What is Gear Hobbing?

Hobbing is a machining procedure that is used to
cut gear characteristics on metal and nonmetal
surfaces. The gear teeth (or splines) are gradually
carved into a cylindrical piece of material using a
cutting tool called a hob. Hobbing allows you to
create a wide range of gear shapes and sizes,
including spur gears, worm gears, and bevel gears.
Although gear hobbing can be used for low-volume
prototypes, it is ideally suited for high-volume production.

How Does it Work?

Gear hobbing is a process for forming gear teeth with a spinning cutter tool. It is a continuous procedure in which the rotating speed is adjusted as needed. On CNC gear hobbing machines, teeth can be formed on a gear blank workpiece using a rotating cutter called a hob. A gear hobbing machine is a type of milling machine that is widely used in the gear manufacturing industry. To form teeth, the rotational velocity and speed must be synchronised with the gear blank. The gear blank workpiece is fed towards the gear bank until the desired depth is not achieved. This process is repeated until all of the teeth are fully grown. Hobs can be selected based on the application requirements. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including spur, chamfer, roller, spine, and others. The hob axis for spur gear hobbing is parallel to the axis of rotation of the gear blank workpiece. The hob teeth in helical teeth hobbing are placed at a specific angle, but the hob teeth in worm gears are set at the right angle to the gear blank workpiece.

Types of Gears

● We regularly hob the following types of gears:
o Spur Gear
o Bevel Gear
o Rack and Pinion Gear
o Helical Gear
o Worm Gear

Materials

o Carbon Steel o Brass o Aluminum o Bronze o Stainless Steel: 304

What is difference between gear shaping and gear hobbing?

Gear hobbing is a versatile cutting procedure that is commonly used to create gears and spurs. Hobs use a cutter that rotates in synchrony with the workpiece being "hobbed."

Gear shaping is a cutting procedure that creates gear teeth in a blank by using the reciprocating movement of the cutter. Shapers may cut one tooth at a time, whilst others use a rotating cutter to cut teeth in numerous passes.

Internal gear teeth can only be cut by shapers, although exterior spur and worm gears can be cut by hobs.

Advantages of Hobbing

● Rapid and economical process.
● Lower cycle time and faster production rate.
● Small to large volume can be accommodated.
● Simple required indexing.
● No overheating, cutting tools.
● Make any numbers of teeth with module accuracy.

Applications

● Medical ● Automotive ● Gardening & Agriculture ● Electric Appliance