GE Collar Gear CAD

[David Yurko]

if you look at the bottom of the worm,  you will see its actually a double helix,  unlike a screw which is a single helix,  there are actually two seperate spirals in the worm instead of just one,   this is what is ment by a "double start".   In a double start worm,  the tooth of the worm wheel will travel twice as far per one revolution of the worm with the same teeth size, 

The ends of the sprials at the bottom of the worm are 180 degrees apart

In comparison The worm on the rotor shaft of the fan, is a single start,  its only a single helix. There is only 1 end of the spiral

The coin op fan actually uses a triple helix worm in its nose.  Ge must love this design.

[George Durbin]

Very nice!

[Geoff Dunaway]

 That is amazing Louis !!!  What metal will you use when everything is ready ??

[Fred Summers]

1 hour ago, Louis Luu said:

These look amazing! Great job. Is this something that we would order directly from you, or will you host it on a website like shapeways? 

[Daniel OToole]

I have some parts available for these

I have a good housing and stator, base

[Mike Kearns]

I vote for the below the bearing oil cup. But I have to admit, it occurs to me though, why the original design pot metal bearing? All of GE's fans have oil cups, but not the collar oscillator. My speculation is the design might have had issues with oil running along the shaft and dripping or spraying vapor inside the motor housing? Is this possible, and if so, could a means be improvised to solve that possible engineering issue? I really don't intend to dampen enthusiasm for this project, you can put me down for one of everything, but maybe the learned on the subject could chime in, making the better and improved design even better.

Edited September 25, 2022 by Mike Kearns

[Fred Summers]

On 9/25/2022 at 5:38 PM, Louis Luu said:

I'll trust the original design.  The people who designed the housing must have known what they were doing.  I don't think they would have forgotten to add an oiler if it needed one.  I'll go ahead and keep the design and just update the material.

OR...I will update the front housing with both design.  I think Daniel is onto something.  No way would they forget to add an oiler if it needed one.  I will make both options available for the front housing.  One with an oiler and one without.

 

 

I like the idea of having an additional oiler in the front, but I like the option for either with or without even better. For those that like the look of the original nose cone without the oiler they can get the version that looks like OEM. For those that want the option of the additional oiler they can get the upgrade. Having an oiler there wouldn't hurt anything, and even with the oiler one doesn't need to use it. It is interesting that grease works its way up to the front on these. I'm not familiar enough with mine to fully understand its inner workings, but I'm excited to try out some updated parts that hopefully will be stronger than the zinc pot metal used in the original. I hope my fan will last another 100 years. 

[Steve Rockwell]

Louis,   That piece looks really good on there, and the oiling option is a great solution. This project is moving ahead nicely!

[Louis Luu]

I will have to double check but I think this will tapped the oiler.

[David Yurko]

I wouldn't quite trust the original design with this,  since they thought the shaft running directly in pot was an OK design.  But having the option will be good,   the oil permeable bushings should be fine without an oiler, but looking at GE's design over the years,  they added oilers to most of the rear bearings,  so having the option would be good,

If Bronze is an option for printing, that might also be a good option,  its harder than the original brass, but not as tough as the stainless,   But these gears aren't under super tough condition,  they mainly are for speed reduction,  not for torque increase.  

[Fred Summers]

I’m excited to see how it turns out. So this isn’t Shapeways? 

[Ed Frank]

On 8/7/2022 at 7:23 PM, Thomas Peters said:

Perhaps this might be called a good design, with poor execution?

Good design, good execution, poor choice in materials

[Ed Frank]

1 minute ago, Louis Luu said:

Agree.  The more I study it, the more I like it.  The design is very good.  

Absolutely. I've restored a few of these. The design is good, the execution of the gears (when in the right place and made of the right material) is good. If they had made the nose cone  out of cast iron, and the gears out of brass, I would venture to guess this would have been a more than 1 year production fan. Just my opinion.

[Fred Summers]

!!! 

 

I'm excited for this. Am I weird?

[Fred Summers]

Can you share what 3D printing technology is being used to make these parts? (Direct metal lasering (DML), selective metal sintering/melting (SLS/SLM), binder jetting, etc.

[Fred Summers]

Amazing work Louis,

The nose cone looks great! The gears look like they need some smoothing. I have a vibratory tumbler and some plastic pyramid cutting media and walnut shell media... I think you will need something a little more aggressive to cut with. 

Did you order gears from Shapeways in brass or just stainless? 

What are the press plates for badges you speak of?

[Daniel OToole]

Looks like amazing parts

[David Yurko]

Parts look great,   Looking forward to getting my hands on them when they are ready

[Fred Summers]

On 10/22/2022 at 6:48 PM, Louis Luu said:

Cone finalized.  I tried to make it as original as possible with the exception of adding a bushing and enlarging the oil port hole from 2 mm to 3 mm.  Hopefully, this will alleviate the clogging of grease. 

For those incline to have an actual oiler, here you go (Oil hole is removed since there is not need for it in this design).  Me, I prefer the original. 

So there are two versions of the cone - 

a) with a grease port above to recirculate grease from the gears in the nose cone to the motor shaft, and

b) with an oil wick below to lubricate the motor shaft.

I have a few questions:

1) I've heard of the pot-metal zinc cast gears prematurely wearing out and/or cracking. I haven't heard of any issues with the nose cone casting itself (aside from grease clogging the small port). Can you tell me what you are hoping to solve? If just a larger grease hole, couldn't you just drill it out larger?

2) Will there be choices of material, or only stainless?

3) Also, why do you prefer the original grease port hole to an actual oiler? 

[Fred Summers]

On 9/25/2022 at 5:29 PM, Louis Luu said:

I've talked to Daniel O'Toole.  He tells me the whole front housing is self lubricating.  The grease gets up there and lubricates the shaft.  It makes sense.  I will remove the oiler and leave the hole for bushing.  This way, it leaves the look of the front housing.  All I'm doing is updating with modern materials.  I will rework the front cone without the oiler.

Thank you Daniel!

On 9/25/2022 at 5:38 PM, Louis Luu said:

I'll trust the original design.  The people who designed the housing must have known what they were doing.  I don't think they would have forgotten to add an oiler if it needed one.  I'll go ahead and keep the design and just update the material.  I think Daniel is onto something.  No way would they forget to add an oiler if it needed one.  

Ah, I just re-read this thread and found your previous opinion posted to explain why you prefer no oiler. 

[Fred Summers]

11 hours ago, Louis Luu said:

I am currently shopping for a tumbler and abrasive media. 

This is the one I bought, I'm happy with it. It holds about 5 lbs of media, you can fit all your parts in there and not too expensive. 

https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsenal-Quick-N-EZ-Vibratory-Separator/dp/B07YXCFMB2

The 320 grit media I use is this, I run it overnight on all my old rusted metal (and brass) and it has a nice cutting action, but I'm not sure if it would take down the stainless steel the way you want...

https://www.amazon.com/Tumbling-Vibratory-Vibrating-Rotating-Tumblers/dp/B07CV7B9NZ

There is a 220 grit media that might work better for you needs...

https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Tumbling-Vibratory-Vibrating-Rotating/dp/B08N3H3ZQX

Personally, I would probably start with the following... 

https://www.amazon.com/Ceramic-Triangular-Deburring-Edge-Rounding-Stainless/dp/B07FB1H15C

[Fred Summers]

One comment I would make about the grease port... yes the front assembly where the motor shaft rides in the pot-metal cast nose cone seems to be lubed by grease on the OEM design. The grease that is on the worm gear of the motor shaft is forced into the grease port as the shaft turns because the worm gear butts up against the port. If you make the space around the motor shaft accept a sintered bronze bushing, would it not move the grease port further out (away from the motor shaft)? If so, and the worm gear does NOT overlap the port, as its rubbing on the bushing, and so I doubt that any grease will be forced into the port. In this case having an oil wick would be very useful. The other option I could see is drilling a grease port through the bushing (if it is thick enough) so that the hole maintains its location as with the OEM design. 

[Fred Summers]

On 11/5/2022 at 7:06 AM, Louis Luu said:

Did a virtual fit for the two gears...should be good to go.

 

[Fred Summers]

Why can't I edit my posts on this forum?

Anyway, did you get the tumbler yet to smooth the gears?

[Daniel OToole]

Nice work Louis