atari printers

[Tony Duell]

> > I am wondering aobut making lantern pinions the right size. Yes, the
> > tooth profile on the meshing gear in the plotter would be wrong, but
> > would it matter? And a lantern pinion is a lot easier to make than the
> > original type.
> 
> I am unfamiliar with a lantern pinion... what is that?

It's a clockmaking term (at least over here). Instead of making a pinion 
from solid metal, you have 2 disks fixed to the spindle with holes round 
them, nad pins (called 'trundles') going through said holes acting as the 
teeth. The result looks like a little cage around the shaft. 

The advantage, when it comes to making them, is that you only need a 
dividing head (to put the holes round the circle at an even spacing), you 
don't need the right milling cutter to cut the spaces between the teeth 
as you do for a normal-type of pinion. 

The disadvantage here is that the teeth on the meshing gear should really 
have a different profile. I don't think that would matter in one of these 
plotters, though.

-tony