Spiral bevel gears have been traditionally machined on special machines commonly known as Gleason, Oerlikon, or Klingelnerg. One of disadvantages of the traditional method is high cost. This paper presents a practical method based on CAD/CAM and 3-axis CNC machining to manufacture spiral bevel gears of the Gleason design. This method can be considered as an alternative method to the traditional methods. For the proposed method, first, the 3D model of the spiral bevel gear was created. Next, the tool path planning for 3-axis cutting of the tooth profiles of the gear was performed. Then, the gear teeth were cut on a 3-axis CNC machining centre using flat-end mills for roughing and semi-finishing, and ball-end mills for finishing. The machined gear was measured and analysed by a non-contact measuring method which allows to compare the actual part to the nominal CAD model. The pitch deviations and the surface roughness of the manufactured gear were also measured. As a result, the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method were confirmed.
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