3D Fusion 360 will happily produce 2D images for free

Posted by Bazyle on 30/06/2020 18:06:15:

I think producing a drawing is not a lot of help, unless you want to check dimensions that will give a good appearance. Sticking it to the job is only good for getting to 20thou of final size and the paper lines will be all scuffed up by sawing.
I suggest as it must have a hole in the middle you decide on the size of the middle circle, the outer rim, the arms. Make a little button that fits the centre hole and has a step that is diameter = thickness of arm.
Set the wheel in the lathe centred up, use a pencil only to mark circles 1mm less than rim circle and 1mm > centre circle.
Use the button to set a sharp tool/scriber in the toolpost to lower then upper edge of the arms and mark the wheel. Index round using the chuck jaws or some other method. Note you are marking to less than the inner and outer limits because you don't want scribed lines in the surface that is not cut away.
Then set the tool to the inner / outer circles and mark those lines being ever so careful not to mark past the arm lines. Best to end up with no marks within 1mm of each corner.
It helps to make a hardened button at the inner circle diameter to use as a filing stop to protect that. When filing the arm edges mount in the vice with the edge of the arm along the top of the hardened vice jaw to be the filing limit. Don't try for rounded corners - sharp ones are much easier unless you are using cnc.

All this is in books and articles by Malcolm Wild for example. He and others have details of jigs and gizmos for marking out wheels and explain the techniques of using safe edge files.

Well thanks for the post Bazyle as you can see lots for me to read up on and learn. I note Chris from ClickSpring says he uses a Sharpie to mark out to avoid scribing in the wrong place. I am enquiring from M wild over his spoke wheel. As always some folk do it this way other another at the moment its just looking at the possibilities and taking a view. i have noted your advice.

Chris