Helical Gear Shaping Cutters - Design and Analysis

This paper analyses the effect of relief and rake angles on the effective generating profile of the helical gear shaping cutter. In a gear shaping process, the conjugate motion between the gear blank and the cutter, along with the cutting motion generates the gear. The cutter is a modified version of the rack/pinion incorporating rake and relief angles. Effect of different sharpening methods has also been discussed in this paper. Certain design modifications are proposed to minimize the deviation from the ideal profile in case of rack as well as pinion cutters.