The age of machines has been crucial in the advancement of technology and quality of life. All the mechanical structures that are so crucial to human civilization would not have been possible without the existence of the gear. While it might seem to some people that creating a gear is a simple process, in reality, it is not. Gear cutting tools, and other tools are necessary to manufacture a gear.
What is gear?
A gear is a circular object that has a hole in the center of the gear along with a jagged edge. The hole that is present in the middle is to insert the machine that will cause the gear to rotate about its axis. The jagged ends of the gear also called teeth are responsible to transmit the energy without any loss of energy.
gear shaper cutterscan be linked to each other irrespective of the size of the gear. The only point to note is that the teeth of the gears must match each other otherwise the system will be inefficient.
Depending on the way the gears are connected, the other gears will move in tandem with it or against it. If the primary gear is moving in the clockwise position, then the gears in tandem will also rotate in the clockwise position while the rest will move anticlockwise.
Gears are differentiated based on the way their axes are placed, the size of the teeth, and even how the teeth have been cut. Depending on how the gears are cut, gears could be called spur, helical, worm, bevel, or more.
Gear cutting
There is a need for tools to cut the gear and have clear definitions for the teeth. Many tools can be used for this process.
- Gear Hob Cutters – This machine that cuts the gear has a rotating tool that can design the teeth of the gear. Only a blank gear needs to be put in this machine for the process to conduct. In this process, the blank gear and machine are rotated simultaneously.
Due to its rotating nature, it is best to be used for helical gears. It allows for the economical production of gears.The problem with this machine is that bevel gears are not possible and internal gears are also not possible.
- Serration Cutters – This tool is used for bevel gears usually with a width of below 15mm. It is a tool that can provide very smooth cuts using its fine blades. They find its application in the automation and agriculture sectors.
- DP gear cutters– DP gear cutters can be the standard or involute type of cutter. It is used for spur gears with some degree of pressure angle. Re-sharpening can be done multiple times without changing the form.
The gear cutting tools are made with extremely strong materials like high-speed steel. Gear shapers are used to make the gears with high precision to facilitate the growth of the industry. While there has been a lot of innovation done, this field is important for humanity as everything from robotics to farm tools are using gears.