As a leading national supplier of precision gears, many of our customers often wonder what is involved in the manufacturing process of gears. Actually, the manufacturing of a gear consists of a number of highly specialized processes. The methodologies we use to produce gears vary depending on the type of gear we are manufacturing. We are able to produce gears from a number of different materials including metal, aluminum, bronze and plastic. The common types of gears we manufacture include bevel gear, helical, spur, and worm gears. During the manufacturing process, a gear is cut, a process referred to as “gear cutting”, which is the machining process for creating a gear. Gear cutting includes: Broaching, hobbing, milling, shaping, and grinding.
Broaching is mostly used to manufacture splines or very large gears. For instance, we’ll use a vertical broach when we need to create a spline. Vertical broach consists of a vertical rail, which carries one tooth cutter designed to create the tooth shape. Broaching also consists of a Y-axis and rotary table. To produce large gears using this process, we use specialized equipment that cut to a depth on the Y-axis and index to a rotary table automatically.
The next process is gear hobbing. Using a specialized piece of machinery called the hobber the teeth are cut into the gear by the hob’s equally spaced cutting edges as the gear spins around. This process enables us to produce many types of gears including spur, serrations, splines, worm wheels, and helical, among others that meets our customer specifications.
Another gear cutting process is milling, which is not just one of the initial processes but also one of the most important methodologies. Here, we use a milling machine and a form cutter, which is passed through the gear blank to form the tooth gap. One main advantage of gear milling is that it can produce almost any type of gear.
Finally, there is the finishing and grinding process, where a gear that has been cut is finished by lapping, shaving, burnishing, honing or grinding. In grinding, abrasive materials are used to finish the surface of the gears that make them handy for various operational uses.
Our precision gear cutting process produces top performing gears for the aerospace, agriculture, automotive, manufacturing and other industries. We employ a number of processes to ensure that our gears are top quality, easy to install and ready to deliver outstanding performance.
To learn more information about our gear cutting process contact us at 810-765-8302.
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