International Journal of Engineering Inventions

e-ISSN: 2278-7461, p-ISSN: 2319-6491

Volume 4, Issue 8[January 2015] PP:14-22

Simple and Inexpensive Hobbing for the General Shop

Robert H. Sturges, Jr.
Abstract: -Gearmaking is typically the province of specialty enterprises due to the substantial investment in
particular machine tools designed for the purpose. General lathes and milling machines do not lend themselves
to fine gearmaking, although wire EDM is becoming more widely used and can serve in this capacity according
to the limits of its articulated degrees of freedom. In this article, we introduce a new, simplified method of
generating precision gears of the spur, worm, or helical types that has been adapted for general purpose milling
machine use. The method can use standard taps to make gears of standard 30-degree pressure angles, ACME
taps to create standard 14-1/2 degree pressure angles, as well as standard hobs for 20-degree or metric gear
standards.

I.

INTRODUCTION

Gearmaking through the generation of involute profiles [1] has been known since about the 17th
century, and the first hobbing machines appeared in about 1835 [2]. Machines for the production of both spur
and helical gears appeared in about 1897. [3] The standardization of gear profiles and methods was introduced
by the American Gear Makers Association (AGMA) in 1916, [4] and continues to improve processes and
productivity for its members. Form tools specially ground for the purpose have been used for the creation of
gears by milling and shaving. Also, specialized cutting practices are needed to make dies for the highthroughput process of plastic injection molded gear products. Most recently, CAD processes have enabled the
making of arbitrary gear prototype profiles through additive manufacturing. [5]
Common to the processes that remove material from gear blanks, a hobbing machine uses a sharpened
and hardened gear rack profile to generate involute profiles on conjugate blanks (almost always circular). Noncircular forms can be made today by CNC processes. Here we will focus on a non-CNC approach involving no
programming and no specially-built hobbing machine.

Figure 1: Set-up for Spur Gear Making with a Tap

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Simple and Inexpensive Hobbing for the General Shop

Gearmaking Requirements and General Shop Capabilities

To generate involute teeth for gearmaking, means must be in place to synchronize the rotation of the
hob (Figure 1) with the gear blank such that the number of teeth desired is invariant during the cutting process.
(In contrast, form tooling requires that the rotation angle of the gear blank be statically matched for each tooth
cut.) Worm gears require that the hob move only laterally with respect to the rotating gear blank until the
desired depth is reached. Spur gears require these motions as well as a longitudinal motion to cut a consistent
face within the blank. Helical gearmaking requires these motions plus a static positioning of the gear blank axis.
We will show how to accomplish these with a minimum of tooling and a conventional 3-axis milling
machine. With this method, synchronization of the hob and the gear blank is accomplished by fitting a timing
belt pulley to the spindle of the mill just below the quill and just above the collet holder (Figure 2). Roller chain
may also be used in place of the timing belt. The number of teeth on the driving timing belt pulley is fixed
independent of the number of teeth to be hobbed, as will be shown shortly. The driven timing pulley is typically
smaller in diameter than the driver with a ratio of 1/2 for the driver, such that the speed on the cutter is
multiplied to a maximum as determined by the minimum number of teeth recommended in the driven pulley.

Figure 2. Drive Pulley Fixed to Mill Spindle

The spindle of the three-axis mill is considered to be vertical, and so is the axis to which the driven
pulley is mounted (Figure 3). The driven pulley, in turn, drives a wound steel flexible shaft that accomplishes
two critical goals: first it turns the direction of the spindle rotation (speeded-up) to right angles, so it becomes
horizontal, and pointing in the lateral (fore-aft) direction of the mill table. Second it allows the precise location
of the output axis of the flexible shaft to be located within a range of left-right locations. (Figure 4)
The output axis of the flexible shaft is used to drive a third timing belt pulley having the inverse ratio
of the input driver. For example, a 2 to one ratio brings the rotational speed of the third pulley to be just twice
the rotational speed of the spindle. Finally, a fourth timing pulley is attached to the input shaft of a standard
rotary table, mounted with its output axis pointed horizontally and in-line with the mill table left-right axis. The
number of teeth on the 4th pulley is just the equal to the number of teeth desired of the gear we wish to cut, say
N. Notice that a timing pulley with N standard teeth will be useful for any type of gear (spur, worm, or helical)
at any diametral pitch (standard or special). The distance between the 3 rd and 4th pulleys are arbitrary, but the
two need to lie in the same plane. (Figure 5)

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Simple and Inexpensive Hobbing for the General Shop

Figure 3. Vertical Fixture for First End of Flexible Shaft

Figure 4. Overall View of the Flexible Shaft for Synchronizing Spindle and Gear Blank

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Simple and Inexpensive Hobbing for the General Shop

Figure 5. Parallel relationship between 3rd Driver and 4th Driven Pulley

Figure 6 shows a schematic relationship of the tooth numbers for this example.
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Simple and Inexpensive Hobbing for the General Shop

Figure 6. Example tooth numbers for an equivalent gear train

Notice that the number of teeth on the 2nd and 3rd pulleys is arbitrary, but must be in a 1:2 ratio so that
the number teeth on the spindle is just matches half of the ratio of the rotary table (worm-driven).Here, the
spindle carries a 45 tooth pulley which is just half of the 90:1 ratio of the rotary table. The 1:2 relationship is
fixed by a 30 tooth pulley and a 60-tooth pulley. With the fourth pulley at N teeth, the rotary table will turn at
precisely 1:N turns for each spindle rotation. Equivalently, a complete table rotation of N gear teeth requires N
turns of the spindle.

When the table of the mill brings the surface of the gear blank into contact, the spindle-mounted hob
will rotate precisely N times for each single rotation of the gear blank, irrespective of the blanks diameter.
Also, the angular position of the cutting teeth does not change with respect to the blank irrespective of the X-Y
location of the spindle with respect to the blank. We are free to select the depth of cut (fore-aft) on each pass
while traversing left-right to form a spur gear. To form a worm gear, the X-axis of the table (the long axis)
needs to be set precisely centered on the gear blank width, and only the Y-axis needs to travel to the desired
depth. This depth should be computed ahead of time based on the OD of the gear blank and the pitch diameter.
[6]

II.

PITCH DIAMETERS AND DIAMETRAL PITCHES

A given tap or hob can produce gears of any number of teeth (above a reasonable small number of teeth which
would cause undercutting) dependent on the blank diameter and the target pitch diameter. The relationship
between threads per inch (tpi) and diametral pitch (Pd) is simply Pd = x tpi. Thepitch diameter, Dp, is simply
# of teeth/ Pd. Table I shows several values for tpi and Pd., for inch units and metric units (pitch in mm).

tpi -- 4 4.5
Pd --12.56

5
14.14

mm--6
tpi 4.23
Pd13.29

5.5
4.62
14.51

Table I. English and Metric Tap Sizes and their Equivalent Pd

6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
15.71 18.85 21.99 25.13 28.27 31.42 34.56 37.70
5
5.08
15.96

4.5
5.64
17.72

4
6.35
19.95

3.5
7.26
22.81

3
8.47
26.61

2.5
10.16
31.92

2
12.7
39.90

1.75
14.51
45.58

14
40.84
1.50
16.93
53.19

In addition, one notes that the outside diameter of a gear blank will be equal to the Dp of a gear with 2
additional teeth. The depth of cut including clearance is found from the root diameter which is the (number of
teeth 2.5)/Pd [7]

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Simple and Inexpensive Hobbing for the General Shop

III.

MAKING HELICAL GEARS

For 45-degree helical gears, a small fixture needs to be made. This fixture (Figure 7) secures the rotary
table to the mill table so that the axis of the gear blank is tipped upwards 45-degrees. Since the hob and blank
are synchronized, one may advance the X-axis of the mill (right-left) to cut the face width, while advancing the
Y-axis (fore-aft) a few thousandths toward the blank with each pass. (Figure 8) Results of this process are seen
in Figure 9. These gears are of the same handedness and will mesh at right angles to each other. To make
gears of the opposite hand, so that they mesh on parallel shafts, one would relocate the rotary table so that the
hob cuts on the outside portion of the blank, rather than the inside as seen in Figure 10.

Figure 7. Bracket for Tilting Rotary table 45-degrees.

Figure 8. Cutting a Helical Gear

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Simple and Inexpensive Hobbing for the General Shop

Figure 9. A Helical Gear Set Made with a Standard Tap

Figure 10. Cutting a Helical Gear of Opposite Hand.

IV.

ACCURACY OF MANUFACTURE

The quality level that one can achieve with this new method depends on two factors. First is the care
with which each pass is taken on the gear blank for spur and helical gears. Similarly for worm gears, the change
in depth of cut versus number of blank rotations will determine the surface finish. An added constraint on leftright feed for spurs and helicals determines the finish, in part. We recommend that the feed direction not be
reversed, that is, if a movement of the blank is leftwards versus the hob, then each pass should also be leftward.
This practice will avoid any backlash in the rotary table or the quill of the milling machine.
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Simple and Inexpensive Hobbing for the General Shop

Secondly, the variation in belt manufacture and the errors in meshing can cause a displacement of the
ideal rack in forming the involute teeth. Specifically, if a mesh error of 0.1 mm is imposed randomly on the 4 th
pulley, that error would be divided by the ratio of the rotary table. For example, a 90:1 rotary table ration would
reduce the 0.1 mm error by a factor of 90, resulting in a lateral cutting position error of 0.0011 mm. If this were
applied consistently (and it generally would not) the worst case surface position would be 1.1 microns. Taking
the worst case to imply a 3s deviation from perfect, as more realistic limit on surface quality would be 0.3
microns, well into the range expected of precision gears. Translating this value to a representative AGMA
quality value depends on many factors besides the roughness and will not be addressed here.
More likely, an error due to elastic wind-up of the flexible shaft could occur under the varying load
conditions of the depth of cut, or the material removal rate (MRR). Such elastic displacementhas been measured
to be about 2 mm on the surface of a 30 tooth pulley for a 6 mm nominal flexible shaft diameter. In the worst
case (a reversing load) this error is also divided by the rotary table ratio. For example, a 90:1 rotary table ratio
would reduce the 2 mm error by a factor of 90, resulting in a lateral cutting position error of 0.022 mm. If this
were applied consistently (and it generally would not) the worst case surface position would be 22 microns,
which is not sufficient for quality gear products. In practice the wind-up error would be relatively constant if
the torsional load on the flexible shaft were held constant. This torsional load is made up of two components:
the drag on the pulley shafts and the drag of the rotary table, plus the contribution of the MRR of the cutting
process.By strobe light measurement we have observed that the variation in shaft windup during cutting is 0.2
mm at the surface of a 30 tooth pulley, or about a tenth of the worst case error.Thus, the surface roughness may
be reduced by an order of magnitude, and would fall into the category of the belt manufacture and meshing
errors. Thus, we emphasize that high quality gears are possible with this new simplified arrangement, but will
depend on holding cutting parameters and system backlash limits to within carefully set boundaries.

V.

PRESSURE AND HELIX ANGLES

In practice, we used taps to take the place of hobs to minimize expense when a 30-degree pressure
angle is sufficient. Figure 11 shows a spur gear set made with a standard tap for a hob. They mate smoothly. If
we need to match, say, a 14.5 degree pressure angle, we would need twice that value, or a tap with a 29-degree
included angle. Fortunately, acme taps are made precisely this way. Matching a 20-degree pressure angle gear
would require a standard hob with a 40-degree included angle, but the setup would be the same.

Figure 11. A Spur Gear Set Made From a Standard Tap

The helix angle of a tap or a hob is not zero, but depends on the diameter and the pitch. To compensate
for this, the spindle axis of the mill needs to be tilted a few degrees, or else the tooth form will be exaggerated,
i.e., more material will be taken from the space between the gear teeth and the teeth themselves will be thinner
than normal, leading to excessive backlash. For example, a nominal 1-inch major diameter x 8 threads per inch
tap has a helix angle of 2.48 degrees. These values for other taps can be found in [8].

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Simple and Inexpensive Hobbing for the General Shop

VI.

CONCLUSION

Standard milling machine accessories (rotary table, collets and/or drill chuck) supplemented with a
fixture to mount a flexible shaft turning the spindle axis by 90-degrees and displacing it over a short range can
yield a shop-based gearmaking set-up. Standard taps can produce gears of 30-degree or 14.5-degree pressure
angles. Investing in a set of hobs extend the diametral pitches given in Table I, above. Since hobs are designed
to operate with both ends in bearings, the cantilevered arrangement shown in Figure 1 dictates that the MRR
should be about a factor of 4 less than that recommended for the hob to reduce the bending stresses in cutting.
Also, the hob may need to be shortened from one end to clear the rotary table in helical gearmaking. Besides
the far smaller investment needed to cut gears as shown in this article, the set-up time will be greatly reduced.
The only special part needed is the timing pulley with the desired number of teeth which can easily be profiled
with a CNC mill. A library of such pulleys can be built-up gradually as the number of teeth for each job
changes.

REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]

Shigley, J.E. and Mischke, C.R., 1989, Mechanical Engineering Design, McGraw-Hill, Chapt 13.
Grant, G. B., 1899, A Treatise on Gear Wheels, Grant Gear Works, Section 124
Fellows pamphlet (1939) [1930], The Involute GearSimply Explained (Fifth ed.), Springfield, Vermont:
The Fellows Gear Shaper Co., p. 63
http://www.agma.org/about-us/history (accessed Nov 6, 2014.)
Additve Manufacturing gear making.
Lent D., 1961, Analysis and Design of Mechanisms, Prentice Hall
Oberg, E. et al, 1996, Machinerys Handbook, 25th Edition, Industrial Press, Inc., pg 1925.
ibid, pg 1640

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