Going by the picture, it looks like at the root of the splines it's so narrow you could effectively consider it flat so it would be fairly easy to grind an HSS tool to a close replica of the spline shape
-Mark
-Mark
I'm asking because I'm uncertain, trying to learn:Hydraulic pump splines are involute.
I'm asking because I'm uncertain, trying to learn:
Are these splines actually part of the fluid pumping component in a gear pump, or are they a male shaft that couples to a female splined component just to transfer rotary power? Seems to me that a coupling with involute cut splines would be totally unnecessary, all you need for splines is flat mating faces, so why get fancy (KIS)? I can understand why a gear-pump would need involute gears in the pump.
I seen this video twice I think, but those splines are more PTO size and my part has very fine splines.I have not done it but these are typically cut with a special cutter and a dividing head.
There are at least 2 types of forms: involute and straight.
From the looks yours appears to be involute and would require a special cutter to do properly.
EDIT: TOT has a video on doing straight splines, here:
I will be doing it with my dividing head on the mill.If I did it now, I'd do on the mill with rotary table and quill as Joe Pie often does. But I didn't have a mill back then!
Hi Brino.Hi Michael,
My only spline project was posted here:
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/my-first-and-second-attempt-at-cutting-splines.83187/
I was lucky, I had printed specs. on the spline I was cutting.
(That meant I could look up a number of things in the Machinery's Handbook.)
Mine required a square 90 degree cutter, and I had one already.
I would think that a single point HSS cutter would work fine....I have seen that method used for gears and it worked there.
Just note that the cutter shape may change with spline size, just as in gears.
If you are copying a spline in the exact same size, then you should be able to grind the cutter to fit the existing one.
As for depth of cut I used the formulas in the Machinery's Handbook to calculate i) what gauge pins to use, and ii) the measurement over those gauge-pins. Obviously, this method requires two gauge pins of the required size, and an "even number" spline in order to have the gauge pins sit 180 degrees from each-other.
I hope you keep posting about your project.
It would help us all improve!
Thanks,
-brino
EDIT: the one thing that I should emphasize from my thread above was just how useful an aluminum test part was _before_ doing the real part.
I am making a new shaft. Apparently these shafts are not available after market,the client must buy a new pump every time.I will be making a few in future. My client asked me long ago if I able to make them,but back then I did not have a dividing head or any clue to use it. Things changed in the meantime.Wait, are you trying to cut a new shaft, or internal splines in the gears to fit that shaft?
I am making a new shaft. Apparently these shafts are not available after market,the client must buy a new pump every time.I will be making a few in future. My client asked me long ago if I able to make them,but back then I did not have a dividing head or any clue to use it. Things changed in the meantime.