Last night I finished up the last of the gears. There is still a lot more work to be done though, including making wooden spacers and the entire frame. And the hard part is going to be putting it all together just right so that it actually runs.

The driving gear for Jupiter has 83 teeth while the gear connected to the planet has only 7 teeth. This would make a year on Jupiter have 83/7*365.2425= 4330.73 days. The actual orbital period is 4331.57 days which gives an amazing level of accuracy. It's only off by 1 part in 5200. Saturn's driving gear has 147 teeth and was a pain to cut! The gear connected to Saturn will have only 5 teeth. This makes a year on Saturn have 147/5*365.2425= 10738.12 days. The actual orbital period is 10759. This is the least accurate of all of the planets on this Orrery. It still is only off by about 1 part in 500.


Jupiter's Gears



Showing Jupiter's gears mesh.



Saturn's driving gear. Note: Since the 5 tooth gear for Saturn is so small it is actually made in a different fashion by using small wooden rods which I have not done yet.



The finished gear stack from above.



The finished gear stack from the side.



Close up of the gears.



Another close up of the gears.