The method of cutting teeth on a cylindrical gear by the hobbing process has been in existence since the late 1800s. Advances have been made over the years in both the machines and the cutting tools used in the process. This paper will examine hob tool life and the many variables that affect it. The paper will cover the state-of-the-art cutting tool materials and coatings, hob tool design characteristics, process speeds and feeds, hob shifting strategies, wear characteristics, etc. The paper will also discuss the use of a common denominator method for evaluating hob tool life in terms of meters (or inches) per hob tooth as an alternative to tool life expressed in parts per sharpening.

Natural resources—minerals, coal, oil, agricultural products, etc.—are the blessings that Mother Earth confers upon the nations of the world. But it takes unnaturally large gears to extract them.

With reference to the machining of an involute spur or helical gear by the hobbing process, this paper suggests a new criterion for selecting the position of the hob axis relative to the gear axis.

In this paper, an accurate FEM analysis has been done of the “true” stress at tooth root of spur gears in the function of the gear geometry. The obtained results confirm the importance of these differences.

Koepfer’s MZ130 hobbing and worm milling CNC machine from Monnier + Zahner was designed with versatility and ease of use in mind. ...

Lack of skilled workers mirrors U.S. manufacturing's decline.

Janice Thomas was appointed sales manager for the gear cutting tools product line of TSA America. According to the company's pres...