This is one of the most awesome projects that I have seen on UA-cam, Caleb! Also, knowing that the guys from CNC Router Parts took that much time and effort with assisting you, I have decided to go with their company for my Router table needs. I'm going to use plasma, for most of my work, and their set-up looks very sturdy. I appreciate you taking the time to make and share this video with us! I want to make something similar out of light sheet and aluminum, with some clear plexiglass to show the gear-work. Something to that effect, anyway. Thanks again, Man! Good luck in the future.
yeah, that could be fairly easily fixed too, but the cost would be about $150 to get another sheet of aluminum and rivets. I decided just to live with it.
Absolutely, I am looking forward to build this on my art studio! Since my studio has 15 foot old tin ceilings and with no real natural lighting coming in - I could see this Iris installed in my ceiling fixed with some strong LED light source to illuminate my work space. Thanks again for sharing this brilliant project!
great! At first I thought it was going to be used as a door, in the staircase. You go up/down and it detects you and opens, revealing the rest of the staircase. The little gap in the middle will not exist, as the centre of the staircase has a pole on it
I thought about that possibility. It could actually help regulate the temperature better that way as the stairwell makes the cold/hot air just drop through right now. That would have required some considerable modification to my house and re-engineering of the stairwell itself. Also, the wall on that stairwell is only about 4 inches thick, so the design of the iris, or the entire stairwell needs to be changed to make space.
Beautiful design! I myself come up with a different idea of dimming light. You only need two circles with polarization filters - one is fixed and the other can be rotated in between of 0° and 90°. It allows to make filters parallel or perpendicular to each other thus changing their transparency. It's lightweight, has only one moving part and has the ability of changing the transparency of the whole window very precisely.
@@gleggett3817 I didn't think about it, but you can get 42/59 cm (16.5/23.4 In) on Amazon for $70. You could make two circles with diameter of 42cm for $140.
@@gleggett3817 Good idea, though the connections should be really nicely incorporated into design. I see no feasible way of connecting them seamlessly.
That is the Bomb! I have searched for something like this for ahwile on the web and stumbled on this looking at something else. it would make for some awesome skylights in the home for natural light and at Night I would shut them so that no inside light would bleed out. It's a security thing. I would however spend the extra to have it completely shut ot have some spring loaded circle cover the last portion of the opening. Thanks for the design!
Awesome! I'll do this on a sun light i have. I'll cover the bolts with some wood caps or half spheres. And most important reflection on these upper part of the black petals, it will absorb to much heat and damage the black plastic.
Fantastic project, reminds me of a film i will always remember for its futuristic innovations and that film was 20,000 Leages under the sea with with James Mason as Captain Nemo and the feature i remember was the two large Iris port hole's on the side's of the submarine it was magical when Captain Nemo pressed the button and it opened up to a fantastic under water view
I think of Alien (79) - when Dallas armed with flame thrower is looking for the alien in the air shafts & wanted the tubes sealed off behind him to isolate areas once cleared & keep it contained. That aperture made an abrasive gritty metal sound as they opened & closed (see youtube). I'm sure it was meant to look and sound dangerous. There was a pinhole in the center of theirs but it was a lot tighter than this design. That middle opening bothered me as a kid - it didn't seem sealed enough for a space ship air tube hatchway....perhaps that was the intention - danger! Lol. As for the crank idea - Caleb don't be so literal - make it look however you want but make it technically loosely connected. What I mean is use an encoder at the end of a mock crank that then still cycles the stepper at a now an adjustable gear ratio - just like power steering is now a by wire control for all the related advantages. That would be less to take apart and keep flexibility yet with whatever actuation look you want (crank, chain, whatever including automatic open close cycles with any linear or nonlinear speeds). IMHO that makes more sense than ditching the motor even if you want a crank motion to actuate it....which you may not later. Hope you don't mind the suggestions. I also agree with the critiques of the 3 braces - they distract the beholder's eye from the iris as a feature (ironically). Think like an architect and where you want people to look when you are showing them your cool house, The brackets look like you failed in planning this & had to brace as an afterthought. Even if that is true don't make it look that way ;-) The bolts - I wouldn't do too much with them but at least dress them in some way that looks more in keeping with the house (i.e. staircase metal) rather than looking like Home Depot threaded rod. Again make it all look like it belongs not like it was just hacked in. Good job - what's next?
you could hang something circular in the middle to cover the hole makes me want one with stars all over and a little moon to cover the center hole when closed
Neat design but the install is KILLING my OCD. The final finish is not even close to being as good as it could have been. A fine finish carpenter with OCD such as myself should have been consulted.
At first I thought it was going to be used as a door, in the staircase. You go up/down and it detects you and opens, revealing the rest of the staircase. The little gap in the middle will not exist, as the centre of the staircase has a pole on it
For anyone looking at different designs for something like this, keep in mind the difference between an aperture iris, and a shutter iris. If you want it to close fully, then look to designs that were intended for use in a leaf shutter - Those are meant to close completely light tight, where as aperture adjustment designs are meant to leave the middle open throughout all settings.
Also far warning to anyone who thinks they'll buy an old lens off ebay with the plan to take it apart to look at it in detail, then put it back together and sell it again... They are horribly finicky things and can be a pain to get back together in a working order. Think very hard before taking on such a project if you're not ready to wash most of the lens value down the drain. But they're also super fun to play with if you like clockworks and sorting through your entire room trying to find a single teeny tiny black spring that will probably somehow be hidden deep inside a dust bunny or something.
haha, you're all welcome to visit! Actually, maybe I should organize a youtuber meetup at my shop some weekend. I'm in southern missouri and I understand that there are quite a few within driving distance.
Caleb Kraft I'm gonna be in Fulton for the Solar Eclipse. Ross from the group is part of a science team releasing balloons up to image the Moons shadow as it passes over the US. Andy Birkey will also be there. How far are you from there?
Because that's retarded, he already has an arduino.. Not only that, it would need an air supply, electricity, and a whole lot of other shit that is so out-of-the-way from this project that it totally defeats the purpose.
You could add a light sensor that opens the iris fully when it's completely dark outside and you can see the stars, and closes it in the morning. And of course adjust the sensor and be able to override the sensor whenever you want.
Great project and amazing unique house you've got. An idea for replacing the bolts: You could place 3d printed figures on the bolts, I was thinking maybe a gladiatorial scene so when you bring the iris to a fully closed position its as if all the figures are battling and when they are in neutral position the match has not started. I was very interested when you first showed this CNC machine, are more builds in the queue to be done with it soon? I am still debating between keeping my glowforge order vs getting a large CNC. Immediate reasoning is that a CNC is closer to a 3D printer which im comfortable with and costs less to service for a hobbyist. If you had the budget for one which would you go for? Laser or CNC?
If it wasn't cost prohibitive, I would add a lens system so that the sunbeam could be sharpened or softened as desired. Even a color gel system would be cool. Then you would have a giant followspot. Just, make sure you don't set fire to the floor.
Beautiful design. The center not closing completely isn't a big deal as I've seen many implementations that didn't seal the center. The light blead from the outer portion of the fins would be unacceptable for any of my implementations, however. Again... beautiful project.
You could add a motion sensor so that when someone walks up there it will cycle through its range automatically, maybe do some winking or something like that. Would be fun for visitors
Cool idea, but bad design: it should have more leafs/blades and they should be smaller on the other end and bigger on the other. But maybe a 2.0 version some day? :D
Just attach a small extension piece to one of the blades and that gap goes away... Also, if you chose to use a crank, consider having a double one (at the stair's top and bottom, with 90º gears at the wall parallel axis and all that steampunk feeling). ... and yeah... those external gaps... get rid of them, please (just decrease the outer ring radius a bit, for instance). (Everybody's a critic... hehehe).
Damn what a cool project! Those bolts, do they make them in a copper or brass. Think it would look cool seeing standing out from the Baltic Burch ply. Maybe even faux finish the mechanisms gear rings to look like brass or copper would be cool. Otherwise rocking project!
If you were creative enough, you could probably make something work. this specific design needs to be assembled in a ring, but the opening could be any shape. You'd lose on size though.
I do make them for sale. I have one ready to go now but it is mostly ABS plastic so it can't lay down like this one. You can message me if you really want to buy one.
My wife and I collaborated on that one. I did the outline and she did all the coloring. If you get close it is much more interesting as well, tons of swirls and lines.
Closure isn't all that great. I saw one iris someone made from lexan that the blades taper to a point so that it closes fully with the points overlapping in the middle. Maybe a design like that would be better. Also the gaps around the sides is kinda bad.
you're telling me you couldn't cut that out yourself? you had the layout software, nothing was stopping you. plus, you didn't even finish the wood, or stain it, or anything, and you have it held up by unfinished 2x6s seriously, a coat of linseed oil makes everything look better, even if crappy cleats was your best idea.
actually I did finish the baltic birch! I used boiled linseed oil. I just like the unfinished look of it. Lots of the footage shows mdf assembly, so you may be thinking that was what I used. The final only has one piece of MDF. Also, maybe you can cut a 4 foot gear by hand but I have tried and gotten poor results. Feel free to post yours as soon as you're done though! I know that the guy who made wintergatan did it by hand and his is pretty amazing.
Project turned out fairly well ... Industrial router my eye. I'm getting tired of hearing/seeing "industrial" and "heavy duty" when it isn't even close to such. There are no standards to what these actually describe, but if Harbor Freight can use it on their junk, you know it doesn't mean much any more. For those of you who have worked in industrial and manufacturing environments, you know what I mean. "Industrial" and/or "heavy duty" means built like a battleship and for continuous use/abuse, not once a week/month.
Too many problems. Center do not closes fully, some light comes thru outside edge at closed position, opening diameter is too small for that space - you can compare amount of light before installation and after. Good as first try, but not as final solution.
Very cool to see this come together. Nice job Caleb!
Jeremy Cook's Projects *poke*
yeah, nothing beats the feeling of finishing a project that you've been fantasizing about for years.
This is one of the most awesome projects that I have seen on UA-cam, Caleb! Also, knowing that the guys from CNC Router Parts took that much time and effort with assisting you, I have decided to go with their company for my Router table needs. I'm going to use plasma, for most of my work, and their set-up looks very sturdy. I appreciate you taking the time to make and share this video with us! I want to make something similar out of light sheet and aluminum, with some clear plexiglass to show the gear-work. Something to that effect, anyway. Thanks again, Man! Good luck in the future.
only complaint from myself is that when iris is fully closed, some light gaps appears on the outside... :/
yeah, that could be fairly easily fixed too, but the cost would be about $150 to get another sheet of aluminum and rivets. I decided just to live with it.
Fair! :)
Not bothered about the gap in the middle, but the gaps at the outside look terrible.
I expect you to automate it to say "Unscheduled Offworld Activation!" now. :-)
That is the coolest "Maker" project I've yet seen on the web!! Thanks for sharing!
wow, thank you!
Absolutely, I am looking forward to build this on my art studio! Since my studio has 15 foot old tin ceilings and with no real natural lighting coming in - I could see this Iris installed in my ceiling fixed with some strong LED light source to illuminate my work space. Thanks again for sharing this brilliant project!
Hi Caleb, I noticed that the Iris fusion 360 file does not include the "petal" parts. Are they some where embedded in that file?
Glad you got this one completed, great project, Caleb! Thanks for sharing.
thanks! yeah, its a relief to finally make this idea into reality.
Fun project. I think the supports are detracting, perhaps holding it in place from the top, or have it catch on a lip could improve the project?
What a cool project Caleb. Makes me wish I still had family in the area.
great!
At first I thought it was going to be used as a door, in the staircase. You go up/down and it detects you and opens, revealing the rest of the staircase. The little gap in the middle will not exist, as the centre of the staircase has a pole on it
I thought about that possibility. It could actually help regulate the temperature better that way as the stairwell makes the cold/hot air just drop through right now. That would have required some considerable modification to my house and re-engineering of the stairwell itself. Also, the wall on that stairwell is only about 4 inches thick, so the design of the iris, or the entire stairwell needs to be changed to make space.
Very cool project. All the best, Jim
really cool. but it feels like it is missing that 10%finish. but still really cool!
I now know I *need* an iris in my house. I just need to figure out where they're needed.
Thanks for sharing the fun project. The iris looks amazing!
everywhere!
Lol my kind of logic 😂
Caleb, that is just sick! I'm speechless
thanks!
Such an awesome aesthetic! I am truly inspired. Awesome project!
Beautiful design! I myself come up with a different idea of dimming light. You only need two circles with polarization filters - one is fixed and the other can be rotated in between of 0° and 90°. It allows to make filters parallel or perpendicular to each other thus changing their transparency. It's lightweight, has only one moving part and has the ability of changing the transparency of the whole window very precisely.
Lot less work involved. But how costly is the polarized material
@@gleggett3817 I didn't think about it, but you can get 42/59 cm (16.5/23.4 In) on Amazon for $70. You could make two circles with diameter of 42cm for $140.
@@huscat1609 or one could harvest a lot of LCD displays.... make the joints a feature of the design.
@@gleggett3817 Good idea, though the connections should be really nicely incorporated into design. I see no feasible way of connecting them seamlessly.
DAMN!!!! This is such a cool project!
thanks!
excellent work, looks amazing. will be great to see what else you can now do with such an amazing CNC to work with.
That's awesome!! Nice idea and build!
Very cool. I like the hand crank idea!
That is the Bomb! I have searched for something like this for ahwile on the web and stumbled on this looking at something else. it would make for some awesome skylights in the home for natural light and at Night I would shut them so that no inside light would bleed out. It's a security thing.
I would however spend the extra to have it completely shut ot have some spring loaded circle cover the last portion of the opening.
Thanks for the design!
that's a really awesome project, thanks for sharing.
thanks for watching!
Very cool project. It made me think of using an iris between panes of glass as Hobbit house window shades.
Awesome! I'll do this on a sun light i have. I'll cover the bolts with some wood caps or half spheres. And most important reflection on these upper part of the black petals, it will absorb to much heat and damage the black plastic.
Amazing project!
I can still barely believe it is done!
Fantastic project, reminds me of a film i will always remember for its futuristic innovations and that film was 20,000 Leages under the sea with with James Mason as Captain Nemo
and the feature i remember was the two large Iris port hole's on the side's of the submarine it was magical when Captain Nemo pressed the button and it opened up to a fantastic under water view
I think of Alien (79) - when Dallas armed with flame thrower is looking for the alien in the air shafts & wanted the tubes sealed off behind him to isolate areas once cleared & keep it contained. That aperture made an abrasive gritty metal sound as they opened & closed (see youtube). I'm sure it was meant to look and sound dangerous. There was a pinhole in the center of theirs but it was a lot tighter than this design. That middle opening bothered me as a kid - it didn't seem sealed enough for a space ship air tube hatchway....perhaps that was the intention - danger! Lol.
As for the crank idea - Caleb don't be so literal - make it look however you want but make it technically loosely connected. What I mean is use an encoder at the end of a mock crank that then still cycles the stepper at a now an adjustable gear ratio - just like power steering is now a by wire control for all the related advantages. That would be less to take apart and keep flexibility yet with whatever actuation look you want (crank, chain, whatever including automatic open close cycles with any linear or nonlinear speeds). IMHO that makes more sense than ditching the motor even if you want a crank motion to actuate it....which you may not later.
Hope you don't mind the suggestions. I also agree with the critiques of the 3 braces - they distract the beholder's eye from the iris as a feature (ironically). Think like an architect and where you want people to look when you are showing them your cool house, The brackets look like you failed in planning this & had to brace as an afterthought. Even if that is true don't make it look that way ;-)
The bolts - I wouldn't do too much with them but at least dress them in some way that looks more in keeping with the house (i.e. staircase metal) rather than looking like Home Depot threaded rod. Again make it all look like it belongs not like it was just hacked in.
Good job - what's next?
Very nice!! i love this idea! very well done.
that is really cool! I would love to have a CNC ROUTER of my own some day... luckily I have access at the local maker space.
yup, makerspace to the rescue!
The one thing missing is a vacuum pump. You can do it without it but its so much better when its sucking the material down
Did not see CNC router parts at the Portland Mini Maker fair this year. They were a highlight.
you could hang something circular in the middle to cover the hole
makes me want one with stars all over and a little moon to cover the center hole when closed
Neat design but the install is KILLING my OCD. The final finish is not even close to being as good as it could have been.
A fine finish carpenter with OCD such as myself should have been consulted.
This is somewhat creepy.
haha, it may even be creepier if I just set it to random and have it move real slow. I'm enjoying playing with it.
At first I thought it was going to be used as a door, in the staircase. You go up/down and it detects you and opens, revealing the rest of the staircase. The little gap in the middle will not exist, as the centre of the staircase has a pole on it
Paint the bolts black and it will look like it is a part of the mechanism. Right now the bolts are out of place. Very cool project. Good!
yup, I talk about them in the end. I've actually completely removed them!
Good work.
thanks!
For anyone looking at different designs for something like this, keep in mind the difference between an aperture iris, and a shutter iris. If you want it to close fully, then look to designs that were intended for use in a leaf shutter - Those are meant to close completely light tight, where as aperture adjustment designs are meant to leave the middle open throughout all settings.
thanks for pointing this out!
Also far warning to anyone who thinks they'll buy an old lens off ebay with the plan to take it apart to look at it in detail, then put it back together and sell it again... They are horribly finicky things and can be a pain to get back together in a working order. Think very hard before taking on such a project if you're not ready to wash most of the lens value down the drain.
But they're also super fun to play with if you like clockworks and sorting through your entire room trying to find a single teeny tiny black spring that will probably somehow be hidden deep inside a dust bunny or something.
looks cool, I wonder how the stair case tube would look if you had an arced door to complete the cylinder.
This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while, just wondering if there's someways to incorporate this in my house
Magnifique réalisation une superbe idée
Wow Caleb! That is stunning! Road Trip!:)
haha, you're all welcome to visit! Actually, maybe I should organize a youtuber meetup at my shop some weekend. I'm in southern missouri and I understand that there are quite a few within driving distance.
Caleb Kraft I'm gonna be in Fulton for the Solar Eclipse. Ross from the group is part of a science team releasing balloons up to image the Moons shadow as it passes over the US. Andy Birkey will also be there. How far are you from there?
fulton is 2.5 hours from me. I'm not sure what I have going on at that time, I'll need to check the dates.
why not put fake piston on the ends of the bolts so it looks like a pneumatic/hydraulic system
that's an idea!
SpeedrunnerG55 why not just put a real piston on it?
Because that's retarded, he already has an arduino..
Not only that, it would need an air supply, electricity, and a whole lot of other shit that is so out-of-the-way from this project that it totally defeats the purpose.
Brinkwolf
"looks like"
op isn't saying he should make an actual pneumatic/hydraulic system
My bad. It was 3am and I hadn't slept.
GG.
Hi this beyond awsum ,I like it as is.well done.
That is sweet ! Awesome
Very cool and great project vision. Just need to scale it up for the Star Gate Iris. Haha
In stead of a hand crank I would put in a 90 degree gearbox and a pull rope. That way it could be operated at the top or bottom of the steps.
ooooh, good idea!
Very cool! Reminds me of the 'door' of the Millennium Falcon (as seen in TESB) or the terrifying doors in the first Alien movie... ;)
yup, had a few people mention the millenium falcon!
brass copper trim for bolts to add some steam punk vibe. Could do motor on top, crank on bottom to have both options
COOL!
those brackets holding it up are nasty, such a cool iris mech, spoiled by crappy brackets
Yes just like in SG1 ;)
haha, yup
Very cool.
You could add a light sensor that opens the iris fully when it's completely dark outside and you can see the stars, and closes it in the morning. And of course adjust the sensor and be able to override the sensor whenever you want.
the skylight above it is frosted, but if it wasn't, that would rock!
I see. maybe your next project could be to replace the frosted glass with regular glass to make it work?
Great project and amazing unique house you've got. An idea for replacing the bolts: You could place 3d printed figures on the bolts, I was thinking maybe a gladiatorial scene so when you bring the iris to a fully closed position its as if all the figures are battling and when they are in neutral position the match has not started. I was very interested when you first showed this CNC machine, are more builds in the queue to be done with it soon? I am still debating between keeping my glowforge order vs getting a large CNC. Immediate reasoning is that a CNC is closer to a 3D printer which im comfortable with and costs less to service for a hobbyist. If you had the budget for one which would you go for? Laser or CNC?
oooh, that's creative!
That is so cool.
thank you!
Caleb Kraft your welcome sexy hunk.
If it wasn't cost prohibitive, I would add a lens system so that the sunbeam could be sharpened or softened as desired. Even a color gel system would be cool. Then you would have a giant followspot. Just, make sure you don't set fire to the floor.
Fantastic Job Cheers!
thanks!
A+ all the way
Beautiful design. The center not closing completely isn't a big deal as I've seen many implementations that didn't seal the center.
The light blead from the outer portion of the fins would be unacceptable for any of my implementations, however.
Again... beautiful project.
that's incredibly cool but having it not close all the way makes my eye twitch.
Nice job Ben Affleck
Cool! Stéph.
You could add a motion sensor so that when someone walks up there it will cycle through its range automatically, maybe do some winking or something like that. Would be fun for visitors
oooh yeah, draw your eye to it.
Cool idea, but bad design: it should have more leafs/blades and they should be smaller on the other end and bigger on the other. But maybe a 2.0 version some day? :D
What about a chain (like in old standing clock) instead of a handcrank to replace the stepper?
that's a good idea! pulling a chain would be pretty cool and could be done from the floor below as well.
That is a fantastic idea. Like in the old Frankenstein movies!
Yeap! Imagine wearing an Igor costumer during a lightning storm =)
Ronald Jaramillo Haha...I can picture that. like a scene out of Van Helsing
A remote hand crank would be cool. Use an encoder on the crank to control the stepper from a distance.
Words can give a better descriptive to this
Very cool project! I wonder if it could be scaled up to something you might see in Aperture Laboratories...
it could, but the leaves would need some different material. they'd sag if they were much larger.
they redisgned it allright the thing is bleeding like hell when closed what were they thinking
Just attach a small extension piece to one of the blades and that gap goes away...
Also, if you chose to use a crank, consider having a double one (at the stair's top and bottom, with 90º gears at the wall parallel axis and all that steampunk feeling).
... and yeah... those external gaps... get rid of them, please (just decrease the outer ring radius a bit, for instance).
(Everybody's a critic... hehehe).
I wish I had an aperture this big in my lenses
Damn what a cool project! Those bolts, do they make them in a copper or brass. Think it would look cool seeing standing out from the Baltic Burch ply. Maybe even faux finish the mechanisms gear rings to look like brass or copper would be cool. Otherwise rocking project!
yeah, turns out I don't need them at all. I could totally put something much more visually interesting there.
Put the "wooden angels" on the top of the iris, to make it more of a clean look
.... good job but how the ring gear is mounted and guided is not clear......
Elegant iris, but the supporting brackets are clumsy.
This was a really fantastic project. It looks like you made the gear teeth out of MDF. Any concern about durability of such a a critical part?
Make an even bigger one!
maybe also set the fixing brackets semetrical to the holes on the base plate
I imagine we make it to be a door. Imagine you bring your gun, and enter a Room like a James Bond.... That will be so cool
hey man, this is an awesome video!!!
thank you!
is an iris possible with a square or rectangular window?
If you were creative enough, you could probably make something work. this specific design needs to be assembled in a ring, but the opening could be any shape. You'd lose on size though.
hmmmm it would be awesome to build such a thing for my room hahah.
Wow!
ONDE COMPROU ? DISPONIBILIZA O PROJETO ?
Nice idea, bad execution ! Could have used more noble wood !
I knew someone would complain about the wood!
Why a stepper and not a simple gearhead? If you are not controlling position accurately I don't see why a stepper is needed.
Congratulations !!Could we buy this IRIS?
I do make them for sale. I have one ready to go now but it is mostly ABS plastic so it can't lay down like this one. You can message me if you really want to buy one.
Caleb Kraft tank you for your reply. Can we mail us by '''''@gmail.coM?
Now you need an actual lense on top and a big sheet of film down below.
mind sharing the files?
Now how about a square one?
Isn't that called an aperture? The iris is in the eye?
its both!
grate idea!! I also like your frog panting.Did you make it?
My wife and I collaborated on that one. I did the outline and she did all the coloring. If you get close it is much more interesting as well, tons of swirls and lines.
wow! grate job /I like frogs keep on drawing more.Can you one day do a close up so I can see all the details.
Fantastico muy buena idea.
Closure isn't all that great. I saw one iris someone made from lexan that the blades taper to a point so that it closes fully with the points overlapping in the middle. Maybe a design like that would be better. Also the gaps around the sides is kinda bad.
you're telling me you couldn't cut that out yourself? you had the layout software, nothing was stopping you.
plus, you didn't even finish the wood, or stain it, or anything, and you have it held up by unfinished 2x6s seriously, a coat of linseed oil makes everything look better, even if crappy cleats was your best idea.
actually I did finish the baltic birch! I used boiled linseed oil. I just like the unfinished look of it. Lots of the footage shows mdf assembly, so you may be thinking that was what I used. The final only has one piece of MDF.
Also, maybe you can cut a 4 foot gear by hand but I have tried and gotten poor results. Feel free to post yours as soon as you're done though! I know that the guy who made wintergatan did it by hand and his is pretty amazing.
the only thing i lack is money. given a jigsaw, a router, and sandpaper and enough time i can make you anything. well and the layout software helps.
Hello. can you sell me a finished project?

You can always build decorative covers that use magnets to hold themselves onto the bolt heads, maybe star shape ..
If you had placed the teeth from the big gear to the inside, the opening could be made much bigger
So much for the files eh
Its a vent from Alien!
Project turned out fairly well ... Industrial router my eye. I'm getting tired of hearing/seeing "industrial" and "heavy duty" when it isn't even close to such. There are no standards to what these actually describe, but if Harbor Freight can use it on their junk, you know it doesn't mean much any more. For those of you who have worked in industrial and manufacturing environments, you know what I mean. "Industrial" and/or "heavy duty" means built like a battleship and for continuous use/abuse, not once a week/month.
Too many problems. Center do not closes fully, some light comes thru outside edge at closed position, opening diameter is too small for that space - you can compare amount of light before installation and after. Good as first try, but not as final solution.
it reminds me of a vent from Alien: isolation...