What are the main milling components to make gears?

[Bob Korves]

Since you know about some books, do you have a book in mind that I could use to get closer to becoming a machinist? I'm thinking a book that leaves out cnc stuff. More of a manual mill book.
I'm looking at buying some other books off amazon, thinking I should get a book on milling. Plus it should bring the total up, to get free shipping.

Lots of good info. But it is looking like I need to start with some kind of book, then get something like the "Gears and Gear Cutting" book. Probably start with a mill and turn aluminum into parts and then work my way up.

The best place to find 'information' is in Machinery's Handbook, the bible of machining. An old used copy is just as good as the newest editions, more CNC and metric in the newer ones, more old school stuff in the older versions, but any of the various editions will be a good reference for hobby machining. The only down side is that it is the definition of boring, unless you need to look up something, and then it is priceless. I have actually read through both editions I have as bathroom reading material. Thousands of pages, a few paragraphs or charts at a time!

To learn about machining it is best to work with other machinists. We have put together a group of H-M members in this area and meet once a month or so and share ideas, tools, lies, and generally have a good time. The others become excellent resources in what is otherwise often a lonely hobby.

There are blogs on the internet that show machining in detail, and give you time to absorb the information. They are useful, but teach little about the feel and workflow.

Another really good source of learning machining is by watching YouTube videos. The best of them are incredibly good, and even the less polished ones are good sources for learning how to do machining. You are looking over the shoulder of someone who is doing exactly what you want to learn. Ultimately, however, you have to get your hands dirty and get started. You will make mistakes, and you will learn from them. You will surprise yourself with the nice things you can make from scrap pieces of stock...

 

[British Steel]

And surprised by the scrap you can make from nice pieces of stock

Dave H. (the other one)

 

[Uglydog]

Here is a pic of the set up for a bevel gear fab I made for a lathe apron power feed.
10" swivel dividing head (I now have a 4jaw on the DH), shop made arbor, correct DP involute cutter.
The gear pick pic is gear prior to hand filing to fit and hardening.
Note the warn teeth gear on the shaft. The existing bevel just slipped out of mesh.
The math was difficult for me but worth the agony.


Daryl
MN
MN

 

[Charles Spencer]

A good general book on machining is the US Army TC 9-524 FUNDAMENTALS OF MACHINE TOOLS. You can find a pdf copy here:

https://maritime.org/doc/pdf/machinist.pdf

And the best part is that since it's a US government publication, you have already paid for it and it is legal for you to reproduce.

And I second getting a copy of Machinery's Handbook. The standard for reference. Indispensable.

 

[Terrywerm]

Since you know about some books, do you have a book in mind that I could use to get closer to becoming a machinist? I'm thinking a book that leaves out cnc stuff. More of a manual mill book.
I'm looking at buying some other books off amazon, thinking I should get a book on milling. Plus it should bring the total up, to get free shipping.

Lots of good info. But it is looking like I need to start with some kind of book, then get something like the "Gears and Gear Cutting" book. Probably start with a mill and turn aluminum into parts and then work my way up.

All of the aforementioned books and videos are very good. YouTube is a great resource but you have to be careful about what you watch and believe. There is nearly as much trash out there as there is good stuff. Machinery's Handbook gives you TONS of data and information, but gives little in the way of basic instruction or knowledge.

If you are looking for some good instructional books that teach from the ground up, I highly recommend Machine Shop Practice by Karl Hans Moltrecht, Volumes 1 and 2. Published by Industrial Press. It is available from MSC or from Amazon as well as Barnes and Noble and others. These books go into the details of how cutting tools work, layout, methods of measurement, etc, so that you understand the how and why of various machine tool practices. I have both volumes, and do not often refer to them anymore, but they were an excellent place to start and learn the basics. Google Books has a preview of volume 1 available here.

Any of the 49 books from the Workshop Practice Series from Tee Publishing in the UK are good. I have a number of them and thus far none of them have been a disappointment, so I suspect that the remainder are just as good. They are available from a number of sources, such as Amazon or direct from the publisher. Some of these books are for absolute beginners, whereas others are for more advanced projects.

You may also want to have a look at this thread: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/beginners-book.48539/ It has a very good discussion about books and videos for beginners.

 

[willthedancer]

Since you know about some books, do you have a book in mind that I could use to get closer to becoming a machinist? I'm thinking a book that leaves out cnc stuff. More of a manual mill book.
I'm looking at buying some other books off amazon, thinking I should get a book on milling. Plus it should bring the total up, to get free shipping.

Lots of good info. But it is looking like I need to start with some kind of book, then get something like the "Gears and Gear Cutting" book. Probably start with a mill and turn aluminum into parts and then work my way up.

Any texts by Colvin and Stanley are great!
Machine Shop Practice by Moltrecht

 

[DaveInMi]

The Gingery series is written for the beginner without anything but hand tools. I don't remember which book covers making change gears for the lathe but it would be after making the mill because it uses the mill to make the gears. That was all I had when I made my first successful gear. He doesn't tell you everything but enough to make a gear.

 

[Reeltor]

Here is my setup to cut gears. The cost is retaliative to the savings over purchasing ready-made or custom gears from someone like Boston Gears or Rush Gears (BTW, Rush Gears has a great on-line program for designing your gear) I need to make a 4-DP (diametrical pitch) gear 4" in diameter with a 2" width plus a hub. On line cost for the gear is around $176 but the gear is only 1-1/8" wide. I don't know what a custom one would cost. I also need a 3-4' long rack to match. On line cost is over $470. Raw material for gear was a drop from metals supermarket. The chunk of steel was just under $50 with enough material to make 3 gears. The material for the rack was $30, drop from a structural steel supplier. I found that if I wasn't extremely careful the sector arms would move a hole which would ruin the gear. I took some soapstone and marked the correct hole.

When cutting the gear on a horizontal machine with the blank on an arbor, you want a footstock to hold the off end.
Cutter on mill arbor


Cutters come in a set of 8, very old used set off of ebay. These are 4dp, you will need to know the pitch that you need for your gears. Some are 16dp, others could be metric. If you know how many teeth you will need to cut, as mentioned above, you can buy single cutters.
For the job I want to do, I am at a break even between cost of materials and tooling vs buying ready made; and I have the tooling for future use.

Good luck, have fun and practice on some inexpensive material; it's easy to screw a gear up. Ask me how I know