Geared Jitterbug

This is a geared version of Buckminster Fuller’s iconic geometry demonstration. I fell into this Buckminster Fuller Jitterbug rabbit hole after seeing Keishiro Ueki's Jitterbug Mechanism. This quickly led to this old video of a geared jitterbug and so I decided to make my own. A few printing notes: Silk filaments look really cool, but I recommend not using them for the nut or connector. If you do, print a test part of the connector and nut first. You may need to scale the nut slightly to get a good lock. If this is important to you and you can’t get it to work, message me and I’ll post a few size variants. Assembly: The assembly is pretty straightforward. To begin, create a ring of 4 triangles of alternating colors. Then attach an alternating-colored triangle to each of the open nodes. Finally, link them together. It's not difficult, but there are a lot of them. Tips: Make sure the parts are inline when the gear teeth are meshed. Hold the connector and not the triangle when locking the nut, or you may cause it to slip a gear tooth. When installing the second triangle make sure that all three parts are aligned to ensure gear teeth are properly clockedThese teeth are not alignedThis nut is locked. The wings are completely hidden This nut is not locked. The wings remain visible (and my circle is not lined up well)