2.5D Laser Cut Gears

Laser cut gears are used in a wide variety of projects, from steampunk jewelry to the exposed mechanism of a wooden clock.  By taking advantage of both the cutting and engraving capabilities of the laser, much more realistic and/or interesting gears can be created.  Here I show how to create a basic laser cut gear (in traditional 2D), then how to use three different techniques for adding depth to the gear (a 2.5D effect).  This is referred to as 2.5D because although it is adding a third dimension (essentially a Z axis) it is much more limited than the 3D you could obtain from a 3D printer or 4-6 axis milling machine.

I made this at TechShop   www.techshop.ws

Vector drawing software (I used CorelDRAW)
Laser Cutter (my TechShop has a Trotec Speedy 300)
1/4" thick poplar, slightly larger than desired gear size

This instructable assumes some basic familiarity with CorelDRAW and a laser cutter

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