Resources to learn useful common Mindstorms mechanical construction patterns

Question

I'm currently working on building a small scale CNC-like (X-Z, no Y axis) machine to cut glass mosaic tiles.
I decided to give it a go using my EV3 set and I'm having some trouble with the Z-axis movement.

I find I'm loosing too much time figuring out by myself how to build what I'd expect are known elementary construction units, or what I'd call "patterns" (get my SW Eng bg? :-)). For example: a circular-to-linear movement using the medium servo (push vs pull), commonly used gear assemblies, duplexing servo movement axis, etc.

I'm looking for resources where to learn some basic construction patterns that would help me speed up building more complex structures. For example, a while ago I saw a book that seemed to contain some construction patterns -> combining gears, how to build strong structures, ... I can't find it anymore.

Any available online/offline resource that could help is welcome.

Answer 1

I've had trouble finding good examples as well. One of the most interesting one is, sadly, in Spanish, but the images (and some help from Google Translate) helped me some. Hopefully it can be a start.

http://www.hispalug.com/foro/index.php?topic=11730.0

Answer 2

There are two sites I can think of that describe commonly used gear assemblies. Both sites make use of animations to illustrate how the gears work.

LEGO Education: Constructopedia

This web article produced by The LEGO Group introduces common, basic usages of gears and pulleys. It includes alterations to the direction of gears, idler gears, gearing up/down and pulleys at angles.

TECHNICOPEDIA: Building Fundapementals

Technicopedia: Building Fundapemtnals describe more advanced usages of gears and different gear types such as bevel, worm, rack and differential gears.