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Overview of Gear Manufacturing Methods
Gear manufacturing can be categorized according to the specific type of gear to be made. There are four major types of gears that are commonly manufactured, namely: spur, helical, bevel, and worm gears. The particular kind of method or technique used in manufacturing those gears dictates what machine should be employed.
With that in mind, here are the different gear manufacturing methods that are usually used by most manufacturers.
Milling - gear milling is the most widely known process for making gears. It requires the use of a milling machine that can be utilized to make virtually all kinds of gears. However, with more advanced gear manufacturing technologies today, gear milling is only used when creating gears that don’t need high dimensional accuracy.
Shaping - this method is a kind of a generating process that is used in making cluster gears, internal gears, and other gears that may not be possible to make through gear hobbing. Manufacturing those gears are done with ease through this process. The cutter used during gear shaping is also a gear that has cutting edges that are controlled through a velocity ratio that is relative to the kind of gear to be made.
Hobbing - this gear manufacturing technique is also a generating process. It is mostly chosen for its great versatility in producing various types of gears such as helical, spur, worm, and even splines. The created gears have higher productivity rates, thanks to the equally spaced cutting edges of the hobbing machine.
Cutting - this method is a special case as it involves the use of a special kind of machine chosen based on the specific kind of bevel gear to be made. Both the tool and machine to be used for bevel gear cutting are strictly chosen depending on the type of bevel gear being manufactured.
It is important for a gear manufacturer to have access to only the best machinery. At True Gear & Spline, we make it a priority to update our inventory consistently. Call us today to learn more about our capabilities!
