1. Place an image of the gear you want to draw on a layer, then lock
that layer.
2. On a new layer, drag a horizontal guide to the exact center of the
gear you want to copy, then drag a vertical guide to center on the
gear as well, zooming in to make sure they're centered. This is the
point you will use as a reference when rotating.
3. Using the placed image to trace from, choose either the top or
bottom pawl to trace (assuming the gear is oriented like the image in
your link, with top and bottom pawls at right angles to the page).
4. Drag another horizontal guide to the bottom of the top pawl if
using the top one, or the top of bottom the pawl if using the bottom
one.
5. Use the pen tool to trace the three sides of the pawl, starting and
ending at the horizontal guide you drew in step 4 and using the shift
key to constrain to right angles. Leave the inner side open so you
have a "U"-shaped or upside-down "U"-shaped object.
6. For this step it's best to zoom in quite closely. Select the pawl
you have drawn and click on the rotate tool. Hold down Alt (is using a
PC), then click exactly on the intersection of the guides you dragged
in step 2.
7. In the dialogue box that comes up, type in 36 (for degrees - this
will make a gear with 10 pawls), and click "copy."
8. Duplicate this (Control D) 8 times to get enough pawls.
9. Join the bottom edge of each pawl to the bottom edge of its
neighbor.
10. Draw the center circle, centering it with the guides.
11. Select both objects and make a compound path (Control 8). |