Gear shaping is, in principle, much like meshing two spur gears. The shape of the workpiece and the gear-shaping cutter’s motion. To make a cutting edge, the gear tooth blank acts as an extra gear, and the gear shaper, like a gear shaper cutters, grinds the rake and relief angles on the gear.
As the tool shapes the gear, its high-speed reciprocating linear motion along the axis of the workpiece forms the cutting process’s principal action. Using a simultaneous gapless meshing operation with the workpiece, it processes all of the gear tooth profiles on the workpiece. In a single machining cycle, the tool only grinds away a small fraction of the tooth groove in the workpiece.
Almost Spot On
A very exact gear shaping procedure may provide gears with very good surface quality and very tight tolerances. Gears for high-performance mechanical systems, such as aviation or medical equipment, are perfect.
Reliability Of Standards
The continuous cutting process known as gear shaping guarantees high-quality gears every time by consistently shaping each gear tooth. Consequently, it is perfect for mass-producing high-quality equipment.
Gears For Grinding
A spinning abrasive wheel transfers its profile into the gear when it contacts the gear blank, removing material from the blank in this way. This method is very precise, although it may be expensive and takes a long time. In the image below, you can see the process of gear grinding in action.
Gear Assembly
It is one of the first methods for making gears. The cutter profile’s shape and geometry should correspond to the desired teeth. The tool cuts through the blank and then returns to its original position in a straight line, removing material.
If the gear tooth pitch is the same as the gear shaping tool, then it may be used on gears that need a different number of teeth. Gear shaping can create most types of gear (apart from worm gear) and often requires less manufacturing time. Despite its lack of precision, many people utilize it for medium-sized production runs.
Finalization Of Gear
If you need sharp teeth and a smooth surface, gear polishing is the way. Using an abrasive wheel, it smooths down the surfaces where the gear cutter tool. It’s similar to gear grinding but with a much finer wheel that doesn’t remove nearly as much material.
Gears That Are Broached
A broach, a cutting tool with several teeth designed specifically for gear teeth, is used in this quick method. Since each broach is custom-made to cut a certain kind or size of tooth, gear broaching may be done on any lathe, milling machine, machining center, or turning machine; nevertheless, it can be rather expensive. It is one of the fastest gear-cutting procedures and is very inexpensive; therefore, it is ideal for components with a large manufacturing volume.
Machining Wheels
Gear milling involves using a milling machine and a form-cutting tool, rotating to cut each tooth individually. The cutter will step back after cutting each tooth to allow the gear blank to rotate before cutting again. Since its slowness is readily apparent, this gear-cutting method is ideal for low-volume manufacturing runs. Also, it isn’t very precise. It’s very appealing when you need to make unique components for low-volume manufacturing runs without investing in expensive specialty equipment.
