Main Machining Methods for Gears Gear machining mainly consists of the following processes:
Gear Milling
Machining is performed using disk-type modular milling cutters or finger-shaped milling cutters. The cross-sectional profile of the cutter teeth matches the profile of the gear tooth spaces. This method features low machining efficiency and low precision, and is primarily applied to single-piece and small-batch production.
Gear Hobbing
It is a generating machining method whose working principle is equivalent to the meshing of a pair of helical gears. This is one of the most widely adopted methods for gear manufacturing.
Gear Shaving
For mass production, gear shaving serves as a common finishing process for unhardened gear tooth surfaces.
Gear Shaping
Apart from gear hobbing, gear shaping is another widely used generating cutting process for gear teeth.
Generating Gear Grinding
Its cutting motion is similar to gear hobbing, and it is a finishing process for gear tooth profiles. It is especially suitable for hardened gears and is often the sole available finishing method.
Gear Honing
Gear honing shares a similar principle with gear shaving. It relies on relative sliding at the meshing area and applies a certain pressure between tooth surfaces to complete honing.
Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) Wire Cutting
Wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is a machining technique developed on the basis of EDM hole drilling and forming machining.
Gear Rolling
It is a high-volume production process that can produce gear tooth surfaces with surface roughness within 1 mm in a very short time. Cold rolling is the prevailing process. Two common approaches are available: one directly rolls gear blanks into finished gears by meshing with tooth-forming tools; the other performs finish rolling on pre-rough-machined gears via meshing with two gear rolling dies.
In addition, other special machining processes can be selected according to gear types and service applications. For special-purpose gears such as oil pump gears and speedometer worms, dedicated machining methods and equipment may be required.
During machining, it is also necessary to select suitable cutting tools, cutting parameters and processing techniques based on factors including gear material and precision requirements, so as to guarantee machining quality and production efficiency.