Gears are being made in various ways using different methods and techniques. So, there is really no single process in CNC machining for gear manufacturing that can be used to describe the making of all gears. For those who don’t know about gears, they actually come in many types, depending on their teeth configuration and uses. Moreover, based on the unique requirements for the gears, manufacturers can use different manufacturing processes to create the various types of gears effectively. With that, here are some of the fundamental CNC machining for gear manufacturing processes to know.
Gear Hobbing: using a hobbing machine, gears and splines can be cut continuously into the workpiece through a series of cuts. The hob, the tool that cuts through gear blank, has teeth that are evenly spaced which provides high precision cutting of gears.
Gear Shaping: this gear manufacturing process is utilized when the use of a hob is not possible. Shaping is commonly used for cutting cluster gears or internal gears. The cutting tool is shaped pretty much a gear that has cutting edges that rotate as it cuts into the blank material.
Gear Milling: it one of the most widely known methods of gear manufacturing that require the use of a milling machine. With its ability to create almost gear type, it is considered to so practical. However, traditional milling has low precision but with the improvement of CNC machining, sophisticated software and programming made the process capable of manufacturing high-quality gears. So, today milling has been the go-to technique of creating almost every type of gears.
Bevel Cutting: this cutting process requires the use of a specialty equipment that is specifically designed to cut bevel gear. This method is so unique as bevel gears are among the most specialized gears in the manufacturing industry becuase of their complex shapes and teeth design.