Germany's ALZMETALL adopts gear skiving process, boosting machining efficiency by about 60%

en.Wedoany.com Reported - German machine tool manufacturer ALZMETALL GmbH & Co. KG has disclosed that it introduced carbide skiving tools developed by Ingersoll Werkzeuge into its in-house gear production and implemented gear skiving on the ALZMETALL GS 800/5-FDT five-axis turn-mill machining center. The new solution can machine 7 different gear workpieces with a single tool, reducing machining time from approximately 10–15 minutes per batch of 5 pieces to about 3 minutes and 40 seconds per piece, improving overall production efficiency by approximately 60%.

ALZMETALL previously outsourced part of its gear production, but due to cost, delivery lead time and quality consistency issues, it subsequently decided to bring gear manufacturing back in-house. The gears concerned are mainly used in the power transmission and control systems of the company's drilling machines, with different drilling machine models requiring approximately 250–500 pieces per year. The company uses its existing GS 800/5-FDT machining center for gear machining. This equipment is equipped with a Heidenhain TNC 640 CNC system and a C-axis rotary table with a maximum speed of 1100 rpm, and can directly call the skiving machining cycle built into the CNC system.

To meet ALZMETALL's production requirements, Ingersoll developed a solid carbide skiving wheel. All 7 gears are designed with module 2, with tooth counts ranging from 15 to 48 teeth. The tool itself is designed with 26 teeth, and different workpieces are accommodated by adjusting the crossed-axis angle, spindle speed, table speed and cutting distribution parameters. The tool also features an internally 3D-printed cooling structure that delivers cutting fluid separately to each cutting edge to control tool temperature and chip evacuation during continuous machining.

With the new process, the gears machined by ALZMETALL can achieve DIN 3962 grade 7 accuracy while also obtaining high tooth flank quality. Skiving machining integrates gear manufacturing directly into the existing five-axis machining center, eliminating the need to configure multiple sets of dedicated machining equipment for different gears. Ingersoll participated in the entire introduction process, from tool design and process parameter setting to first-part machining, and the relevant cutting parameters can be written directly into the Heidenhain control program.

ALZMETALL is currently also cooperating with Heidenhain to offer gear skiving as an optional process for its machining centers to customers. The company's existing CNC machining centers can cover workpiece sizes of approximately 600–1400 mm and have already integrated multiple machining capabilities including drilling, milling, turning and grinding. This gear skiving further expands its range of multi-tasking machining.