Gear teeth come in various forms, with the involute tooth profile being the most common. There are two main categories of machining methods for involute tooth profiles: forming methods and generating methods. Below, we introduce six machining methods for gears!
1. Gear milling
Milling teeth using disc-type module milling cutters or finger milling cutters is a forming method where the cross-sectional shape of the milling cutter teeth corresponds to the shape between the gear teeth. This method has low processing efficiency and accuracy, and is only suitable for single-piece or small-batch production.
2. Forming and grinding of gears
It also belongs to the forming process, but because the grinding wheel is not easy to dress, it is used less often.
3. Gear hobbing
It belongs to the generating method of machining, and its working principle is equivalent to the meshing of a pair of helical gears. The prototype of the gear hob is a helical gear with a large helix angle. Because it has very few teeth (usually z=1), the teeth are very long and are wound around the shaft to form a worm with a small helix angle. After grooving and tooth reduction, it becomes a hob with a cutting edge and a clearance angle.
4. Tooth shaving
In mass production, shaving is a common finishing method for non-hardened gear surfaces. Its working principle involves the free meshing motion of a shaving cutter and the gear being machined. Through the relative sliding between them, very fine chips are shaved off the tooth surface, improving its precision. Shaving can also create drum-shaped teeth, which improves the position of the tooth surface contact area.
5. Tooth
Gear shaping is a commonly used gear cutting process that utilizes the generating method, besides gear hobbing. During gear shaping, the gear shaping cutter and the workpiece are equivalent to the meshing of a pair of cylindrical gears. The reciprocating motion of the gear shaping cutter is the main motion of gear shaping, while the circular motion performed by the gear shaping cutter and the workpiece in a certain proportional relationship is the feed motion of gear shaping.
6. Generating method for gear grinding
Generating gear grinding, with its cutting motion similar to gear hobbing, is a method for finishing gear teeth, especially for hardened gears, where it is often the only finishing method. Generating gear grinding can be performed using worm gear grinding, or it can be done using conical or disc grinding wheels.
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