Instructable for solar system orrery

My daily email from Instructables included a link to a Solar System Orrery (3D printed) which I thought looked pretty cool. Many of the parts used in this project were 3D printed, but most of them could be laser cut instead (if only I had a laser :slight_smile:).

Just wanted to pass this along to the 2 or 3 of you who donā€™t already subscribe to Instructablesā€™ newsletter. :smiley:

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Iā€™d love to build something like this. I wonder how well the gears would hold up over time using something like acrylic or hard wood!

Edit: Upon further reading it looks like its all 3D printed. I assumed by the look it was brass

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I was thinking about using hardwood instead of 3D-printed parts. If nothing else, it would definitely be quicker to laser cut the pieces out of wood versus 3D printing all of those gears and other parts. It would greatly improve the look as well. This will definitely be one of the first projects I work on once my Glowforge arrives.

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Yes! canā€™t wait to make this one!

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Small durable (utility, not decorative) gears will also be one of my primary jobs. I think Iā€™m in the same boat as far as the minimum dimensions for gears from my 3D printer. Iā€™m thinking that delrin would be a great material for gears as such.

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sadly, itā€™s sitting behind a paywall.

The PDF version is behind a paywall, but you can click on ā€œView all stepsā€ to get all of the steps on one page.

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I would think it would be a tad more accurate as well.
Having owned a 3D printer for many years there are a ton of things that can go wrong to make your pieces just SLIGHTLY off

The only trick would be drilling holes in the sides of parts to accommodate the brass rods

So it is. so. it. is.