Re: pic: Vex Face Bearing Gusset Gearbox
 

There is no "top piece of VersaFrame" - the assembly above the single tube of VF is apparently composed of Bearing Gussets riveted together.

Re: pic: Vex Face Bearing Gusset Gearbox
 

Are you sure? That look a lot like gussets bolted onto VersaFrame with holes drilled into it on the 3D model.

EDIT: still not sure how the CIMs are being attached to the gussets and VersaFrame

Re: pic: Vex Face Bearing Gusset Gearbox
 

There are gussets bolted to another portion of 2x1" versa channel.

Re: pic: Vex Face Bearing Gusset Gearbox
 

That's even more disturbing than what I thought I was looking at earlier, which was disturbing enough. What's the point of doing a VersaFrame "gearbox" with exposed gears if you have to cut out that many rectangular holes to allow gears to reach outside of the tube? For me at least, the answer is emphatically none.

Re: pic: Vex Face Bearing Gusset Gearbox
 

I have seen what you are talking about. This drawing shows how clever Vex was when making the plastic bearing blocks and clamping gearbox.

My issue is that we used the plastic bearing blocks on our simple 2015 drivetrain and the blocks cracked a lot. To the point that we reinforced them with .125 sheet metal because we were tired of changing them. And that was for a game with no contact. We ran a Vex Double Reduction Gearbox, with its output into one of the plastic bearing blocks and then did a 54:30 reduction via the two pressed together blocks. I was not a fan, hence the desire for more durable metal parts. YMMV.

On the same topic I wish Vex & WCP would slightly modify the VersaBlock such that it has a small flat side and the same 84T spacing as shown above. It would be a small modification, but would make VersaBlocks even better (though still expensive).

Re: pic: Vex Face Bearing Gusset Gearbox
 

I never said this was a particularly efficient way of making a gearbox. It does involve a lot of cutting and drilling and clamping. If you want easy, buy something off the shelf - there is a lot of good stuff out there. I have a lot of younger students who LOVE clamping and drilling with the drill press.

The intention is for teams without access to a CNC to be able to make "custom" gearboxes. This is primarily an idea for my team - we used to have access to a CNC mill via a local makerspace, but it went out of business. Students used to enjoy designing and fabricating the gearboxes themselves. By "custom" I mean that the students can design the gearbox and select from more gear ratios than what Vexpro, AM and WCP offer as COTS. And if they make a mistake or are unhappy with the first iterations, the gears can be swapped.

Re: pic: Vex Face Bearing Gusset Gearbox
 

As always, your mileage may vary.

Re: pic: Vex Face Bearing Gusset Gearbox
 

Pretty cool!