Gear Hobber

M

MattM

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H-M Lifetime Diamond Member
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Aug 5, 2012
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Has anyone built this machine:


I bought the plans ($70.00) and have the machinery but not sure I have the skills to pull it off. The castings are about $500.00 and a lot more parts are required. I figure a total of about $800.00 to complete, maybe more.

I don't really "need" to make gears but I like gears and want to make gears. I have made gears with my index head so I know I can do that.

Convince me to build or not build this machine. I would really like to hear from someone who has built one.
 
I’ve got that on my long-term project list. It came up in a discussion on some thread recently.

Looks like a fun and interesting build, but frankly, probably not all that useful once complete. But that’s the same for just about everything I make anyway.

@vtcnc had been working on that one, take a look at his progress:
www.hobby-machinist.com

Benchtop Gear Hobbing Machine

Well, starting the new year off right! I'm now the owner of set of Prestech castings of which when finished, will allow me to hob my own gears. There was an auction on eBay over Christmas and I figured what the heck... There are 11 iron castings manufactured by Preserved Technology LTD., of...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com
 
I looked at that thread some time ago. The machine I am interested in is not the same.

From what I read the Martin machine and castings are much better. The plans however could be better.
 
@MattM, all of these small gear hobbers are essentially based on the same set of original castings, whether that is PresTech or the College Engineering set - I'm not really sure. I think the Martin's came later, hence the claimed improvements - I may be dead wrong on the chronology. My impression after studying all of the published literature on this - which is very little - is that the Martin spindle casting is more robust than any of its predecessors. The best write up (and possibly the only one published for the masses) is the Harold Hall series of articles that I have mentioned in my thread.

I'm making one because it is fun first, but I really want to be able to make gears of all shapes and sizes using gear hobbing processes - this kit being limited to certain sizes of course. But it is a start.

For slightly more than $800-1000 you could go on eBay or the various machinery dealers around the country and find a used Mikron or Barber Coleman machine or if you are lucky - a Fellows Gear Shaper and go to town on making gears.

All of which is to say it is a project and labor of love but that is what this site is about. There is no practical argument to be made for building a gear hobber. I've tried explaining it to my wife and kids and it is a futile effort. Just do it!
 
One point to consider is the cost of the hobs necessary to the operation of the machine, regular involute gear cutters are relatively cheap on e bay and make accurate enough gears for most purposes. Also think on all the change gears necessary to operate a hobber, not to mention all the calculations necessary to set one up. I knew a man who did gear work, and is not simple; every change in feed required a change in gearing both for feed and spiral angle, his machines were Barber Coleman, but there are machines that have "differential" that are much simpler to set up, also he had a Fellows gear shaper, a much easier machine for setup. I would advise others to stick with the milling machine for gear cutting. Also there are automatic gear cutters such as the Flather that I have, it is no harder to set up than the milling machine and uses involute cutters and indexes automatically and runs un attendant until all teeth are cut, generally in one pass.
 
Would like to see your Flather running. Any videos?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I do not have any videos of it, there is another guy on the forum that has one that I corresponded with, perhaps he has a vid.
 
I could buy a Barber-Colman on e-bay for less than 2k freight included which is actually less than I can build one for considering my time

Most things I do in my shop (other than the few paid jobs I get) are for pleasure and to improve my skills. I've never been interested in making models. I like to make machines that make things. I'll never hob enough gears to fill a hat and those I'll probably give away.

The journey is the destination.

There are many videos on making hobs...a lot easier than making the machine.

Still haven't decided.
 
we tried a video, hope it works! the machine has 3 sets of change gears, one set, the largest is for indexing, another for the feeds is only two gears which are s
View attachment P1070620.MOV
swapped for high and low range with a 3 position knob, giving 6 feed speeds, the other set is for cutter speed.
 
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