The cutting process consists of either
a roll only (only generating motion), a plunge only or a combination of plunging and rolling. The material removal and flank forming due to a pure generating motion is demonstrated in the simplified sketch in Figure 1 in four steps. In the start roll position (step 1), the cutter
profile has not yet contacted the work. A rotation of the work around its axis (indicated by the rotation arrow) is coupled with a rotation of the cutter around the axis of the generating gear (indicated by
the vertical arrow) and initiates a generating motion between the not-yet-existing tooth slot of the work and the cutter head (which symbolizes one tooth of the generating gear).
Plastic gears are everywhere
today - throughout your car, at
the oceans' lowest depths, in deep
space. The question, when is a
metal gear a candidate for plastic
conversion, can be addressed in
three words, i.e. what's the application?