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The story of RAVE Gears in Seguin, Texas, is a short one. But the roots of the company date back almost 30 years.

The story of Rave Gears in Seguin, Texas is a short one. Built from the ground-up just one year ago, today they produce high-quality, precision CNC machining, prototyping, reverse engineering, and supply of gears and gear shafts. But the roots of the company date back almost 30 years ago. Before they were CEO and president, […]

Plastic provides great design freedom, allowing for gear configurations too difficult or expensive to create with metal.

Plastic gears have a long history in autos, appliances, office equipment, tools, and elsewhere. Designers continue to extend their use in transferring torque and motion as polymers improve and processing gains in sophistication. They often choose plastic for gears over metal because of the many benefits plastic offers. Abrasive Advances Plastic provides great design freedom, […]

Historically, there were two main ways to make a bevel gear. In the past five years, things have changed significantly.

Bevel gears have been made for over 50 years. There have been several incremental improvements to the initial methods, but the fundamental principles of machining these gears remain the same. Historically, there were two main ways to make a bevel gear. One method used specialized equipment and tooling; the other one used very simple tools […]

Advances in wheel technology, especially those related to dressable vitrified bonds utilizing engineered ceramic grains, offer a significant shift in thinking of how to rough shape a gear form.

Past reviews of the status of grinding for the gear industry have inevitably focused on the process as one of finishing of steel gear profiles, diameters, bores, etc. in the hardened state [1]. Discussions have typically revolved around the relative benefits of grinding in comparison to hard cutting processes such as hard hobbing and power […]

For these rebuilding experts, attention to detail comes standard with every purchase.

Machine Tool Builders, Inc. is always moving toward something new. established in 1995 to provide service to the gear industry, today MTB is an engineer-owned company with a unique mix of capabilities for regenerating machine tools, especially gear shapers, hobbers, and grinders. Though MTB has been an established company for almost 20 years, publicizing its […]

These spline experts have built long-term relationships by anticipating needs and exceeding expectations.

Western Pegasus is a full-service supplier of customized spline gauges, master gears, and spline-related inspection gauging. Their gauges are designed and built to customer part specifications in accordance with the required national, international, and corporate requirements. Western Pegasus supplies gauges globally to leaders in the automotive, aerospace, agricultural, and marine industries. In August, They Celebrated […]

This family-operated Edmonton gear company’s rich history is evident in its work ethic and substantial product line.

Bernard Vukovic’s parents, Ivan and Kate Vukovic, emigrated from Croatia and lived in Germany for 5½ years, where his father learned the machinist trade. While in Germany, his parents were committed to finding a place where they could secure employment and, more importantly, citizenship. When the opportunity to move to Canada presented itself, they embarked […]

The chamfering and deburring of gears is often an undervalued process in gear production. However, it has a great influence on the usage characteristics of the work piece.

As with any machining process, the manufacturing of gears by hobbing or shaping results in burrs on the front edge. These burrs must be removed because they are hazardous to machines, tools, operators, or the process in general. This chamfer and deburring process should be carefully considered at the beginning of a new project for […]

Advanced carbide insert technology meshes with increased demand for large gears.

Indexable carbide inserted tooling continues to push large gear productivity. As manufacturers of big gears are further pressured by increased production demands from key industries, including energy, they strive to meet such requirements through faster machining speeds and feeds, yet still maintain high levels of quality. Gear shops have used indexable carbide inserted cutting tools […]

The powder metal process provides engineered components in just about every industry today, especially producing high quality gears of all types. The following article outlines just one application segment: precision pump and metering gears from powder metal.

Powder Metal (PM) gears are used in pumps across a wide spectrum of industries. These include lube pumps for power transmissions in automobiles and heavy trucks, off-road and agricultural vehicles, the food industry, hydraulic lifts, metering/dosing fluids, and moving chemicals.  (see Figure 1). PM gears are used in these industries to lower cost without sacrificing […]

When we talk about the broad and common operation of slot milling, the name of the game is chip thinning.

Gashing in gear milling applications is basically a slotting operation. Whether it is a gear tool such as a CoroMill® 170 or a standard slotting cutter such as the CoroMill® 331, the aim is to apply the correct feed rate to take advantage of chip thinning. When a programmer or operator fails to take chip […]

Milwaukee Gear may be old, but they keep their edge sharp by investing regularly in the latest technology. Plus, they’ve got some truly gifted machinists.

According to Joe Leone, manger for quality control/gear grind, Milwaukee Gear has been in operation for 94 years and was founded by Emil Borisch and Walter Kohls. The two men started the company in a small, one-story, brick building in downtown Milwaukee, and served as the company’s salesmen, machinists, order clerks, and product inspectors. Milwaukee […]

While often overlooked, workholding can play a vital role for customers interested in maximizing production performance.

Savvy gear manufacturers not only look at new machines and cutting tools but also focus on and invest in their workholding. Utilizing application-specific workholding for large gears, like the modular pedestal type fixture described in this article, can multiply their total project return on investment significantly. When changing from a traditional style of fixture to […]

With a standard, full 5-axis multi-tasking machine, shops can cost-effectively process all of their larger, low-volume parts, including the occasional spiral bevel gear sets.

Many shops increasingly incorporate full 5-axis multi-tasking machine tool technology because it allows them to handle any kind of part that comes through the door, with one type of machine, in single setups to increase productivity. But rarely, if ever, do these shops realize that large spiral bevel gear sets are also among that wide […]

The attraction of dressable CBN wheels over single layer CBN wheels, for gear grinding especially, is the ability to make profile corrections.

The grinding industry is seeing major advances in abrasive technology and in the machine tool capabilities to enable this technology to be fully utilized. One such area for the development of these systems is in the precision form grinding of gears, ballscrews, and micro threads using the conventional, engineered, “ceramic” superabrasive grains, and novel bond […]

Because of their versatility, as well as their ability to speed-up and automate the complex motion sequences, today’s automated computer-controlled machineries, intelligent robots, and majority of the modern automated equipment’s use highly dynamic servo-motors.

Precision planetary gearheads are frequently used in conjunction with such servo motors in order to: balance inertial loading conditions seen during frequent speed cycling sequences, decrease the motor speed, boost the torque, and at the same time, provide a robust mechanical interface for pulleys, cams, drums, and other mechanical transmission components. Actually the servo-motor and […]

On their AF100 AF101 and new AF110 CNC high speed gear hobbing machining centers, Affolter Technologies S.A. offers the option of -Skiving (micro Skiving).

The skiving process, which means “to slice,” with respect to cylindrical spur and helical gears and some limited spline hobbing applications, was traditionally used to re-hob or correct a distorted tooth profile. In the early days, this method served as an economical alternative to expensive generative threaded wheel grinding or profile form grinding process applications. […]

Composite bronze worm gear blank technology is a reliable, off-the-shelf cost savings solution that can be quickly evaluated and adopted.

In June 2013, a $1B industrial equipment manufacturer was on a cost savings mission for an assembled worm gear that was ripe for simplification. The assembled worm gear design and eight design variations thereof are found in the majority of the 10,000–12,000 units of new industrial equipment manufactured every year at their factory in the […]

In the post-WWII landscape of Germany, the foundation of Liebherr was laid in 1949 on an invention borne out of necessity.

Liebherr began its storied history in a tumultuous time and place: Germany, 1949. At the time, Germany was in desperate need of equipment to speed up work on construction sites after WWII. The company was founded by a building contractor, Hans Liebherr, who had invented a tower crane to aid in the rebuilding of destroyed […]

Manufacturers, engineering consultants, and gear and bearing software providers are part of a program to model, build, simulate, and test gearboxes with a goal to improve reliability and reduce the cost of energy.

Wind power has grown to be an important part of the energy mix in the U.S. In 2012 alone, the U.S. installed 13,131MW of wind power capacity, eclipsing the 60GW milestone and accounting for 42% of new power installations. [American Wind Energy Association] The state with the largest installed capacity, Texas, can sometimes generate over […]

A discussion of the stress distribution, modeled in a dynamic simulation environment, on the rotating parts of cycloidal reducer.

The cycloidal style of speed reducer is commonly used in many industrial power transmission applications. This type of mechanism, known for its high torque density and extreme shock load capacity, incorporates a unique reduction mechanism, which is different from that of the more commonly understood involute gearing. To recognize the technical benefits of the cycloidal […]

It began more than 100 years ago: The story of skiving.

On March 1st, 1910, Wilhelm von Pittler registered a patent that was to revolutionize the manufacture of internal gears. His patent for skiving, with the title, “Procedure for the Cutting of Internal Gears by Means of an Internal Gear-like Cutting Tool on Which the Faces of the Teeth are Provided with Cutting Edges,” was initially […]

Joe Franklin explains that AGMA is a catalyst, a non-competitive environment for people to meet and develop the best standards they can, documenting best business practices in the process.

In the depths of the recession that started in 2008, there were a lot of questions surrounding Gear Expo 2009. While the show featured plenty of exhibitors and all the usual “buzz,” the show promoters had no idea how many people were going to attend. Consider the circumstances: The gear industry was on its back. […]

Manufacturers of large gear inspection equipment have to meet a number of new challenges with respect to physical size, moving masses, and thermal effects.

Overall Equipment Layout Even though the measuring principles on very large equipment are the same or similar to small ones, it would be wrong to expect identical assemblies with simply larger dimensions. Before going into detail, the following illustration shows the main assemblies of a large state-of-the-art gear inspection machine: Legend: 1. Z-Column            […]

Collecting awards along the way for growth, community, and R&D, Ambrell has responded to the needs of the induction heating market since its inception.

Ambrell, an Ameritherm company, has been responding to the needs of the induction heating market since its inception. Started in 1986 in Scottsville, NY, Ameritherm began by licensing  technology from Cheltenham Induction Heating in the UK. Cheltenham offered solid-state transistorized technology for induction heating power supplies with operating frequencies in the 200 kHz range—higher than […]

The high-load capacity of gear bearings can further reduce cost by enabling the use of less expensive, lower strength materials.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has unveiled a mechanical architecture breakthrough by combining gear and bearing functions into a single unit that significantly improves gear drives across the board for electrical Applications, internal combustion, and turbine motors. The gear bearing design incorporates rifle-true anti-backlash, improved thrust bearing performance, and phase-tuning techniques for superior low-speed […]

By applying the technology of Low Pressure Carburizing (LPC) and High Pressure Gas Quenching (HPGQ), the distortion caused by heat treatment can be significantly reduced.

Proper distortion control has become even more important than in previous days. Distorted gear components cause noise in the transmission and may even create problems during transmission assembly. Distortion has a strong cost impact, because distorted components often need to be hard-machined after heat treatment. Better control of distortion means: • Less cycle time per […]

The American Gear Manufacturers Association offers a seemingly endless stream of academia and networking opportunities for its members.

The American Gear Manufacturers Association has a wealth of resources for its members. Talk to AGMA members across the country and you’ll find the association’s influence is far-reaching and multi-faceted. With members in over 32 nations and a history spanning more than 95 years, AGMA specializes in a wide array of products and services for […]

“Customers don’t want machine tools. They want quality parts out the door, from day one.”

Drake Manufacturing Services Co., a process-driven manufacturer of precision CNC Manufacturing Systems for producing threads and gears, is located in Warren, Ohio. “We apply our threaded part making experience to specific manufacturing applications around the world,” says president Jim Vosmik. “Our machines are designed and built with the idea that our customers want finished parts […]

Viewpoint Systems Improves Gear Finishing Using Real-Time Embedded Control System With NI RIO Hardware

The Gleason Works sought to create a dynamic, torque-controlled lapping solution with responsive, real-time feedback to create better quality gears and reduce cycle time for its gear lapping machines. Gleason Corporation and The Gleason Works create the machines, tooling, processes, and services needed to produce the bevel and cylindrical gears found virtually everywhere—from automobiles and […]

The refinement of coatings is not just a response to requirements imposed by manufacturing technologies. It also delivers decisive advances with respect to cost-effectiveness and manufacturing reliability.

According to a general rule of thumb, a significant reduction of costs in mechanical machining can only be achieved by increasing the performance of the deployed tools. This is illustrated by the following numbers: • A 50% increase in service life reduces manufacturing costs by 1%. • If tool costs are reduced by 30%, this […]

There is a lot to be said for the precise measuring methods that can be achieved right on the production machine, specifically on the 5-axes LFG.

Specific and controlled handling of twist in profile grinding can solve production-related problems and simultaneously open new gear manufacturing doors.  Various solutions have been available for managing twist problems. Liebherr recently introduced the five-axis LFG series profile grinding machines, with a novel machine design for twist-free profile grinding (including the manufacture of specific twist designs) […]

An effort to help the industrial sector manage the projected demand through the use of energy efficient synthetic gear lubricants, which would maximize the energy available to meet demand.

The use of energy has propelled the world from earliest civilizations, through the industrial revolution, to the current technology enabled world.  It allows us to heat and cool our homes, travel to and from work, and utilize the multitude of manufactured goods we rely on.  Global energy demand is predicted to be about 30 percent […]

In today’s “need it yesterday” world, Scot Forge produces parts better and faster—with a smile.

It only takes two minutes — two minutes from the moment the plant tour begins — to realize there is something very different about Scot Forge, the 120-year-old forging company based in Spring Grove, IL, about 40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. Every employee greets visitors with a smile. Every question posed is answered in […]

Gear manufacturers depend on machinery available, design specifications or requirements, cost of production, and type of material from which the gear is to be made.

There are many methods for manufacturing gears, including: Metal removal processes (hobbing, shaping, milling, shaving, grinding, honing, and lapping) Various casting processes for both production of gear blanks and near-net shape gears Stamping and fine blanking Cold drawing and extrusion Powder metallurgy (P/M) processing Injection molding Gear rolling Forging for production of gear blanks and […]

The unique requirements of an electroplatable superabrasive CBN grit used in profile grinding of hardened steel gears, as well as the attributes and grinding behavior of a new CBN developed specifically for this application, are discussed.

The grinding processes used in finish grinding of hardened gears can be classified as generating grinding and profile grinding, depending on how the profiles of gear teeth are finished. The grinding process can be continuous, where the gear profile is achieved progressively by grinding with a splined wheel, or discontinuous profile grinding, where a specific […]

A description of one helical gear application in which an improvement was achieved through the elimination of profile modification.

This paper describes the work performed to reduce first order gear mesh vibration, which was the root cause of an excessive gear “whine.” It includes a discussion for introduction of an unmodified involute profile (except for a short tip relief to smooth the tooth entry and exit into the mesh), inspection charts, significance of a […]

A leader in the niche indexable tool repair industry, Carbide Tool Services has progressed just as consistently as the cutting tools industry.

Carbide Tool Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1988 by Norman Nat. Nat had extensive experience in carbide indexable tool market, representing major carbide product manufacturers. When the company began, indexable carbide insert tools were quite basic, mainly single-pocket tool holders, boring bars, indexable milling cutters, and the occasional indexable double pocket drill. As the carbide […]

Machining quality gears begins with the right workholding solution. Gear workholding is, however, almost as complex as gears themselves, and often less understood.

Never assume gripping a gear is easy. Gear workholding is possibly the most complex workholding challenge we face because of the complexities of the gear forms themselves coupled with the frequent need for tight tolerances. Done right, however, it can enhance the accuracy of the manufacturing process and thus the quality of the finished workpiece. […]

The optimization of each process can be achieved by the integration of different processes. This shows a high potential for the reduction of the lead time, as well as an increased level of workpiece quality.

Depending on annual production volumes, batch sizes, and workpiece geometry, several gear manufacturing technologies are used for industrial gear production. The one most applied is the hobbing process, followed by broaching, shaping, sintering, and rolling processes. Up-and-coming gear manufacturing processes are power skiving, forging, precision blanking, and cold forging [1]. Due to improvements in the […]

A gear-milling method in which the tool path, instead of the tool shape, determines the gear.

Sophisticated yet simple, providing full flexibility combined with high productivity, InvoMilling is the latest development when both efficiency and production versatility are needed for gear-wheel manufacturing. This is how one gear-making company describes itself: “Many of the gear wheels we manufacture are done to specified customer requirements, where a customer may want a specific wheel, […]

A major player in the screw machine tooling industry in the 1960s, Slater Tools later patented the first rotary broach tool holder system and has since become synonymous with rotary broaching.

Formed in 1951, Slater Tools began as a modest machine shop in Warren, MI and moved to Clinton Township in the 1990s, where they’ve been ever since. Today the company’s rotary broaching and screw machine tools operate throughout North America and around the globe on CNC lathes, mills, and Swiss screw machines. Slater’s innovations, as […]

It has been shown that the advanced additive technologies used in today’s high-performance gear oils are capable of inducing the required reactions on the surfaces of gears and bearings also at 40°C, thus providing reliable damage protection even under these operating conditions.

In practice, industrial gears are often operated with lower oil temperatures than would normally be generated in a fully-loaded gearbox. Lower temperatures prevail, for instance, while a gearbox is being taken back into use after prolonged standstill, i.e. during the time it takes for the oil to heat up from ambient temperature to service temperature. […]

The proper use of precision broaches is just as important as material choice and design specifications. Learning the proper way to broach will make all the difference.

The broaching of precision gears will always start with a designed broach to match the specification of the part print. The broach designer will evaluate all the facts such as material, wall thickness, and, most importantly, the class of fit required on the gear. However, even with all the expert knowledge the designer puts into […]

The roughness profile of metal-to-metal contacting parts is one of the most important characteristics in making mechanical systems more durable and energy efficient.

A wide choice of surface roughness parameters is available to characterize components such as gears or bearings, with the goal of predicting the performance of such metal-to-metal contacting parts. Commonly in industry, the roughness average (Ra) or the mean peak-to-valley height (Rz (DIN)) is chosen to calculate the specific film thickness ratio for both superfinished […]

The transmission is one of the key components on through which, thanks to the clever design of all components, the degree of efficiency, wear, and noise emissions can be optimized.

This industry has a tailwind; the wind power industry is growing at a rapid pace. The reasons for this are many. Ambitious climate targets, necessary CO2 emission reductions, and the ongoing debate about atomic energy are ensuring a boom in the industry, thus also a flurry of activity in terms of technological advancement. Modern measurement […]

“The challenges that we meet everyday well exceed what most engineers have to face. The rewards for meeting those challenges are terrific.”

RedViking is a company with a passion for taking on the most difficult engineering challenges. Its affiliate company, Superior Controls, located in Plymouth, MI, got its start in the systems integrations field, primarily automotive. But for the last 20 years, they’ve also been designing and building component test machines. Two years ago, they took that […]

Eddy current testing offers fast, repeatable testing of gears and other critical metal components, a feature required in today’s modern manufacturing environment.

While eddy current technology was initially developed for testing of bar, tube, and wire, advances in electronics, automation, and coil design have paved the way for a new generation of systems specifically designed to test critical components, such as gears, that go into automotive and industrial applications. These eddy current test systems not only detect […]

When designing gears, the size, weight, and manufacturing cost can be influenced to a great extent by both strategically splitting the overall reduction over the individual stages and by optimizing the geometric relationships.

When designing gears, the size, weight, and manufacturing cost can be influenced to a great extent by both strategically splitting the overall reduction over the individual stages and by optimizing the geometric relationships. A newly developed tool, the KISSsoft Gearbox Variant Generator, is able to automatically generate different gear variants, all of which have the […]

A commitment to maintain your gearbox is paramount for this to work economically. When you devise a plan to maintain your gearbox, your return on investment will be realized sooner and your total cost of ownership will be reduced.

Just like typical cars, gearboxes have gotten smaller over time. The catch phrase is ‘power-dense’, meaning that from equal sized gearboxes, the newer model has a more available rating. Due mostly to technological advances, current model gearboxes weigh an average of 25% less than their 30 year-old old counterpart while delivering the same amount of […]

A tight-knit family environment and a commitment to excellence has kept this Worcester, MA company ahead of the curve for 50 years.

This place is a second home for me,” says Charles Garniewicz, director of research and development for Kinefac® Corporation, now celebrating their 50th anniversary. He proudly describes his 43-year attachment to the Worcester, MA-based company that has been making quality rolling machines for half a century. His is a common sentiment among the company’s 50-plus […]

Precision shot peening eliminates the need for masking and reduces distortion. An efficient upgrade from traditional shot peening, it also reduces labor and process time.

Shot peening is a cold working process used to produce a compressive residual stress layer and modify mechanical properties of metal by impacting a surface using round, bead-like particles with sufficient force to create the required compression deformation. These particles can Be Made of various metals, glass, or ceramics. Using mass and velocity, each particle […]

Ripple analysis provides a tool that aids in the search for the causes of noise and can also be used for production monitoring in the case of known vibration problems.

A low noise level is an important quality feature in modern gearboxes for passenger cars. But a troublesome noise can have many causes. The noise origination and transmission is, among others, affected by the design layout, by the actual deviations of the components, by the assembly of the components, and by the mounting situation of […]

Temperature-controlled corrosion resistance tests performed various steels yields surprising results — information to use in the fight against metal corrosion of gear steels.

The described effort was undertaken to assess the impact of the isotropic superfinishing (ISF®) process on the corrosion resistance of a variety of gear steels. Alloys examined were AISI 9310 VIM VAR, AMS 6308, Pyrowear® 675 (two variations; tempered at 925°F and at 550°F), and CSS-42L TM (tempered at 925°F) with stainless steel 440C, in […]