Bevel Gears: A Little Theory. A Little Practice…Literally!

[@jkdwayne]

Excellent Video ! Your explanation and Graphics are Top Notch for us Laymen!

[@sky173]

This is the BEST explanation of how these teeth are cut. I have no idea how I missed your last few videos. Can't wait to see this new contraption you have floating in your head. As always, thanks for sharing.

[@mikemakuh5319]

Thank you! It is good to see someone making a positive contribution to our understanding of machining.

[@thomasstover6272]

Too kind, thanks!

[@bernardwright2420]

That's the 1st time I've seen a dividing head on KZbin that's exactly the same as mine, I like your process, will try it in the future, thanks for showing.

[@thomasstover6272]

Thanks! Hope you give it a try!

[@pyromedichd1]

Great explanation of a process I've been wanting to learn about. Thank you!

[@thomasstover6272]

Thanks for your note! Glad it was helpful!

[@campbellmorrison8540]

Excellent thank you, this is the first explanation of cutting bevel gears that I actually understood.

[@thomasstover6272]

You are welcome!

[@OthamJohn]

I have Ivan Law's book and having watched your explanation I understand finally what he was saying. Thank you for a clear and concise walk through.

[@thomasstover6272]

Glad it was helpful!

[@wibblywobblyidiotvision]

Excellent use of transparencies. Bravo.

[@thomasstover6272]

I have my moments…

[@joeg679]

Great video Tom, I've never cut bevel gears, only helical and spur gears. What a great explanation. Thank you for sharing.

[@thomasstover6272]

Thanks for watching!

[@perrypark8485]

Always a good Day when you post a video

[@thomasstover6272]

Thanks, kindly!

[@markfischer9216]

I have the book and have read the section on bevel gears many times but have struggled to understand the process. I think I get it now. Thank you for the video.

[@thomasstover6272]

Law makes it a little more opaque by not showing all the steps…and by choosing a 20 DP gear with 20 teeth. Profoundly confusing…good luck!

[@thigtsquare950]

Thanks for the insight. I thought bevel gears were simple single pass, and all it was to them is the setup. Once you mentioned the cones it was clear to me that they needed 3 passes. It will save me a lot of material and headaches to know the problem and to understand the solution. Cheers, I your video just came in my feed and I subscribed right away.

[@thomasstover6272]

Thanks for watching and subscribing! Good luck!

[@rodneykiemele4721]

Excellent video, thank you very much

[@thomasstover6272]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching!

[@BROCKWOOD64]

Now, this makes more sense than just watching the process (or trying the 'cookie cutter' method). An added bonus for me is this involved the use of a Van Norman mill & 10" divider! You made mention of your next big purchase - without any hints. If it's the low speed gearbox for your dividing head, you'll want to move your X feed hand wheel from left to right side of the table. Are you missing a crank handle?

[@thomasstover6272]

I am 1 crank handle short, as it happens. There’s another video on my channel about making a change gear set for my VN lead box, if you’re interested. Thanks for watching!

[@kennyrmurray]

Thanks Tom. I actually have that book but I have a hard time comprehending a lot of it. I went to Chevrolet school, but this is very difficult for me sometimes.

[@thomasstover6272]

I’m open to questions, which I will answer with confidence that may not be justified. Cheers!

[@MattysWorkshop]

Gday, I am no good at mathematics at all and I don’t believe I could possibly make a bevel gear but I find this very interesting and really like the way you explain the process, thank you

[@thomasstover6272]

Morning, Matty! I think anyone can do this. Someday you’ll have a need…and you will remember this little vid. Be fine on the day.

[@Workshopfriend]

Thank you for your excellent explanation. Encourages me to have a go!

[@thomasstover6272]

Please do!

[@MyLilMule]

You must have visited HGR. I could spend hours and tens of thousands of dollars there. LOL! Looking forward to the new series.

[@thomasstover6272]

Indeed! This machine wasn’t “last chance”, but it was marked down. This project is going to be fun!

[@RustyInventions-wz6ir]

Very nice work sir

[@thomasstover6272]

Thanks !

[@TNBen60]

I enjoy peering over the precipice of your rabbit hole. I may be loosing my footing with a project to make an unnecessarily complicated malt mill so I can experiment with gear cutting myself. Dangerous stuff!

[@thomasstover6272]

Give in to the dork side! It’s a superpower!

[@raymondvancourt1622]

Hello love your videos I was wondering if this gear needed to be heat reader and ground how would you accomplish that. Also are what types of platting are best to prevent wear?

[@thomasstover6272]

@@raymondvancourt1622 I’m hoping it won’t need to be heat treated. I don’t have a good way to do that, and grinding is not available either. These gears look massive, but they only transmit 3 hp and will be lubricated with heavy gear oil. Heat treated and ground is best for wear and surface failures of the gear, but that is all specialist stuff, so I’m hoping I don’t need it!

[@camillosteuss]

Huh, 22 Van Noman you say... Interesting... Not identical by any means, but somewhat reminiscent of the Schaublin 22... The head and ram arrangement especially, and the sideways offset dovetail for the knee when compared to the head ram... Very interesting... And she seems to be in a very nice condition... Put some proper way guarding on that machine... A nice machine like that should be treated properly and protected from damage... Also, damn, this is some proper educational video... I definitely ain`t picking all of this up on the first run, but i`ll be back for this... I just wanted to check the video, and i discovered a new channel to subscribe to... Nice machines and properly explained stuff... Also, the proper, good, old methods being used hammers it home for me... Transparent film, hand drawn geometry, i mean, need i even say more... Damn glad i checked out the video... Best regards! Steuss

[@thomasstover6272]

Welcome! I can’t promise all will be explained, but I’ll try…thanks for checking it out!

[@camillosteuss]

@@thomasstover6272 Oy mate, i have a machinist`s handbook, so i guess i could just look it up and study the artform, but since i have no need for gears at the moment(nor is my shop in any condition to produce any atm), but i sure appreciate lovely machines and people who share in the remarkable love for those majestic artworks in cast iron... You seem have an eye for proper machinery, thus, i conclude that you at least have some love for them...

[@thomasstover6272]

@@camillosteuss indeed I do, to possibly an unhealthy degree…cheers!

[@camillosteuss]

@@thomasstover6272 Oh, there ain`t no such a thing... Machines need all the love that can be had, as well as proper maintenance and mindful operation... All the best!

[@gertjevanpoppel7270]

Excellent work and great video 👍 Im making a bevel gear myself for a milling machine that I have . The problem is that it has a bevel gear that hasn't have a constant depth. But it is very difficult to find out how to make one. I also have tried the same method as in the video and i found a copy of the machinists handbook where this method is described. But someway it doesn't give me the correct gear. My first problem is to determine the precise type of gear I have and i know it must be the metric variant. But it is very difficult to reverse engineer and to come up with the correct numbers. After making 5 gears that all had some errors i gave up and try to figure out on how or what i do wrong. If you or someone has any tips I would appreciate it 😀. Specially on how to make a bevel gear that hasn't a constant depth. And the math behind it.

[@thomasstover6272]

The normal approach for a “proper”bevel is to set up the gear on the large diameter, so if you can estimate the pitch diameter at the big end, you should be able to determine from that and the tooth count whether it is a DP or a MOD gear. I don’t believe you can cut a proper gear this way unless you have special bevel tooth cutters, which must have a much narrower profile, since the basic profile is established on the outer diameter and the tooth gets narrow as you move down the flank. I am not sure what I can offer beyond that, as I have never made a gear that way. Best of luck!

[@TheJohndeere466]

Involute cutters for making bevel gears are thinner than the ones for making spur gears . I have some out in the shop.

[@thomasstover6272]

True but they are hard to find in a specific size. I have some, too, but nothing as big as I needed. These gears mesh well and I think they will work well…time will tell.

[@TheJohndeere466]

@@thomasstover6272 What size cutter did you need. I guy gave me a whole 5 gal bucket of them.

[@thomasstover6272]

@@TheJohndeere466 A set of 8 or 10 DP bevel cutters would be great. In a pinch #4-#6 if you don’t have full sets. Let me know if you want to sell them!

[@TheJohndeere466]

@@thomasstover6272 i have a set of each except a # 4 8dp . i really dont want to sell them but you can use them. i have 3 #6 8dp. i would sell 2 of those.

[@mudnducs]

I got a BS in mech eng and we NEVER covered gear construction like this. I feel cheated! Thank you so much!! Do you think this would work for high speed gear sets?

[@thomasstover6272]

Wow! Thanks!

[@ThePottingShedWorkshop]

Brilliant explanation! Now you're making me want to dream up a project that needs bevel gears so I can try this out - as if I don't have enough already!

[@thomasstover6272]

Thanks, Robert! Glad it wasn’t too confusing! The key thing for me was to be able to use a standard involute cutter.

[@thomasstover6272]

Now that I understand this, I am sure that you could apply this approach with your shaper setup. The constant depth tooth could be generated as you have been…it would just require 3 passes…

[@thomasstover6272]

On second thought, I don’t think it will work. The reason this works is that you are cutting the flank, rather than generating it. I think you would have to rotate the blank around the pitch line…more complicated. Maybe.

[@TheJohndeere466]

I bought a van norman mill like that on ebay for 164.00. Mine has an overarm support with it.

[@thomasstover6272]

Well, that’s a pretty good deal!

[@timstover7923]

No! The first rule of bevel gears is YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT BEVEL GEARS!!

[@thomasstover6272]

No, the FIRST rule of bevel gears is “you don’t understand bevel gears!” 😁

[@quirty864]

The dividing machine has to be offset for the second and third cuts, right? If I have that right, what is the method to do that? Thanks.

[@thomasstover6272]

Just moving the table on the milling machine perpendicular to the tooth, 1/2 of the tooth width at the pitch circle.

[@quirty864]

@@thomasstover6272 Hah, I can be a bit dense at times, lol. Thanks, kid.

[@paradiselost9946]

bevels. the worst gear of all to make without a proper gleasson. try to avoid them like the plague, where possible... alter designs for something more... simple. helicals. not often that shafts HAVE TO intersect... me myself and i, the few ive had to do... slot saw, two rotaries, and generate them just like the gleasson but... slower! have to roll the work, whilst simultaneously "rolling the cutter". just like generating a spur gear with a slot saw but with an extra rotation and offset. once youre going its easier than using an involute, with far less fudging and filing for proper heel-toe contact... just gotta do a bit of trig for the angles and offsets. and rather than one tooth at a time, work through them all one pass at a time... only working on one flank at a time. there is a special "bevel involute cutter", made narrow enough for the inner gap, yet it obviously can only generate the correct profile at the heel of the tooth... so even with them, its all a bit of fudging, offsetting and rolling the work... filing and blueing... generating them ensures theyre as near perfect as they can be... sigh. the only gleasson i know of i can touch happens to be a freaking ornament in a refurbished train workshop where the yuppies have no idea what the hulking lump of cast iron in the lobby happens to be... made one guys day when i told him... yep. all that machine just to make silly little angled gears... (could probably cut 5ft diameters? it is rather large...) wonder how they would react to having that thing fired up and throwing some chips in their lattes and frappucinos?

[@thomasstover6272]

I’d like to see that Gleason machine someday! Where is it?

[@paradiselost9946]

​@@thomasstover6272 sydney, eveleigh, "australian technology park".

[@thomasstover6272]

Thanks…might take a while to get there! Cheers!