newbie questions

[Matt Whitehouse]

do i have to use a 4th axis to machine bevel gears? can i machine them from flat stock? if so how?
thanks,
matt whitehouse

[JustinO]

Hi Matt,

The more you describe your needs, the more suggestions you'll receive.
The best process to chose is dependent on many, many things.

There are videos on Youtube of bevel gears being cut from flat stock.
Here is a spiral bevel gear being cut without a fourth axis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV8Dq6mslnE

What machining equipment do you have? What are the gears for? What will they be made of?

[Matt Whitehouse]

I have a taig cnc without a 4th axis, every time  I try to cut a bevel it just cuts a regular spur gear. I just wanted to try making some bevel gears. Do I need to export the gear to an external cam software?

[ArtF]

Matt:

  Yes, the bevels can be exported as STL's to a CAM program to make the toolpaths, but you wont
be able to cut them on less than 4 axis. Their shape makes that near impossible. (Really, you need 5 axis generally..)

Art