Hot off the press...
Cutting Gears by using the Hobbing Process
We produced a batch of skeleton clocks during 2007 in which the gearing was cut by hobbing rather than forming. This technique is now available for the X1 Mill.
Any wheel or pinion from Module 0.3 to Module 1.0 can be cut. The photos show examples in the clock and in cutting cast iron change wheels.
Hobbing is a DIY setup, the user builds the stepper driven indexing head and the encoder pickup driven from the spindle. CompUCut offer the electronic unit which links the two, it is called Syncron.
Syncron is a ready built and tested PCB to input the encoder signal and output the step pulses. The number of teeth required are simply set on the switches.
Note: A computer is not needed in this setup
Regards, Richard & Quin