Gear grinding is one of the ways in which a gear being produced is finished. Gear grinding is used to remove surface materials on a gear blank through abrasion. Abrasion is conducted through rubbing of a rough surface against a piece of metal at high speeds to scrape away the material that is not needed in the gear. In gear grinding, small pieces are removed at a time without affecting the overall integrity of the material. Depending on the technique used, gear grinding ensures the proper creation of the gear’s teeth from the gear blank.

Types of Gear Grinding Methods  

There are two basic techniques in gear grinding commonly used in the industry. These are as follows:

1. Form grinding. This gear grinding technique is also called non-generating grinding. In this grinding technique, a disc wheel is used to grind both sides of the space between splines simultaneously. Attached to the wheel is an involute form to guide the grinding process.
2. Generating grinding. This gear grinding technique is straight sided meaning the gear moves along the abrasive tool to form the splines.

After the formation of the splines, the gear grinding process is still not complete. A final polishing process takes places which perfects the grinding of the gear. Instead of forming the splines, polishing smoothens out the face of the gear. In this process, a polishing wheel is used and the purpose is to make the surface of the gear bright and shiny without any imperfections.

Gear grinding is basically the process of creating the teeth or splines on a gear. There are two processes utilized and each has its own costs and benefits. After formation of the gear splines, more refined gear grinding is done to polish and finish the gear’s surface. Once completed, the gear is ready for action.