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Seeking model-maker to replicate worn shredder gear

overhear

Plastic
Joined
Mar 6, 2011
Location
Westchester Co, NY
One of the nylon gears on my Staples SPL-826x paper shredder is stripped and I'm interested in having a model created in order to print a replacement.

I have rudimentary skills with Sketchup, but don't think I can produce a workable 3D model myself. It does have a metal hub (see picture), so that might be a complication when it comes to manufacturing it.

Can folks advise on whether this sort of project sounds feasible, and if so on the best place to find someone who could create the model?



gear pic.jpg
 
Your best bet would be to find someone with the same shredder and a different broken part. No printed component is going to be strong enough to handle the loads that gear sees (your professionally made one wore out) so presuming you got a satisfactory life time out of that shredder it's probably best to just accept it's gone and move on with a replacement.
 
One of the nylon gears on my Staples SPL-826x paper shredder is stripped and I'm interested in having a model created in order to print a replacement.

I have rudimentary skills with Sketchup, but don't think I can produce a workable 3D model myself. It does have a metal hub (see picture), so that might be a complication when it comes to manufacturing it.

Can folks advise on whether this sort of project sounds feasible, and if so on the best place to find someone who could create the model?



View attachment 254735

holy freakin' hayzoos, its a paper shredder! stop what you are thinking or doing, go to Goodwill, buy one for 20$, go back home, shred at will...
 
When I was a young tad, I used jobs like that to develop my machining skills. I think this fellow should buy a lathe (10" or bigger), a mill (horizontal is best for this), a dividing head, cutters, material and have at it. I made shower head inserts, storm window latches, all kinds of worthless stuff that would have cheaper to just buy.

Tom
 
Your best bet would be to find someone with the same shredder and a different broken part. No printed component is going to be strong enough to handle the loads that gear sees (your professionally made one wore out) so presuming you got a satisfactory life time out of that shredder it's probably best to just accept it's gone and move on with a replacement.

I did poke around on craigslist, etc. for another one, but this model is ancient in shredder-years so no go.
 
When I was a young tad, I used jobs like that to develop my machining skills. I think this fellow should buy a lathe (10" or bigger), a mill (horizontal is best for this), a dividing head, cutters, material and have at it. I made shower head inserts, storm window latches, all kinds of worthless stuff that would have cheaper to just buy.

Tom

Yep, that's me. Except in my case the world's landfills are littered with things I've tried to "fix": Espresso machines, lawn mowers, radio. My success rate is frankly abysmal. But I do keep flailing away at these things. My father is in the used machinery business and has spent his career rebuilding things that were actually designed to last more than 6 months -- unlike the stuff we buy now. I was probably just born in the wrong century.

But this might be a good excuse to buy that dremel tool I've been eyeing!
 
I wouldn't fret for a minute about the world's landfill being filled with objects you've tried to repair and fail. Take a philosophical approach. They were destined for the landfill before you got involved. You tried (and presumably sometimes succeeded) even if your record is 'abysmal'.

That abysmal record is the seed of improvement in your own skill-set and competency. I'll hazard a guess you learned valuable skills/lessons on every one of those failures and over the arc of your life, your abysmal record is most likely improving.

At least it improves every time for me.

I'll echo the previous advice. No way it makes any sense for someone else to fix this for you. Makes tons of sense for you to use this as an opportunity to hone your skills. The 'value' isn't the fixed (or broken) shredder. It's the learning experience that makes you a better machinist.

Make chips.
 
It appears to be a skew gear. Most simple CAD programs would have problems creating that. You can do it in AutoCAD R14 or newer. Go to RushGears or one of the other sites that will generate a dxf file of the tooth profile. Create a closed perimeter of one tooth and a line from the tip of the gear in the Z axis at the skew angle. Extrude it along the skew path. Polar array the one tooth into the whole gear and add all the parts.
You will have to remove the nylon gear from the steel spur hub, model it and subtract it from the 3D model.
Export the 3D model into a program that exports a .stl file. Then print it.
 
In the world of failures, a term known as "Root Cause Analysis" exists.

It seeks out the true cause for something failing. The gear appears to have been held fast or obstructed from tuning freely.
This fact/observation highly suggests an additional failure caused the gear to become damaged.
Until the original cause or issue is resolved, replacing the damaged gear will not repair or solve the reason it failed in the first place.

The crowd here tends to judge quickly the merits of other's pursuing something.
It's not for the peanut gallery in a forum to decide... what you are interested in... or want to do.

Make a new gear. Spend as much time, sweat and money on the project you care to expend.
Fabricate seven more, or 32,000 additional gears.

Before you do that though, find out why the gear failed and fix that problem first.

That's what I can see from my vantage point here in the gallery ; )

John
 
The gear appears to have been held fast or obstructed from tuning freely.
This fact/observation highly suggests an additional failure caused the gear to become damaged.
Until the original cause or issue is resolved, replacing the damaged gear will not repair or solve the reason it failed in the first place.

John

Good point. My assumption has been that the obstruction was an overload of paper that jammed the feeder. I suppose the nice thing about 3D fabrication is that you can make multiples, which allows you to test these hypotheses.
 
stick with the skill route, it is more fun. go ahead and get the dermal, some silicone rubber mold, some wax, tooth picks, two drill bits, and a can of bondo glass. A set of cheap needle files too. These ingredients will make a reasonable strong gear, and because you have mold you can make multiples as you track down the cause of failure. Worst case is you have a dermal and a set of needle files.
 
holy freakin' hayzoos, its a paper shredder! stop what you are thinking or doing, go to Goodwill, buy one for 20$, go back home, shred at will...

When I was in the Army the "shredder" (officially called a disintegrator) was 6' tall by 4' by 4' and weighed about 1500 lbs, it was also tested and approved for use on classified material.

Sometimes there actually are reasons why the simple, obvious solution isn't acceptable.

Steve
 
I needed to replace a simple plastic spur gear in our Roomba. Roomba did not have the replacement part. I couldn't find the right size gear elsewhere. I was going to model it in Rhino (which would have been a quick job), then have it 3D-printed through one of the online services, but then I discovered that someone else had already modeled the same gear and shared it on the 3D printing service website. I think I paid about $10, with shipping, and the gear has been working well for several months now. This type of project is an area where 3D printers CAN be cost-effective. One less Roomba in the landfill (for a while) . . . . :)
 
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