Well, here we are in the glorious new year of 2002. We have been publishing these tips now for well over a year, and we have enjoyed doing it in the hope that some of this information proves to be of value.

This month we will examine one of the most common problems that is experienced on hobbing machines. It is a item that is often overlooked, and can be easily corrected. This item is the end support of the hob arbor. Weather your end support is solid or anti-friction, there is an extreme amount of wear in the normal course of using the machine. This wear can manifest itself in many ways on the gear you are cutting, from simply "chatter" to a bad lead. Another cause of the wear is accidental mishandling of the end support. Many times in your plants I have seen a hammer, wrench, or other item used to remove the end support. This only causes extreme wear or damage. Please use the proper method of removal, you will cut better parts and have less repair of the end support.

One of the important things to remember about a end support, is that when it is properly installed it must not lower the arbor at all, and it must not allow the arbor to deflect low under cutting pressure. They are normally fit to be a few tenths high, or toward the work when installed. This accounts for any deflection caused by cutting pressure.

We hope this information is of use. If you have any questions or have a particular topic you would like to see discussed here, please contact us.