Fully Parametric 3D Printable Gear Generator – Fusion 360

Fully Parametric Gear Generator for Fusion 360

VIDEO:

This is a fully parametric Fusion 360 file designed to create custom, 3D-printable gears.

Instead of downloading a fixed STL and adapting your project around it, you can modify the main parameters directly in Fusion 360 and generate gears specifically optimized for your application and your 3D printer.

The file contains two complete gears and their mounting system. By changing the parameters, you can control the gear ratio, size, helix angle, pressure angle, tolerances and other important characteristics.

Included components

The Fusion 360 project is organized into the following components:

• Gear 1

• Gear 2

• Base 1

• Lock Base 1

• Base 2

• Lock Base 2

• Base Lower

Gear 1 and Gear 2 contain the actual gears together with additional bodies that can be shown or hidden depending on your application.

These include the gear itself, printable support geometry, a motor adapter and a universal adapter for connecting other shafts or components.

You can simply open the Bodies folder inside each gear component and show/hide the elements you need before exporting or printing.

Base 1 and Base 2 are the vertical supports for the gears.

Lock Base 1 and Lock Base 2 are the locking covers used to secure the gears in their supports.

Base Lower is the main bottom plate that holds the complete assembly together.

Main parameters

The most important parameters you can modify in Fusion 360 are:

Ratio Target
Defines the desired gear ratio between Gear 1 and Gear 2.

Max Print Angle
Defines the maximum overhang angle your 3D printer can reliably print. The gear geometry can then be adapted with 3D printing in mind.

Fit Tight
Tolerance used for parts that should fit tightly together.

My default value is -0.05 mm, but you should adjust this according to your own printer.

Fit Slide
Tolerance used for parts that need to slide or rotate more freely.

My default value is -0.10 mm.

If your gears or moving parts are too tight, increase the clearance by adjusting these tolerance parameters.

Pressure Angle
Controls the standard pressure angle of the gear teeth.

Helix Angle
Controls the angle of the helical teeth.

Pitch D1 Target
Defines the target pitch diameter for Gear 1.

Thick 1
Controls the thickness of the gears. The default configuration uses 10 mm.

Designed for 3D printing

The main goal of this project is not only to generate mathematically correct gears, but to create gears that can be actually manufactured with an FDM 3D printer.

Parameters such as printer tolerances and printable angles allow you to adapt the design to the real capabilities of your machine.

The included supports and adapters also mean you don't have to design the complete mounting system from scratch.

Change the parameters, choose the bodies you need, export them and print.

Fusion 360 file included

This project is intended to be used through the original Fusion 360 parametric file.

I strongly recommend modifying the parameters inside Fusion 360 rather than treating this as a collection of fixed STL files. That's where the real usefulness of the project is.

If you want to understand how the gears were designed, how the parameters work and why the geometry is optimized this way, check out the video at the top of the page.

If you have any questions, problems with the parameters, or ideas for improving the file, leave a comment here on Printables and I'll take a look.