I am a frequenter and loiterer in the aisles of the local big box Bunnings hardware store. Getting strange looks as I take photos of various tools and screws and metal thingys.
You and I are alike in that respect. Maybe most artists are? I collect interesting stuff, some of which appears in drawings. When you mentioned my "tidy studio" the shelves behind me have many feathers, an old 1910 oil can, a huge key and worm-eaten wooden door lock, fossils and rocks, a bird's nest, a chunk of wood chewed by Chinchillas, dead bats and insects... and more...
And I have a lot of old tools from my grandfathers. One was Estate Carpenter on Lord Whitmore's estate, and the other a blacksmith/farrier in the mines of the Tunnel Cement Company.
...So, both straps couldn't be the same length, as the right one would be too short to reach across. So, I just bent it down and attached it that way.
Which sort of proves my point. That you're living in your world as you create it, and you did what was needed to anchor it. And that adds more "reality" to an unreal situation.
I have drawn a lot of gears and cogs in the past few years now.
I mean, A LOT. So, I have a technique that seems to work well (see attached)...
Thanks! It all makes perfect sense when explained like that. Especially when you add your experience to the mix. And it’s probably the perfect method, because it produces "accurate" results that have an appealing hand-drawn look - not looking mechanical. Well, they are "mechanical", obviously, but... No, you're right. I'll stop digging the hole any deeper.
One trick I also use is that I save every planning drawing and original drawing tracings. Once I have a bunch of cogs together in one drawing, I can reuse them in another work by retracing...
That is both excellent advice, and a very handy hint.
I'll also add that those initial plans could be very important in later cases of fraudulent use of your work, and copyright claims. That's why I keep all my guideline drawings (which also note the date, source, and film/negative number - pre-digital, obviously).
And - as I discovered - you never know when you might write a book or begin to make "how to" videos. Suddenly, all those old "no longer required" sketches and line drawings are worth their weight in gold.
Oh... and that delightful "Dali-esque" cog? I mean... come on... that's just showing off!
But in a very brilliant and masterful way.