Just heard cherry blossoms have finally reached this area.
Meanwhile at NSP, I’ve been just drawing stuff all day long.
Working on an involute curve, which is often used for gears. Also a long time ago, God had to punch G codes for this curve into the machining center when creating the Ammonite, so he could use the finished piece as the base mold to mass-produce ammonites by injection molding in China or somewhere and distribute in all seven seas. That was about 400 million years ago, when 3D printers were not available.
Involute curves are also used for splines on shaft ends, such as drive shafts and steering shafts on automobile and some BB shaft/crank interface and rear sprocket interface on bikes. However, these curved splines have only been acquiring some popularity in the last few decades or so, and especially in the bike world, they have been hindered by old straight-cut splines. Take the square 9-spline for cassette cogs. It looks just like 9 Kim Jong-un’s arrayed on the circumference. Or the 48-spline standard in BMX. That’s based on SAE J500 or something, an obsolete standard. What it all means is nothing more than that these outdated stuff may perform poorly, break easily, and not make sense, though. Nothing serious.
By examining each and every mechanical element, preparing drawings and having factories make it, voila, you’ve got the best bike this planet has ever seen. Being a bike manufacturer is as simple as that. This way, we are striving to reinvent the wheel day after day.