gear-cutting machine
Quick Summary
A gear-cutting machine is a specialized tool designed for machining gears. There are three primary methods for cutting gear teeth: form cutting, template cutting, and generating.
- Form cutting uses a tool shaped like the space between gear teeth and is often done on a milling machine.
- Template cutting employs a template to guide a cutter on large bevel-gear machines.
- The generating method is common for mass production. It utilizes the principle that meshing gears or a gear and rack must have the same diametral pitch. This allows a cutting tool shaped like a gear or rack to cut teeth into a blank. Machines using this method include gear shapers, which use reciprocating strokes, and gear-hobbing machines. Gear-hobbing machines use a rotating, multi-tooth cutter called a hob and are highly efficient for producing accurate gears like spur gears, worm gears, and helical gears at high rates.1
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