Archives

Since 2013, Bantam Tools has developed prototypes that allow its customers to take control of their product development by offering desktop CNC machines with professional reliability and precision.

When engineers need to prototype a gear or a part and do it quickly, they can’t always drop thousands of dollars on a multi-ton machine to bring that prototype to reality. To give those engineering ideas form as fast as possible, Bantam Tools offers machines to aid those world changers and skill builders, according to […]

Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence works with its customers to improve productivity with software solutions for gear production, including design, engineering, manufacturing, quality inspection, and more.

Designing gears can be a mind-boggling complex endeavor, but over the years, that process has been made more efficient — and maybe even a bit easier — with the creation of innovative software solutions. Those software solutions can often mean the difference between success and failure, which is why optimal gear design has become an […]

Ceratizit is a high-technology engineering group specializing
in cutting tools and hard-material solutions.

When dealing with the world of gearing, it’s important to have the right tool for the right job. At Ceratizit, the company has a unique advantage at its disposal by having all elements of designing and creating that needed tool. “I think our biggest ability to react to the ever-changing industry climate is that we […]

AFC-Holcroft produces high-quality, thermal-processing equipment used in the production of metal components, while providing related aftermarket service.

In order to give gears the necessary wear properties, those newly manufactured gears need to be heat treated. It takes thermal processing equipment to make that happen. By offering a variety of custom designed thermal processing equipment including integral quench batch furnaces (UBQ and UBQA), continuous pusher furnaces, rotary reheat furnaces, and more, AFC-Holcroft is […]

Many high-performance industries including those in aerospace and automotive sectors have made tremendous investments in next generation grinding cells in order to capture the capabilities of grinding and machining for optimizing processes.

While recent advancements in machining centers have allowed for increased capability around high-volume operations, there are several factors that still necessitate the need for grinding. Grinding has many benefits over conventional machining, including longer tool life, finer surface finishes, and the ability to more effectively remove difficult-to-machine materials (such as new ceramics composites and carbide-impregnated […]

Wayland Additive has taken a pragmatic view of the development of software associated with its Calibur3 metal additive manufacturing system. 

When focused on AM software per se, from the outset it is important to understand that it can mean different things to different organizations and/or individuals. If you consider the full breadth of the 3D CAD to PRINT workflow, the range of software required for key disciplines is extensive. To offer some idea — in […]

Stream finishing is suitable for a variety of components, including those with complex geometries, a weight of up to 200 kilograms and a diameter of up to 650 mm, such as turbine discs, turbine blades, blisks, servo valves, and gear wheels for the aerospace industry.

There are numerous methods and processes available for post processing industrially manufactured metal components, with various advantages and drawbacks depending on the size, geometry, material and finishing requirements. We look at four well-established processes on the market for finishing gear wheels and assess them in terms of health and safety, environmental impact, and cost-effectiveness. One […]

For more than 60 years, Forest City Gear has produced gears from one-of-a-kind precision parts to high-volume production.

When a company’s gears are literally tooling around on another planet, then to say those gears are “out of this world” is not just a cliché, it’s a fact. Forest City Gear is the company that can take ownership of that fact: Right now, gears made at Forest City Gear are roaming around the planet […]

Recent tests were conducted to calculate the sensitivity of a model gear set to both macro and micro error in noise vibration harshness.

The use of planetary gear types is increasing because they can be smaller, lighter, and offer a high-reduction ratio. In generally, a reduction of up to 40 percent in size and a 50 percent weight reduction can be achieved. As the demand for quieter gear sets increases, the number of hard-finished gears grows as well. […]

Gears of all designs – namely parallel-axes gears, intersected-axes gears, and crossed-axes gears – feature base pitch; therefore, this article will focus mainly on the base pitch in parallel-axes gearing.

This article deals with gears. The consideration is mainly focused on a fundamental design parameter — the base pitch. In addition to commonly used base pitches, (a) base pitch in a gear and (b) base pitch in a mating pinion, one more base pitch is discussed. This is the so-called “operating base pitch in a […]

Selecting an integrated vision solution provided by the robot manufacturer can save time and money during setup as well as increase reliability during production and increase the efficiency of part changeover.

In today’s highly flexible manufacturing industry, automation is the key to success. The smarter the robot, the better. One great way to add intelligence to a robot is to use machine vision. Giving the robot “eyes” provides many advantages, including: Less fixtures help reduce costs. Increased efficiency for part changeover. Minimal system rework needed to […]

Spencer Pettus offers its customers the best gear-manufacturing services, including gear-cutting, gearbox repair, custom gear cutting, industrial gearbox repair, general fabrication services, and machining services.

Gearing is often complicated and complex, and, more often than not, OEMs cannot meet customers’ specific needs. When that happens, the experts behind Spencer Pettus are available to ensure those needs are not only met, but met in a timely manner. “We’re answering the call when the OEM is not meeting the customers’ demands related […]

Transmissions for electric cars are much simpler in design than for conventional combustion engines, but place far higher demands on the manufacturing precision of the gears used. Thanks to completely new procedures for quality assurance directly in the final gear grinding machining process, these specifications can also be met in series production.

All-electric vehicle drives usually make do with two-stage, non-shiftable transmissions. One would have thought that this would greatly simplify production. After all, this type of transmission design has just four gears distributed between the drive shaft, the second stage with fixed gear and intermediate shaft, and the axle drive gear. But in reality, it’s not […]

When providing heat treatment for aerospace gears and bearing components, manufacturers are traditionally left with three choices for thermal processing: continuous flow atmospheric furnaces with press quenching in oil, or batch heat treatment in both vacuum and atmospheric furnaces with quenching in oil (or high-pressure gas, as in vacuum). All three techniques differ in benefits […]

Liebherr offers manufacturing solutions to customers around the world for the broadest spectrum of gear-manufacturing applications, including gear-cutting machines, metrology, and automation.

When a company has been in business for more than 70 years, the list of extensive services and innovations it can offer is both detailed and long. It’s also a testament to the longevity and ingenuity that has been at the center of Liebherr for decades. “Currently, Liebherr offers hobbing, shaping, skiving, chamfering, and both […]

The future of the manufacturing and bevel-gear industry is Industry 5.0, and, while it is still young, more development is needed; however, the ideas of Industry 5.0 could stand to be greatly beneficial to manufacturers and the bevel-gear industry.

Currently, the industrial society exists within the fourth industrial revolution, known as Industry 4.0. This period is defined by the use of Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things technology. Industry 4.0 and industrial revolutions of the past have proven to be beneficial to the bevel gear industry. While Industry 4.0 is still relatively new, many […]

In this article, the long-term perspective of distortion capability is studied; distortion data from the start of production in 2011 was compared with distortion data from 2018; 25 consecutive loads were analyzed in each case.

volkControlling distortion during the case-hardening process is of key importance when manufacturing gears. By effective control of distortion and the variation of distortion, significant costs in post-heat-treatment machining processes can be avoided. Especially for e-drive gears such as internal ring gears or final drive ring gears, significant cost-savings can be achieved. If distortion is controlled […]

State-of-the-art interferometers can measure with nanometer-levels of precision, and so can be susceptible to errors if used in loud and highly dynamic manufacturing environments where significant vibration is present.

Before looking at the problems that vibration causes when using a laser interferometer, and the ways that its effects can be overcome, it is worth briefly describing the way that laser interferometry works. How an interferometer works Interferometers can measure objects with extreme accuracy. They work by taking a beam of light and splitting it […]

Rotor measurement can be complicated and can involve many manual intermediate steps, but now, a combined grinding and measuring system with innovative software can make production more precise and faster.

Rotors are the core component of screw compressors, which are used to discharge air and gases. They are so precisely manufactured that they maintain continuous linear contact with one another at an exact profile position. Rotors and housing form a single precisely coordinated unit, so the components cannot simply be replaced as with mass-produced products. […]

Penta Gear Metrology offers a wide variety of analytical gear inspection machines as well as functional and bench top gauges for its customers’ gear and spline inspection needs.

Making a gear can be delicate work, so it’s important that manufacturers have the proper equipment and have access to the best services in order to push their manufacturing decisions in the proper direction. One factor that drives those decisions is data. Assisting manufacturers with obtaining that data and more is what Penta Gear Metrology […]

Gear inspection is an important part of the gear production process. Modern CMMs and GMMs are extensively used in the industry for the validation of the accuracy of machined gears. Computer software is a core of correct application of CMMs and GMMs. Such software must be developed based on the correct analytical description of the tooth flanks of a gear and a mating pinion and their interaction.

This article deals with the accuracy of precision gears for gear pairs that operate on crossing axes of rotation of a gear and of a mating pinion. A few general comments are given regarding the features of gear-inspection procedure. In particular, the readers’ attention is stressed on the importance of the accurate gear datum surface […]

This article establishes a mathematical model for modified gears generated by modified rack cutters and investigates wear performance under the different modifications of the cutter through a mixed finite element model and analytical approach.

Tooth surface wear damage is one of the main causes of gearing system failure. Excessive wear leads to tooth profile loss and an increase in transmission errors, as the worn gear surfaces are no longer conjugate. Thus, the enhancement of gear durability against wear is important for gear application. Recent works show that cutter modification […]

Extensive expertise and state-of-the-art solutions are required for the production of e-gearboxes that offer more than the technical standard of gearboxes used in conventional combustion engines – generating grinding using small tools is one of the building blocks.

Gearboxes used in electric vehicles are not only designed for high speeds and high torques, they are also very compact. This is not only true for the automotive sector, but also — and above all — for innovative types of applications such as e-bikes. These small but high-power and electrically driven gearboxes inspire design engineers […]

Grinding can reduce noise and vibration and can help improve gear efficiencies for electric vehicles.

With the ever-increasing cost of gasoline and growing desire to help the environment, it is no wonder that the move to electric vehicles is gaining tremendous momentum. Auto makers are actively pushing to roll out their all-electric offerings even sooner than the initial target date of 2040. To support the push to electrify, the supply […]

PCE can produce finer detail than is possible with stamping, and there is no degradation and deformation of the metal being processed and no burrs or defects produced.

There are numerous metal cutting technologies available to OEMs, including  everything from oxyfuel cutting, plasma cutting, all the way through to laser cutting, punching, stamping, and EDM.  Some of the “less common” metal processing technologies suffer from an inability to process a significant number of materials, or they do not provide the accuracy and precision […]

Since 1942, Jergens Manufacturing has become one of the world’s largest manufacturers of standard tooling components, vises, and other workholding equipment.

When machining a job consisting of a mixture of hundreds of gears, time is literally money. So, the ability to quick change fixtures for heavy jobs becomes paramount. To that end, the experts at Jergens Manufacturing have been developing workholding solutions to ensure practically any job can be done quickly and efficiently, pushing the company […]

A new method was developed to generate and simulate tool paths for conventional 5-axis machines to create helical gears with crowning following the generation principle.

To manufacture gears, special machine tools and corresponding processes such as hobbing, shaping, planing, profile milling, and broaching are usually needed. However, the huge investment in such gear machining is prohibitive for manufacturers, who only produce the gears in small batches on an annual basis. To overcome this economic problem in the manufacturing of gears, […]

Power skiving with integrated tool resharpening establishes new quality and cost benchmarks, revolutionizing manufacturing process and tooling concepts for hard gear finishing.

For the past decade, Gleason has been building power-skiving machines at its Gleason-Pfauter facility in Ludwigsburg, Germany. As the many benefits of this technology have become widely recognized, Gleason’s series of power-skiving machines has grown to include different sizes for internal and external gear cutting and finishing, up to 800 mm in workpiece diameter. A […]

From buzzword to buzzworthy, here’s how your business can succeed with a new revenue model.

By this point, those within the industrial market have likely heard the buzz surrounding equipment-as-a-service (EaaS). This model has been around in one form or another for more than five decades. With the challenges facing the industry (inflation, continuing supply chain issues, ongoing war for talent, global trade risks, and a need to conduct business […]

Since 1950, REGO-FIX has offered precision toolholding solutions such as its ER collets, but the company is looking to make inroads within the gear industry with its innovative powRgrip System for 5-axis gear milling.

As with any industry evolving through the decades, there’s always room for improvement, and gear manufacturing is no exception. To that end, REGO-FIX, a toolholding manufacturer based in Switzerland, has been making precision products such as its ER collets for holding drills and mills since the 1950s. However, the company is looking to take a […]

Due to substantial sliding in tooth contact, friction losses are an issue in worm gears, but a simulation tool can be used to study the behavior between two interacting tribological measures – friction and wear – during the running-in of worm gears.

The load capacity of worm gears strongly depends on the size of the contact pattern. Worm wheels are often manufactured by using an oversized hob, which results in a relatively small initial contact pattern. Wear on the worm wheel with a softer material during the running-in process increases the contact pattern and thereby the load […]

Proper surface texture can reduce the friction of the tool-chip interface, and the cutting fluid is stored to form micro-pool lubrication, which leads to a reduction in cutting force and temperature.

The broaching tool is an efficient and precisely heavy-loaded metal-cutting tool, widely used in the mass production of key components related to the aerospace and automobile industries. However, the heavy load, intense squeezing, and friction in the tool-chip contact area prevent the cutting fluid from entering the desired location. Consequently, insufficient lubrication gives rise to […]

Avers Machine and Gear provides its customers with a variety of precision machined components and gearing in materials including aluminum, tool steel, plastics, high-alloy steels, stainless steels, brass, and bronze with an emphasis on quality of product made to customers’ specifications.

Don’t let Avers Machine and Gear’s short history fool you. Despite its young age, the company’s expertise spans decades — performing tasks from machining existing parts to designing and creating the gears themselves. “Originally, we were a CNC turning and milling shop, and we had relationships with other gear companies, and we would turn a […]

The integration, optimization, design, and manufacturing of gears using state-of-the-art software allows cutting tools to be harmonized.

The word “optimization” is becoming fashionable, also with regard to gear design. It is applied to both macro-geometry and micro-geometry. The approach can be of various types: analytical pre-optimization with different objectives, bulk generation of variants, multi-objective and multi-disciplinary commercial optimizers, generative optimization, and even artificial intelligence. Sometimes, the best solution is presented directly; other […]

As gear production demands increase, lead times need to be decreased without compromising quality; therefore, the ability to confidently perform everything ranging from quick checks to in-depth QC inspections in seconds has never been more important.

The gear is one of the most widely used manufacturing parts in the world. The number of real-world applications of gears is nearly limitless: from time keeping, to automotive, to medical and aerospace, to helping humans gain a mechanical advantage in labor. As a result, there is hardly an industry that doesn’t use gears in […]

Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence works with its customers to improve productivity with software solutions for gear production, including design, engineering, manufacturing, quality inspection, and more.

Designing gears can be a mind-boggling complex endeavor, but over the years, that process has been made more efficient — and maybe even a bit easier — with the creation of innovative software solutions. Those software solutions can often mean the difference between success and failure, which is why optimal gear design has become an […]

Using a differential gearbox design, a comparison between two popular case hardening alloy steels shows that EN 36C offers significantly better tool strength, wear resistance, and fatigue properties.

An automotive differential gearbox is a critical component of the powertrain involved in the transmission of power and its appropriate distribution to the wheels. The gears of a differential are subjected to high stresses over multiple cycles making durability and reliability a significant concern to designers and manufacturers. Case hardened alloy steels such as SAE […]

Minority-owned Preco Manufacturing achieves superior finishes for aerospace applications while overcoming V-flange CNC milling problems via JM Performance Products’ high-torque retention knobs.

More than most industries, today’s aerospace, defense, and automotive-component manufacturing is challenged with machining a lot of exotic alloys and hard metals. This can take a toll on the carbide cutting tools used, and the result is that the tools must be changed out more frequently as they dull or break. Tool replacement, not to […]