Someone is cutting a Gear on a 4 axis machine with LinuxCNC and a self written O-Code. As tool he is using a standard slitting saw.
Ok, it will least a long Time to do the Job, but the pro is, that no special tool is required. You can cut a wide range of Gears with only one cheep tool.
Is it possible to do this with one of the commercial CAM Products like Masteram or Gibbscam? What do you think?
I think it is possible to do this in a commercial CAM program, but I think it is easier to just hand write the code. I think about 20 lines of code is enough. Each gear tooth requires only 3 operations, center cut, top angle cut, and bottom angle cut. Then rotate to the next tooth and repeat. You just put the cutting code in a subroutine and call the code from a loop. Rotate the A axis to the next position on each pass through the loop.
Hardly an original approach, although you are much better advised to use a ball-end milling cutter. The slitting saw creates very high stress corners at the bottom of every gap.
I make my own aluminium GT2 pulleys with a 1.1 mm ball-end cutter..