Technological Expertise to Meet Your Requirements
Global Expertise in Gearing and Turning
Gear Hobbing
Gear hobbing is a flexible and productive process for the production of gears and worms. By using standard hobs, many types of gears can be manufactured cost-effectively. The high number of cutting edges in the machining process also enables a long tool life.
Worm Milling
Unlike hobbing, in worm gear milling, each tooth gap is milled out individually using a form cutter. The Christ & Heiri Group also uses high-speed milling with tool speeds of up to 15,000 rpm. This process allows for a higher surface finish while maintaining consistent productivity.
Thread Chasing
Thread chasing is an economical and technically excellent technology for manufacturing worms in a single operation. These worms are characterised by a particularly smooth surface and are ideal for noise-sensitive applications. This manufacturing process has been refined and improved by us over the years and represents a speciality of the Christ & Heiri Group.
Turning
Flawless turned parts, manufactured with the highest precision, are the prerequisite for high-quality gearing parts and assemblies. With our CNC machines and six-spindle turning machines, we cover the entire performance spectrum – from large-scale production to initial sample production.
Assembly
We offer the assembly of sub-assemblies for mechanical watch movements (micro-gearing for watch movements, e.g., chaussée montée (cannon pinion assembly) with defined friction, mobile de seconde, mobile de minuterie. We can handle the entire process in-house at our Selzach site in Switzerland.
BURNISHING
Burnishing is a manufacturing process for finishing bearing journals and their shoulders on watch and instrument components. The workpiece is positioned in profiled grooves of carbide support discs and set in rotation. Material removal (0.005 to 0.02 mm, surface finish N3 – N4) is achieved using sharpened carbide discs. The use of ceramic or Degussit discs enables a pure grinding process with correspondingly greater material removal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is manufacturing carried out according to standards or individual customer drawings?
Our absolute core competence is demanding contract manufacturing according to customised customer drawings and specific CAD data. We are experts in realising the most complex form and position tolerances exactly according to the specifications of engineers. Upon explicit customer request, we naturally also manufacture standard gears and drive elements according to common DIN/ISO standards. Strict adherence to customer specifications is our top priority and is validated in detail during the initial sample process.
Which machining processes are carried out in-house?
Our in-house vertical range of manufacture is extensive, which gives us full control over quality and delivery times. Our processes include high-precision CNC turning (Swiss-type and short turning), gear cutting (hobbing, gear shaping), burnishing (to increase surface quality and strength), finishing, as well as complex assembly. Processes that require a highly specific infrastructure – such as thermal treatments (hardening, tempering) or special galvanic polishing processes – are carried out through a close-knit network of long-standing external partners certified to ISO and IATF, whose quality we monitor seamlessly.
On which types of machines is manufacturing performed?
We invest continuously in ultra-modern, automated machinery. We work, among others, with high-performance Swiss-type automatic lathes and multi-axis gear cutting centres from world market leaders: Hanwha, Koepfer, Gildemeister, Tornos, Citizen, Strausak and Monnier + Zahner. These state-of-the-art CNC systems, often supplemented by robot loading systems, guarantee maximum reproducibility even with runs of millions.
With which methods and systems are the gears measured?
Highest precision must be measurable and verifiable. Quality assurance takes place in our measuring rooms. We use the most modern tactile and optical measuring methods within the framework of statistical process control (SPC). High-resolution, CNC-controlled gear measuring centres (including technologies analogous to Klingelnberg or Wenzel) as well as digital, optical profile projectors are used. This allows us to guarantee tolerances in the micrometre range and generate complete measurement protocols.
Is the design and calculation of gears also undertaken?
As a classic, specialised contract manufacturer, we produce primarily according to the design and calculation specifications of our customers. We advise you proactively on the manufacturing-oriented optimisation of your components – for instance in material selection or slight adjustments to the gear geometry – in order to sustainably reduce manufacturing costs, increase service life and maximise quality in series production.