Market research question #2.
Also posted to alt.machines.cnc for people doing prototype and maintenance work.
How much interest exists out here for plans and/or "kit" of materials [rough cut to length bar stock, fasteners, pins] to construct a fixture to generate involute profile gear cutters using the arc approximation method show in "Gears and Gear Cutting" by Ivan Law ISBN 0-85242-911-8 [and on the web]
Involute form tools would be finish ground from a rough ground HSS lathe tool blank [3/16 or ¼ square] eliminating the need for home heat-treating, and allowing the use brazed carbide E tools or 5/10% cobalt blanks if desired.
Custom DP/module and/or pressure angle gears could also be generated with some calculations and modification [new holes] to the pivot plate.
My thought is to hold the rough ground tool bit in a fixture between centers on a lathe, and use a 1/8 shank miniature/pencil die grinder to generate the required radius, and trim to exact length. [Dremel type tools should also work] Radial relief only would be generated by locating the cutter below center when form grinding and on center when cutting.
Most suitable for 1.5mm module / 20DP and smaller gears but could easily be scaled up.
No threat to Barber-Coleman or Fellows, but when you gotta' have it cheap [or yesterday] it's an option.
Unka' George (George McDuffee) .............................. Only in Britain could it be thought a defect to be "too clever by half." The probability is that too many people are too stupid by three-quarters.
John Major (b. 1943), British Conservative politician, prime minister. Quoted in: Observer (London, 7 July 1991).