Used Bevel Gear Cutting Machines for Sale 21

Bevel gear types and applications

Straight bevel gears use straight tooth elements meeting at an apex on the shaft intersection point. The technology serves applications where shaft speeds are moderate and noise/load characteristics permit straight bevel use — agricultural machinery, hand tools, and lower-speed industrial gearing.

Spiral bevel gears add tooth curvature, providing progressive engagement that distributes loading across multiple teeth simultaneously. The smoother engagement reduces noise, vibration, and tooth surface stress compared to straight bevel alternatives. Applications include automotive transmissions, marine drives, and industrial gear reducers.

Hypoid gears extend spiral bevel principles to offset shaft applications where the pinion shaft does not pass through the gear shaft centre. Hypoid geometry dominates automotive rear axle differentials globally — the offset pinion shaft enables the propeller shaft to pass below the passenger compartment floor in rear-wheel-drive vehicles.

Cutting technology

Face milling cutters with spiral cutting blades generate spiral bevel and hypoid gear teeth. The cutter rotates while the workpiece rotates in synchronised motion; the relative rotational geometry generates the spiral tooth profile. The Gleason face milling system and Klingelnberg face hobbing system represent the two major bevel gear cutting approaches globally.

Face hobbing produces continuous gear cutting without tool indexing — the hob teeth are arranged as a continuous spiral that progressively cuts each gear tooth space as the workpiece rotates. The continuous-cutting approach produces faster cycle times than face milling for production volumes.

Face milling produces single tooth space at a time through indexed cutting with a face mill cutter. The technology produces specific tooth geometries (Gleason topological geometry) that face hobbing cannot directly generate.

Major manufacturers

Gleason Corporation (US) dominates global bevel gear cutting with the broadest product range covering bevel gear cutting, grinding, lapping, and testing. The Gleason Phoenix series CNC bevel gear cutters serve major automotive and industrial bevel gear production worldwide.

Klingelnberg (German) provides the major European alternative, particularly through face hobbing technology and bevel gear measurement equipment. Klingelnberg Oerlikon machines dominate European bevel gear production.

Oerlikon (Swiss heritage, now part of Klingelnberg) developed face hobbing technology and continues as a major bevel gear technology brand.

Applications

Automotive differential pinion and ring gear production represents the largest bevel gear cutting application globally. Each rear-wheel-drive vehicle includes one hypoid pinion-and-ring gear set in the differential. Major automotive differential manufacturers worldwide use Gleason, Klingelnberg, and Oerlikon bevel gear cutting equipment.

Marine drives, aerospace transmission gear sets, industrial gear reducers, and specialty bevel gear applications cover the broader bevel gear market.

Browse used bevel gear cutting machines on Exapro to compare Gleason, Klingelnberg, and Oerlikon configurations from verified sellers worldwide. When evaluating used bevel gear cutters, verify spindle accuracy and gear-cutting kinematic system, check cutter spindle and workhead alignment, inspect CNC control system function and software version (gear cutting software is critical), test cutting capability on representative gear setups, and verify that maximum gear diameter and cutting capability match your intended bevel gear production. Complete tooling inventory including cutter heads represents substantial additional value.