Here is my entry to the Gear Challenge, I created a Drawing Machine with custom gears made on SolidWorks. It is also driven with a stepper motor and Arduino which I’m new too (why I’m entering so late)
Assembly
Machine in Action
Another Shape
All of this was made from stuff I had at home. 1/4" ply 3/4" MDF, 1/4" and 3/4" dowels and minimal hardware. as well as a stepper motor and driver a voltage converter and an Arduino.
Drawing Machine Base .c2d (189.6 KB) Drawing Machine.c2d (1.2 MB) Odd Gears.c2d (848.4 KB) rail and pen holder.c2d (412.8 KB)
The biggest issues I encountered were the gears popping loose while cutting. The endmill would literally rotate around the gear causing the teeth to become smaller.