Moire Gears

Moire Gears is a science toy designed by Yukari and produced with the help of Juno. By turning the handle, three atypicality gears rotate, and through the slits in the gears and the backboard, beautiful moire patterns can be seen. Watching the video of Moire Gears, it will be clear at a glance. Moire patterns are often perceived as a nuisance in photography, but Yukari hopes you find joy in experiencing moire through Moire Gears.

About four years ago, Yukari explored various designs for automata featuring gears. During her design exploration, she had an idea involving the use of moire patterns. Some gears typically incorporate multiple holes on their surface, perhaps for the purpose of reducing their weight. What if she replaced these holes with moire patterns? The result of this trial-and-error process is what you see here ? the Moire Gear.

Yukari created the first version of Moire Gears in April 2020, and later, she made another version for her friend. Please refer to her blog post for details of the production process.

Originally, Yukari planned to use three gears: a heptagon, a pentagon, and a triangle. However, she discovered that using a pentagon gear would result in poor alignment between the gears, the spacing between the gears' axes, the size of the gears, and the balance when placed together. Therefore, she decided to use a square gear instead of a pentagon gear. The triangle gear, resembling a rouleaux triangle, is one of her favorite points.

Since it wasn't her first time making Moire Gears, Yukari anticipated a smooth process. However, she encountered a problem during the CNC machining stage. Some of the plywood she purchased had insufficient lamination, causing the surface to peel off easily. Unfortunately, many of the cut gears and backboards ended up with subpar finishes as a result, leading to a loss of lots of materials. The processing of the gears and backboard requires extreme CNC machining, leaving very narrow widths. This is another factor that contributes to poor yield, and even after CNC machining, it took a long time to remove the burrs manually by hand. The parts of the completed Moire Gears are made using the best possible materials. However, please note that there may be minor imperfections or traces of repairs, so please understand in advance. As you can see in the photos, there is some variation in the color of the plywood. We aimed for as consistent a color combination as possible, but there may be slight differences in tone.

This time, we are selling 20 Moire Gears, but unlike Juno's designed puzzles, Yukari's creations are not limited edition. Considering the popularity, the time and effort involved in making things, and the joy of making them, there is potential for reproduction. She plans to continue making automata and science toys in the future, looking at the availability of workshop machinery such as the CNC router. Her activities will be within the scope that does not affect the production of our puzzle products, so we would appreciate your patience and understanding.

The materials for the gears and backboard are marine plywood. Bubinga is used for the base. The handles are made from Jarrah, which is strong and durable, and were processed on a wood lathe. Yukari enjoyed the lathe work.

Material: Marine Plywood, Bubinga, Jarrah, and Stainless screws

Designer: Yukari

Ages: 6+