Creating a Cog in Blender Using Manual Extrusion and Bevels

Today I tried a second method for creating a cog in Blender — this time without Geometry Nodes. The idea was to build a clean, single object that works well with hard-surface modifiers like Bevel, and to do it as quickly as possible using only standard modeling tools.

Steps taken:

1. Start with a cylinder

   Add a cylinder with the number of side vertices matching the desired tooth count × 2 (since we extrude every other face).

2. Select alternating side faces

   Switch to Face Select mode, select the side faces, then use Select → Checker Deselect to keep every other face active. These will become the teeth.

3. Extrude teeth outward

   Press E to extrude and then Alt+S to push the new geometry along the normals. This forms an even set of teeth around the rim of the cylinder.

4. Add support edges with Bevel

   With the new teeth still selected, press Ctrl+B to bevel and create a clean transition edge. This helps the cog hold its shape under shading or further bevels.

5. Cleanup on the top surface (optional)

   If subdivision or boolean operations are planned later, replace the default ngon cap with a quad layout using Grid Fill. Otherwise the default cap is fine for hard-surface beveling.

Here's how it looks: