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I have two gears with different numbers of teeth (20 and 10): enter image description here

The small gear makes two turnovers, while the large gear makes one turnover only.

My idea is to use a large gear as an alphabet wheel (put one letter on the each tooth) while the teeth of a small gear are marked by letters or symbols of the secret message (length is not greater than 10 letters).

Here is an example of substitution cipher edu-games.org/printables/secret-code.php

I am looking for an alternative mechanism for encrypting the message.

Question. What are the sequences of letters (symbols) I can use on both gears?

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm not sure what you mean - isn't the point of a shift cipher that you can use any sequence of letters as both ciphertext and keys? (Or any keyed cipher at all, for that matter?) $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Nov 26, 2019 at 2:12
  • $\begingroup$ @deusovi, here is an example of cipher edu-games.org/printables/secret-code.php $\endgroup$
    – Nick
    Commented Nov 26, 2019 at 4:18
  • $\begingroup$ I know what a cipher is - that doesn't answer my question. Why can't you use any sequence of symbols or letters? $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Nov 26, 2019 at 5:24
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    $\begingroup$ I think you may be confusing your ciphers a bit here. You stated that you want predetermined symbols and letters on the gears in order to decode messages using a shift cipher method, but as Deusovi said, that's not how shift ciphers work. Looking at the link you provided, it seems like you're thinking about a substitution cipher, which is a whole different kind of cipher. Do you want us to find another way to use the mechanism to encode/decode a message? Or am I completely misunderstanding your purpose here? $\endgroup$
    – HTM
    Commented Nov 26, 2019 at 6:10
  • $\begingroup$ @pilsnot3, yes, i am looking for another way. I have updated my question. $\endgroup$
    – Nick
    Commented Nov 26, 2019 at 6:35

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