Depthue Studio

Gear generator for 3D printing

The Depthue Studio gear generator builds an involute spur gear from its module, tooth count and pressure angle, then adds a bore, keyway, hub, backlash, profile shift or tooth chamfer. It can also make an internal ring gear. The result is a closed solid you can edit further and export as STL or 3MF.

Open the gear generator Every Studio feature

Free in your browser, no card. Files stay on your device until you save to the cloud.

A 24 tooth involute spur gear with an 18 mm hub, bore and keyway in Depthue Studio, with the gear settings in the inspector

The short answer

Involute spur gears from 6 to 200 teeth, module 0.5 to 10 mm, pressure angle 14.5, 20 or 25 degrees.
Bore, keyway, hub, backlash, profile shift and tooth chamfer are settings, and an internal ring gear is one switch.
Pitch diameter is module times teeth, shown live in the inspector, and the gear exports as a closed STL or 3MF.

Gear type: Involute spur gear, or an internal ring gear with the teeth pointing inward
Teeth: 6 to 200
Module: 0.5 to 10 mm
Pressure angle: 14.5°, 20° or 25°
Thickness: 1 to 100 mm
Shaft: Bore up to 100 mm, keyway up to 20 mm wide (half as deep), hub up to 200 mm across and 100 mm high
Fit: Backlash 0 to 1 mm, profile shift -0.5 to 0.5 modules, tooth chamfer up to 3 mm
Ring gear: Rim width 1 to 50 mm outside the root circle
Export: STL, 3MF, OBJ, GLB, PLY, or an SVG or DXF outline for laser cutting

How to make a gear for 3D printing

1
Add a gear
Open the gear generator, or Add, Gear in any project. A 20 tooth, module 2 gear lands on the plate.
2
Size the teeth
Set the module and tooth count. The inspector shows the pitch and outside diameters as you type.
3
Fit the shaft
Add a bore, a keyway and a hub for the shaft, and a little backlash so printed teeth do not bind.
4
Export
Check the part, then Export as STL or 3MF. Make the mating gear with the same module and pressure angle.

The measure tool in Depthue Studio reading the distance across a gear seen from above — Measure (M) reads the distance between two points on the real mesh in mm, plus dX, dY and dZ.

A sign, a box with lid, a keychain and a QR code plate made from settings on one Depthue Studio build plate — The gear is one of six ready-made parts. The others are a vase, a keychain, a QR code plate, a box with lid and a sign.

Gear sizes, from three numbers

An involute spur gear is defined by three numbers: the module, the tooth count and the pressure angle. Studio derives every other size from them and shows the result while you type, for example "Spur gear, 24 teeth, module 2: pitch 48 mm, outside 52 mm".

Size	Formula
Pitch diameter	module x teeth
Outside diameter	pitch + 2 x module x (1 + profile shift)
Root diameter	pitch - 2 x module x (1.25 - profile shift)
Centre distance of a pair	module x (teeth A + teeth B) / 2

Two gears mesh only when their module and pressure angle match. 20 degrees is the common default; 14.5 degrees is found on older and some imperial gear sets, and 25 degrees gives stronger, broader teeth.

Fit the gear to a shaft

Bore drills the shaft hole through the gear and the hub.
Keyway cuts a key slot half as deep as it is wide. It needs a bore.
Hub adds a raised collar on top. It must be at least 1 mm wider than the bore and is capped so it stays inside the root circle.
Tooth chamfer bevels the tooth edges on both faces, a common fix for printed teeth that catch at the edges.

Settings that cannot be built are explained instead of failing silently: a bore so large it leaves no gear, or a keyway without a bore, comes back as a plain warning.

Ring gears for planetary sets

Turn on Internal and the teeth point inward, with a rim of the width you choose around them. Make the sun and planet gears with the same module, and the ring with the same pressure angle, then check the spacing with the measure tool.

After the gear

The gear is a normal solid in the scene. Add a hole for a set screw, emboss a part number, array it, or combine it with another part with a boolean. The print checks read its volume, mass and thinnest wall, and the print estimate gives grams, time and cost from a real slice.

Questions

How do I make two gears that mesh?

Give both the same module and pressure angle. Their centres sit half the sum of the pitch diameters apart: module x (teeth A + teeth B) / 2. A module 2 pair with 20 and 30 teeth sits 50 mm apart.

What is the module of a gear?

The module is the pitch diameter divided by the number of teeth, in millimetres. A bigger module means bigger, stronger teeth. A 24 tooth gear at module 2 has a 48 mm pitch diameter.

What backlash should I use for 3D printed gears?

Printed teeth are rarely exact, so most gears need a little clearance. Start around 0.1 mm of backlash, print a test pair, and raise it if the teeth bind. Studio applies backlash as an inward offset of the tooth flanks.

Can it make helical, bevel or worm gears?

No. The generator makes involute spur gears and internal ring gears. For other types, the scripted part lets you build your own from code on the same geometry engine.

Can I export the gear for a laser cutter?

Yes. Export, Outline gives the top view of the gear as an SVG or DXF (R12) path for laser cutting or CNC. Turn on Include holes to keep the bore and keyway in the outline.

Is the gear generator free?

Yes. Generating, editing and exporting gears is free and runs in your browser. No credits are used.