At the NYC Resistor laser cutting class I embedded one of Zach's planetary gears in one of Zach's planetary gears. This design was laser cut from black acrylic and sandwiched between two clear acrylic sheets.

I found that the inner circle in the front layer needed a smaller diameter to rotate smoothly. I also cut a gasket that sits between the front and gear layers. Otherwise the gears always contact both the front and back layers.

After class I took my project to dinner with a few friends where it was an interesting conversation piece.

Someone should turn these gears into something that can be 3-D printed.

1) Laser cut the back
2) Laser cut the front
3) Laser cut the gears
4) Laser cut a gasket to put between the front and gear layers
5) Sand the edges of the inner circle to reduce its diameter, so things don't stick together.
6) Tape the center gear to the back layer with double-sided tape
7) Tape the inner circle of the front layer to the ring gear of the gear layer using double-sided tape.
8) bolt the sheets together