Gears make the world go round, driving our biggest, most complex machines as well as tiny devices we carry with us on a daily basis. But the process to create these gears is more complicated and more dynamic than you might have imagined.
Take, for example, these five things you probably never knew about gear manufacturing:
- There are tons of manufacturing methods. There’s no one “true” way to manufacture gears. In fact, a number of processes can be potentially employed, including casting, forging, milling, hobbing , grinding and 3D printing
- Reverse engineering isn’t exactly straightforward. Gears are precision components, so when one breaks, it must be replaced by an exact copy—and I mean exact. Reverse engineering is a complex process that can replicate the original gear, but it involves more than just tracing an outline. Careful measurements of the base pitch, outside diameter, root diameter, and diametral pitch are necessary.
- Gears can be made from almost anything. When you imagine a typical “gear,” you probably think of some type of metal. And it’s true that many gears are made out of steel, thanks to its high strength to weight ratio, or titanium, thanks to its extreme durability. However, plastic, bronze, aluminum and even graphite can also be used, depending on the circumstances.
- Precision is achieved through generating the gear teeth. All gears require a high degree of precision, to preform quietly and smoothly. We achieve this precision by generating the teeth, progressively cutting teeth on gears to gradually achieve the involute tooth.
- Gears aren’t only made in circles. In fact, there are many different potential shapes to gears, some of which have their own nomenclature. Cone and square shaped gears are somewhat common; for example, square gears are used frequently in machines with oscillation variation.
If you’re interested in learning more about the gear manufacturing process, or if you’re interested in getting a quote on a custom job, be sure to contact Federal Gear today!