Help needed sourcing gear/track material for stepper motor

Question

I am completely new to robotics and engineering and it looks as though I have stumbled at the first hurdle when building a prototype.

I am trying to build a curved track upon which a motorised carriage can run. I know that I need a stepper motor and a cog, however for the tracks I can't find anything similar to the picture below:

The youtube video is as follows: Lumia 640XL mach3 step motor curve motion

There is a slight difference in that I need straight sections and 90-degree bends for the tracks, rather than a circle.

Does anyone know what these sections are called, as "tracks" and "runners" doesn't yield anything.

Answer 1

This particular part is called a ring gear, but you're probably not going to find one because the item in your picture is almost certainly custom-made.

The particular article I linked is for engine starter motors, so it has external teeth, but there are internally-toothed ring gears, too.

What you're describing, beyond the picture, does sound like a kind of modular track system, but I'm unaware of any off-the-shelf solutions. You might have luck with timing belts (or toothed belts), but it would probably be easier to get parts custom-fabricated to your exact specification than to try to cobble something together from miscellaneous parts.

There seems to be a good number of off-the-shelf small-scale timing belts like this intended for 3D printers, though. Not affiliated with or recommending the Amazon link, just wanted to give an example.