Spline Cutting
Spline cutting is a process that uses a broaching machine to cut grooves into a gear's spline shaft. Spline shafts contain a series of ridges on a driveshaft that are used to even out the rotation speed of the companion piece.
When manufacturing spline shafts, broaches utilize spline cutting on the material's surface in order to cut the furrows along the length of the shaft. As the spline rotates, these grooves interlock with the matching grooves in the mating piece. This connection enables a spline gear to transfer torque.
A broach is a hydraulic cutting tool used to cut holes in metal, wood, and plastic materials. Broaching teeth, which perform the cutting action, come in many different sizes and spacing configurations, depending on the part that is being broached. Because only the surface needs to be cut during the spline cutting process, only external broaches are used.