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Planetary Gear Train Demo

This page presents a demo of a planetary gear train using current Meccano parts. The mechanism is intended to demonstrate how planetary gear trains work. It is not intended to be suitable for building into a model; this would require considerable modification (at the very least shortening the 3-flat Axle Rods to appropriate lengths) if not a complete re-design.



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These are the parts used for one stage. The little white rings are nylon washers from the DIY store (Home Depot); all other parts are Meccano parts. The Axle Rods are all of the 3-flat variety. I've chosen the colours in an effort to make the parts visually distinguishable in the assembled mechanism. The small purple part is a #144c. Using the layout as a guide, assemble the parts into...
...two sub-assemblies. The input shaft is the Axle Rod through the blue wheel; the output shaft is the centre Axle Rod of the three in the sub-assembly at the right. All that remains to do is to bring the two sub-assemblies together by centering the orange sun gear between the two black planet gears.
If sufficient parts are available, a second stage can be built in the same manner. Here the input shaft has been removed from the first stage. The grey wheel to the left of it will be used in the final photo to support the whole assembly.
This is the complete two-stage gear train. To play with it, hold it in one hand by the blue and green wheels (so that they remain stationary) and rotate the input shaft (bottom-most Axle Rod) with the other. Experiment by varying which shafts are held still and which are allowed to rotate (this is easier using only one stage).

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Last updated: 29 April 2002

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