Gear Hobbing and Shaping For Precision
Gear Manufacturing
Gear Blanks
Gear blanks can be manufactured by most processes (casting, forging, extrusion, powder metallurgy, blanking) but as a rule, machining in the form of hobbing and milling are applied to achieve the final dimensions, shape and surface finish in the gear.
Gear Hobbing
Gear Hobbing is a machining process for gear cutting, cutting splines, and cutting sprockets on a hobbing machine, which is a special type of milling machine. The teeth or splines of the gear are progressively cut into the material (a flat, cylindrical piece of metal) by a series of cuts made by a cutting tool called a hob. Compared to other gear forming processes it is relatively inexpensive but still quite accurate, thus it is used for a broad range of parts and quantities. The hob is basically a worm with gashes cut across it to produce the tooth face cutting edges. All motions in hobbing are rotary, and the hob and gear blank rotate continuously as in two gears meshing until all teeth are cut. Hobbing is one of the most fundamental processes in gear manufacturing. Its productivity and versatility make hobbing the gear manufacturing method of choice for a majority of spur and helical gears.
SPINE SHAPING
Gear Hobbing From Source International
The hobbing machines that Source International uses are fully automated and come in many sizes, able to produce anything from tiny instrument gears up to 10 foot (3.0 meter) diameter gears. Each gear hobbing machine typically consists of a chuck and tailstock, to hold the workpiece or a spindle, a spindle on which the hob is mounted, and a drive motor.
Most hobs are single-thread hobs, but double, and triple thread hobs increase production rates. The downside is that they are not as accurate as single-thread hobs. Depending on type of gear teeth to be cut, there are custom made hobs and general purpose hobs.
Types of hobs we use include:
- Roller chain sprocket hobs
- Worm wheel hobs
- Spline hobs
- Chamfer hobs
- Spur and helical gear hobs
- Straight side spline hobs
- Involute spline hobs
- Serration hobs
- Semitopping gear hobs
LATHING
