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Posted by Wayne C. Gramlich on May 18, 2010, 6:49 pm
l o wrote:
> Thank you Wayne and John for those links. The challenge with places
> like this is that they have too much to choose from. I had hoped to
> choose common sizes, so that if there were to be a production run, the
> choices I make would be cost effective. Perhaps I should just let
> cost drive my decision on the prototype parts. A cheap gear is
> probably a commodity... hmm, or perhaps an odd size they are trying to
> get rid of! As I think more about it, to a toy maker who is going to
> make 100,000 of something, ALL sizes are commodity sizes.
When you make 100K of something, custom molds are cost effective.
For a gear box, the spur reduction gears (my terminolgy) where
one large gear has a smaller gear on the same shaft are typically
molded together.
> Part of what took me down this road is that I became aware of how
> accessible rapid prototyping is nowadays. Some of the materials are
> strong enough to be functional as they are. Shapeways.com certainly
> has a nice web interface for their work, but I am sure there are a
> zillion other rapid prototyping service bureaus. The bottom line is
> that prototyping a plastic toy or robot is within anyone's reach. No
> need to do injection molding for a prototype.
>
> Being unemployed (the 2nd time in as many years) is actually the main
> reason I am doing this. I have to design something!
>
> Oh, by the way, the link for Stock Drives that you gave had an extra
> w. It should read, http://www.sdp-si.com
I feel your pain trying to navigate the sdp-si web site. I find it
particularly frustrating that you have to click on each part
number to get the price.
I will also point out the Lego gear system. It is lacks a large range
of sizes, but it is still pretty flexible.
-Wayne
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> gears. These would be the types of gears and motors used in cheap
> toys. I realize I can take some cheap toys and gears apart, but even
> if I were to get really lucky and find exactly the right sizes, they
> don't list the manufacturer and specs for those parts on the box.
>
> Is there a source that people go to when they want to prototype
> motorized toys and need to select parts?
>
> Joe Dunfee