Gear Shaping Process-

Shaper Cutter Design and

Applications Presented by:
Brad Dierks
Design Engineer

1 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Topics to Discuss

Shaping Process

Why Shape?

Shaper Cutter Types

Shaper Cutter Design

Trimming

Upstroke Interference

Page 2

2 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Topics to Discuss

Shaper Cutter Manufacturing/Accuracy/Sharpening

Helical Guides – Applications – Machine Cycles

3 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Shaping Principles - Spur

4 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Shaping Principles - Spur

Working Principle
Shaping a Spur Gear:
 Radial Infeed
 Rotary Feed
 Stroking Motion
 Cutter Spindle Backoff

5 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Shaping Principles - Helical

6 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Shaping Principles - Helical

Working Principle
Shaping a Helical Gear:
- Additional twist of the
cutter spindle is required
to generate the helix of
the part.

7 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Backoff of Cutter for Relief

“Modern” Spindle Relief Type Gear Shaper, Adjustment of Relief

Amount and Change of Relief Direction

Large Internal Gears

Large Internal Gears External and Smaller

Internal Gears

8 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

The Cutting Stroke

Shaper Machine backoff

cam relief at bottom of
stroke for clearance during
the return stroke.

Backoff Amount usually

~ .020” [ 0.5 mm]

9 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Stroke Length – Overtravel

RECESS

-Guideline for stroke length

1.15XFW

-7.5% Top and Bottom

-Recess Groove Width:

20% of FW for Chip Removal

10 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

5 Axis Conventional CNC Machine

Upper worm & worm wheel

Helical guide elements

Back-off Cam and cam follower

Lower worm & worm wheel

11 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

CNC Axis Designation

Y
Standard CNC Axis
X = radial Z
Z = stroke position V
W
B = cutter rotation
C = work rotation
A
A = back-off cam B
S = cutter spindle stroking C

X
Optional CNC Axis:
V1 = stroke length
V2 = Quick Return Stroke
W = column tilt
Y = column offset

12 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

The Generating Process

Pitch Circle
Gear Shaper Cutter Base Circle

Pitch Circle

Base Circle

Gear being generated Shape of Gear Shaper Cutter Chip

13 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Why Shape?

 Hobbing is generally faster than

shaping.
 Adjacent shoulders and no
clearance
for the hob.
 Cluster Gears – More than one gear
in
a setup.
 Worm Gears cannot be cut with a
shaper cutter.
 Internal Gears
 Sector Gears
 Thick and Thin / Gap and Block
 Herringbone Gears w/ closed apex.

14 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Gear Quality Criterion – Shaping vs. Hobbing

Profiles:
•Hobbing - The number of involute enveloping cuts is controlled by # gashes / # Threads
•"Superior" In Shaping: The number of Involute enveloping cuts controlled by the stroking rate and rotary
feed rate.
•Theoretically could be infinite.
Lead:
•Hobbing - the lead surface finish is affected by axial feed rate.
•Typically considered rougher than with shaping.
•"Superior" In shaping: The line of cut is along the entire tooth surface width.
•Results in a more uniform finish.
•The cut is along the line of action when shaping Helical gears, but controllable based on the rotary feed.
Pitch and Runout:
•Superior In Hobbing: The hobbing process is a continuous indexing cutting action resulting in better
pitch results. Also, runout of the hob does not contribute to runout in the part.
•Shaping- The runout of the shaper cutter contributes directly to runout in the part and potentially pitch error.
•Pitch error in the manufacturing, (or sharpening, or mounting) of the cutter can be "copied" into the part.

15 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Types of Shaper Cutters

16 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Disc Type Cutter

Bore
Cutter
Indicating
Dia.
Width
Web
Top
Angle

Cutting Face/ Counterbore

Sharpening Back Face
Angle
17 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application
 Deep Counterbore Cutter

Deep counterbore cutter

allows room to hide the
mounting bolt or nut.

18 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Step Sharpened Helical Shaper Cutter

19 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Shank-Type Shaper Cutter

Common Shank Styles:

Ref USAS B94.21-1968
Dia. X Length X Taper Amt
Long Taper 1.062 X 2.500 .6255 TPF
Short Taper 1.062 X 1.500 .6255 TPF
MK2 #2 Morse 0.700 X 1.500 .59941 TPF
MK3 #3 Morse 0.949 X 1.968 .6024 TPF
MK4 #4 Morse 1.244 X 2.364 .62328 TPF

20 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Special and Unsymmetrical Forms

Roller Chain Sprocket

Ratchet

Pump Gear

21 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Enveloping Cutter

22 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Rack-Type Shaper Cutter

23 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Wafer I Cutter

• More consistent part quality.

• Increased overall tool life.
• Always a coatedClamp
face.
• Eliminates cutter resharpening.
• Eliminates part error caused by
inaccurate cutter sharpening.
• No machine adjustments for stroke
length or centerWafer
distance.
• Eliminates scrap due to “trial and
error” machine adjustments.
• Reduce shaper cutter tool
inventories.
• up-time… fewer
Backup
Increase machine
tool changes. Ring
• Optimized cutting clearances in one
optimum design plane.

24 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Wafer II Cutter

25 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Wafer Cutters

Machine Adjustments with Conventional Cutters

Radial Size End of life

Change

Stroke Adjustment

Outside Diameter Tolerance Tooth Thickness Tolerance

26 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Types of Shaper Cutters

27 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Design Reference Planes

Reference Plane:

 New

 Nominal

 End of Life

 New

 Nominal Plane

 End of Life

28 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Generating Conditions – Cutter to External Workpiece

-Cutter Nominal Plane – Theoretical Generating Conditions

29 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

New vs. End of Life Cutter

-Shows generating conditions New vs. End of Life

30 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Rollout of External Part Space Produced by Cutter

-Shows Extremes of part produced

at new, nominal, and end of life
design planes.

-Shows root diameter, fillet radius

shape, and undercuts.

-Shows Max/Min DOP conditions.

-Shows chamfer condition, or

approach produced by profile
modifications.

31 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Root Diameter or Chamfer Diameter Variation

Throughout life, root and chamfer diameters vary due to changing center distance and
changing operating pressure angles.
Gear Root and Chamfer
Limit
Max Oversize
within Gear Root and
Chamfer Limit

Max Life within

Gear Limits Nominal
Diameter

Max Undersize
Root or Chf Change within Gear Root
due to DOP change and Chamfer Limit

(Root Curve)
(Chamfer Curve)

32 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Shaper Cutter Design Constraints

-Limits to Produce the Involute Form

Base Circle Diameter

Shaper Cutter Base
=
Outside Dia. Diameter

Cutter Design
Useable Life

Nominal Design Plane

Tip Thickness = 0

33 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Cutter Modification to Prevent Undercut at End of Life

 To avoid undercut at end

of life, a radial line is
generated if EOL is
below the base
diameter.

 Modification of the grind

wheel to produce the
radial line will grind plus
cutter involute at New
Cutter Plane.

 This modified form may

produce a tip relief on
the part.

34 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Trimming of Involute

 When cutting an internal gear, the maximum cutter number of

teeth is limited.

 Trimming is an interference condition during the down stroke

that actually cuts material from the gear tooth. It can occur
during the infeed to depth, then not interfere when at full
depth.

 Trimming is a function of:

 Number of Teeth in part,
 Number of teeth in Cutter (Cutter O.D.)
 Operating PA
 WD of cut (position of radial infeed or retraction)

35 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Trimming of Involute

 Tip fouling
 Feed fouling
Trimming that occurs
during the infeed, during
the backoff, or during
cutter withdrawal.

Reason: Cutter is too big.

Solution: Choose cutter
with fewer # Teeth.
Design further undersize.

36 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Trimming of Involute

NUMBER OF 14.5 DEGREE 20 DEGREE

TEETH IN FULL 80% 60% FULL 80% 60%
GEAR. DEPTH Stub Stub DEPTH Stub Stub
37 13 15 17 19 22 26
Partial Chart of Max. 38 14 16 18 20 23 27
# of Cutter Teeth to 39 15 16 19 21 24 28
40 15 17 20 22 25 29
Avoid Trimming. 42 16 18 22 24 27 31
44 18 20 24 26 29 33
46 19 21 26 28 31 35
48 20 22 28 30 33 37
50 21 24 30 32 35 39
52 23 26 32 34 37 41
54 24 28 34 36 39 43
56 25 30 36 38 41 45
60 28 34 40 42 45 49
64 31 38 44 46 49 53
68 35 42 48 50 53 57
72 39 46 52 54 57 61
76 43 50 56 58 61 65
80 47 54 60 62 65 69

37 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Upstroke Interference

 USI is a condition of the cutter rubbing during the return stroke.

 Cutter and part both continue to rotate during return stroke,

causing uncut part material to move toward the cutter tooth.

 If the cutter relief is not adequate, or not in the right direction,

rubbing can occur

 USI is a function of Tp, Tc, WD of cut, Rotary Feed, backoff

amount, column offset, infeed rate.

38 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Upstroke Interference

Gear Data:

Cutter Data:

39 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Upstroke Interference

Machine Setup Data:

40 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Upstroke Interference

Status of Process:

41 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Upstroke Interference

Upstroke
Interference
Graph

42 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Upstroke Interference

Shows Rub
Condition on
Stroke #599

43 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Upstroke Interference Corrections

 Adjust the cutter offset, which changes the backoff angle.

 Adjust (reduce) the rotary feed during infeed.

 Adjust the depth of cuts. (reduce the rough cut depth, increase fin
cut depth. )

 Increase the backoff cam amount.

44 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Isoform® Grinding Method

45 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Rack Form Wheel Reciprocation

 Constant tooth depth through

life
 Profile modifications dressed
into wheel

46 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Wheel Shoulder Grinds O.D.

Contour produced on the cutter tooth

47 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Tip Radius Produces Consistent Fillets

Isoform®, wheel generates

the cutter top radius.

Traditional, the top radius

is ground separately

48 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Protuberance, Ramps, Full Topping

49 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 WS300 Hurth Shaper Cutter Grinder

Capabilities
1.2 to 64.0 NDP range
.30 to 12.0 O.D. Cutter
~.25 Min. Pitch Dia.
Accuracy up to Class 5
(DIN AA)
 Runout
 Index
 Profile

50 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

WS300 Hurth Shaper Cutter Grinder

Dual Rotary
Diamond Dressing
Disc

Grinding Spindle

Work Arbor

51 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Shaped Gear Quality

1. Machine Condition & Alignment

2. Quality of Tooling & Gear Blank

3. Shaper Cutter Quality

52 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Shaper Cutter Tolerance Comparison

Note: 1. The comparison is approximate, based on involute & index tolerances

AGMA AGMA AGMA MCTI DIN JIS NACHI

2000-A88 2015-1-A- 1104-A09 (Fellows) 1829 Grade Grade
Gear 01 Gear Shaper Shaper Shaper Shaper Shaper
Quality Accuracy Cutter Cutter Tol Cutter Cutter Cutter
Class Grade Tolerances Tols Tols Tols
- N/A Roughing n/a 2 n/a
Roughing/
Q6 A11 N/A n/a 2 B
Commercial
Q7 A10 B (3) Commercial B 1 A
Commercial/
Q8 A9 A (4) A 0 AA
Precision
Q9 A8 AA (5) Precision AA n/a n/a

53 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Cutter Inspection

Critical Features of Tool

 Bore size and roundness

 Hub diameter runout
 Back Face
 Counterbore face
 Pitch Line Runout
 Involute Profile
 Indexing of teeth
 Sharpening Accuracy

54 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Mounting Error - Runout

Ind. Band is ground true to bore

within .0002” or better.
Clean all mounting surfaces
Cutter runout will create the drop
tooth effect in part tooth spacing
Indicate the spindle adaptor
Indicate the cutter proof band within
.0002”

ECCENTRICITY

•EFFECT OF UNDERSIZE CUTTER ARBOR

55 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Runout with Accurate Mounting

56 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Runout with Poor Back Face

57 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Runout with Mounting Eccentricity

58 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Profile Tolerance

59 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

ITW Involute Checker

60 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

ITW Ball Checker

 Ball Contacts near cutter pitch

dia.
 Eccentric rotates ball to contact
into the next space
 As probe passes centerline, ball
deflects radially and records to
strip chart

61 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

M&M Sigma 5

62 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

P.L. Runout vs. Index Checks

63 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Spur Type Sharpening

Wheel reciprocates
across the face

5°
Face Angle 5°

Bore plug

Travel of Grinding machine table

Grinding Wheel tilted to 5 ° face angle

64 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Helical Step Sharpening Basic Nomenclature

65 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Helical Step-Type Sharpening

 Cutter fixture is set to face angle and sharpening angle.

 Wheel travels from tip to counterbore
 Center of step aligned on center of space

66 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Sharpening Angle Selection

t < β: Chip flow

t = β: "Standard" • Chip flow sharpening is 8
degrees less than
Normal Sharpening is Perpendicular
to the cutter helix angle. perpendicular to helix angle.
Creates less acute edge on
high helix cutters
Greater
90 than90°
° t t

b b

67 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Effect of Sharpening Error - Face Angle Wrong

Plus angle error produces

plus involute error on part

EFFECT OF SHARPENING WITH WRONG FACE ANGLE

68 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Effect of Sharpening Error - Step Angle Wrong

Will create involute slope

errors & possible TT issues

EFFECT OF SHARPENING TO INCORRECT HELIX ANGLE

69 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Effect of Sharpening Error -Step Height

Cutter spacing errors will

occur
Part spacing will be
incorrect
Part TT variations

•EFFECT OF SHARPENING CUTTER TEETH TO UNEQUAL HEIGHTS

70 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Shaper Cutter Sharpening Tolerances Per AGMA 1109-A09 (Reference Only)

AGMA Shaper Cutter Tolerance Table Class AA

Class AA
Module 1 1 2 2 4 4 6 6 10 10 16 16 35
P.D, 75 100 75 125 75 125 100 160 125 160 160 200 305
Face Width 10 10 20 20 25 25 32 32 40 40 40 40 50
3. Rake Angle 7 7 13 13 26 26 39 39 65 65 105 105 229
5. Tooth Face Sharpening Angle 14 14 27 27 55 55 82 82 137 137 219 219 480

AGMA Shaper Cutter Tolerance Table Class A

Class A
Module 1 1 2 2 4 4 6 6 10 10 16 16 35
P.D, 75 100 75 125 75 125 100 160 125 160 160 200 305
Face Width 10 10 20 20 25 25 32 32 40 40 40 40 50
3. Rake Angle 10 10 20 20 39 39 59 59 98 98 157 157 344
5. Tooth Face Sharpening Anlge 21 21 41 41 82 82 123 123 206 206 329 329 720

AGMA Shaper Cutter Tolerance Table Class B

Class B
Module 1 1 2 2 4 4 6 6 10 10 16 16 35
P.D, 75 100 75 125 75 125 100 160 125 160 160 200 305
Face Width 10 10 20 20 25 25 32 32 40 40 40 40 50
3. Rake Angle 13 13 26 26 52 52 79 79 131 131 209 209 458
5. Tooth Face Sharpening Anlge 27 27 55 55 110 110 164 164 274 274 439 439 960

71 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Shaper Cutter Sharpening Tolerances Per AGMA 1109-A09 (Reference Only)

AGMA Shaper Cutter Tolerance Table Class AA

Class AA

Module 1 1 2 2 4 4 6 6 10 10 16 16 35

P.D, 75 100 75 125 75 125 100 160 125 160 160 200 305

Face Width 10 10 20 20 25 25 32 32 40 40 40 40 50

2. Axial Face Runout Helical 25 26 26 27 26 28 28 30 32 33 36 37 48

AGMA Shaper Cutter Tolerance Table Class A

Class A

Module 1 1 2 2 4 4 6 6 10 10 16 16 35

P.D, 75 100 75 125 75 125 100 160 125 160 160 200 305

Face Width 10 10 20 20 25 25 32 32 40 40 40 40 50

2. Axial Face Runout Helical 36 37 36 39 37 40 39 42 45 47 50 52 67

AGMA Shaper Cutter Tolerance Table Class B

Class B

Module 1 1 2 2 4 4 6 6 10 10 16 16 35

P.D, 75 100 75 125 75 125 100 160 125 160 160 200 305

Face Width 10 10 20 20 25 25 32 32 40 40 40 40 50

2. Axial Face Runout Helical 51 52 51 55 53 56 56 60 64 67 71 74 95

72 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Guide Lead = Cutter Lead

Lead = Axial advance of

Lead of Guide point on tooth in one
revolution
Lead of
Lead of Cutter
Cutter ==
Lead of
Lead of Guide
Guide
Lead = Pi * PDc /
Tan (Beta)
Lead ctr Lead part
----------- = --------------
T ctr T part
Internal RH Gear => RH Cutter
Internal LH Gear => LH Cutter Cutter Helix
External RH Gear=> LH Cutter Angle at Pitch Dia = Beta

External LH Gear=> RH Cutter

Lead of Guide

73 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Helical Guide Axioms

 A helical guide is made to the lead and hand of the helical shaper
cutter.
 Lead is a linear measurement not an angular amount.
 Lead of a cutter is determined by the cutter diameter and helix angle at
the pitch diameter.
 If you have to shape two different helical gears it is very unlikely the
same guide is used!
 The hand of the helix angle of the part and the guide are the same for
internal gears and the opposite hand for external gears.
 A conventional gear shaping machine requires that when shaping a
helical gear that the rotary feed have a certain direction of rotation,
clockwise or counter clockwise depending on the hand of the helix
angle of the part. This is to direct the tangential cutting forces into the
worm gear not into the backlash of the worm and worm gear.

74 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 Hydrostatic Guides

 Spur Guide

75 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Hydrostatic Guides

 Guide cost
$8000 to $15000
depending on
length and
diameter.

 ~One hour to
change a guide

 Cannot make
even slight lead
changes with a
hard guide

76 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Possibilities with a CNC Guide

Multi-tasking:
Left Hand
Internal
Left Hand
External

77 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

Shaping Cycle Feed Methods

Feed Techniques To Match

High Tech Machines
Optimizing the Generating
Method
In-Feed Methods (X-, C-
and B-Axis)
1. Traditional Method Radial
feed with rotary motion
2. Traditional Method
Radial feed without rotary
motion
3. Modern Machine - not
necessarily CNC Spiral method
with constant radial feed
4. Newest Technology
Spiral Digressive Radial
Infeed - only Possible with
CNC

78 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application

 ANY QUESTIONS ?

Brad Dierks
815-877-8900 ext 253
BDierks@gleason.com

79 Gear School / Shaper Cutter Design & Application