Summary of DIY plastic gear cutting machine
The Arduino-powered plastic gear cutting machine automates cutting nylon and other plastic gears. Built by Mr Innovative using an Arduino Nano and controlled via a Nextion touchscreen, it sets diameter and tooth count to calculate pitch, rotates the blank, and feeds it into a circular blade. It uses two NEMA 17 steppers plus a 775 DC motor; tooth profile requires swapping blades. Designed primarily for plastics and possibly very soft metals.
Parts used in the Plastic gear cutting machine:
- Arduino Nano microcontroller
- Nextion LCD touchscreen
- 2 NEMA 17 stepper motors
- 775 DC motor
- Circular cutting blade
- Mechanical jig/chuck to hold and rotate the gear blank
- Blade feed mechanism (driven by a stepper motor)
- Frame/structure for mounting components
- Power supply appropriate for motors and Arduino
- Wiring, connectors, and mounting hardware
Makers, engineers and hobbyists who would like to automatically manufacture a variety of different size plastic gears you might be interested in a unique machine built using a little Arduino hardware, taking the form of the plastic gear cutting machine. Powered by an Arduino Nano microcontroller the gear cutter has been created by YouTuber Mr Innovative and allows you to build your very own affordable gear cutting machine to help build those mechanical projects more easily. Check out the demonstration video below to learn more about the Arduino Project.
“Hello friends in this video I have build a Automatic thread cutting machine. in this machine I have used 2 nema 17 stepper motor and on 775 DC motor one stepper motor to turn job and one stepper motor to move blade forward and reverse.”
“This might be able to handle very soft metals, but it is really meant for cutting nylon and other plastics. Users can set the diameter and the number of teeth, which together dictate the pitch. However, they can not change the tooth cut profile without swapping out the blade. They set the parameters on a Nextion LCD touchscreen and then the machine takes care of the rest. It rotates the gear by the calculated pitch, then moves the gear into the circular cutting blade according to the set diameter.”
- What microcontroller is used in the machine?
The machine uses an Arduino Nano microcontroller. - How does the user set gear parameters?
Users set diameter and number of teeth on a Nextion LCD touchscreen. - Which motors are used to move parts of the machine?
The machine uses two NEMA 17 stepper motors and one 775 DC motor. - Can the tooth profile be changed via software?
No, the tooth cut profile cannot be changed without swapping out the blade. - What materials is the machine intended to cut?
It is really meant for cutting nylon and other plastics and might handle very soft metals. - How does the machine create each tooth?
The machine rotates the gear by the calculated pitch, then moves the gear into the circular cutting blade according to the set diameter. - Which motor turns the job and which moves the blade?
One stepper motor turns the job and the other stepper motor moves the blade forward and reverse; a 775 DC motor is also used in the machine.
