Gear Manufacturing

Gear Manufacturing Resources and Companies

Depending on the application requirements, it may be sufficient to use traditional methods like hobbing or shaping to cut the gear teeth. These methods use a high speed steel or carbide cutting tool with a specific form to remove material from a circular gear blank. These tools produce good dimensional accuracy and good surface finishes appropriate for a wide range of applications. If more precision is required, or if the gears are required to run quietly, shaving or grinding may be required to produce a finer surface finish and more precise tooth locations and forms.

Gear Manufacturing Using a Manual Milling Machine

The following article details how to machine a simple spur gear on a milling machine using a dividing head. A specifically shaped cutter must be used. 

Making spur gears using a dividing head - This resource covers how to select a cutter, prepare the gear blank, and set up a dividing head on a horizontal or vertical milling machine. Is is critical that great care is taken at every step of the process to ensure the best results. 

Gear Manufacturing in a Production Environment

Companies that specialize in gear production use processes like hobbing, 

Manufacturing Metal Gears

Manufacturing Plastic Gears

Gear Inspection

If large amounts of gears are required or the application has strict quality and durability requirements, inspection is likely needed to ensure that the gears meet the design requirements. One of the simplest tests is to mesh the gear with a master gear and measure the variation in centre distance as the gear meshes with the master. If there is no error in either gear, the centre distance will remain constant. This is an excellent functional test because centre distance variation will contribute to inconsistent motion, cause excess noise, and can make the gears difficult to install in the gearbox.

Measuring the variation in centre distance is a great way to assess the quality of a gear, but might not explain what is causing the defects. Using a thin bluing agent spread on one of the gears, such as Prussian Blue, can highlight exactly where the gears are contacting. If the contact is not happening in the centre of the flank, the tooth profile is likely distorted.

Gear Repair and Service