Question: We are interested in purchasing our first gear hobbing machine. What questions should we ask the manufacturer, and what do we need to know in order to correctly specify the CNC hardware and software system requirements?

Good References In the 7th Edition of McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 10 pages are devoted to the subjects of Gears, Gear Cutting and Gear Trains.

Robots, computers and other signs of high technology abounded at IMTS 94, supporting the claim by many that this was one of the best shows ever. Many of the machines on display had so many robotic attachments and computer gizmos that they looked more like they belonged in some science fiction movie than on the floor of a machine shop.

McCormick Place, Chicago. A manufacturer's dream. Acres and acres of machine tools up and running - cutting chips, filling molds, moving material, bending, shaping, smoothing, measuring. Computers, robots and lasers everywhere - George Lucas goes to engineering school. Sounds, light and, most important, over 100,000 people, moving around, taking notes, asking questions and, above all, buying. This was IMTS '94. A heady, if tiring, experience.

IMTS 94, the Association for Manufacturing Technology's biennial machine tool extravaganza opens September 7 at McCormick Place in Chicago. As always, the size of this show is astonishing. Over 100,000 visitors, enough to populate a medium-size town, will converge on Chicago's lakefront to visit more than 1,200 exhibits spread over the entire McCormick Place complex.

The biggest industrial trade show in the world this year - and the manufacturing machinery industry's most important marketplace - will be at McCormick Place in Chicago September 7 - 15.

Complete calendar for July/August 1994.

Getting and keeping a work force capable of meeting the demands of the 21st century is one of the key challenges most U.S. manufacturers face today. That's not even news anymore. I - and others - have been talking about it in editorials and speeches for ten years now. It's also not news that the job is a tough one and that industry-wide response often has not been particularly effective.

Power train designs which employ gears with cone angles of approximately 2 degrees to 5 degrees have become quite common. It is difficult, if not impossible, to grind these gears on conventional bevel gear grinding machines. Cylindrical gear grinding machines are better suited for this task. This article will provide an overview of this option and briefly introduce four grinding variation possibilities.

Complete calendar for November/December 1993