Method of milling teeth surfaces from the free end of a workpiece

A method for milling teeth surfaces with a machine tool which simultaneous mills a plurality of the surfaces from an axial free end of a continuously driven workpiece to form teeth therein, with axial relative movement between the workpiece and milling cutters which cut the continuously driven workpiece, said milling cutters being formed as single-tooth fly cutters, the milling cutters being driven in constant speed relationship to the revolution of the workpiece and the machine tool having two of said milling cutters, two carriers for said milling cutters having axes of rotation of the milling cutters, respectively, said two carriers being swingable, independently of each other, around a common carrier axis of swing, the method comprising the steps of

• adjusting said milling cutters in a longitudinal direction of the axes of rotation of the milling cutters centrally towards said carrier axis of swing,
• sychronously driving said milling cutters with respect to each other such that directions of rotation thereof are opposite with respect to one another, are in the direction of an axial face of the free end of the workpiece and are such that one of the fly cutters mills a roof-like surface on one side of a tooth of the workpiece and simultaneously the other of said fly cutters mills an oppositely disposed roof-like surface of another tooth of the workpiece being milled, and such that the fly cutters always mill the respective roof-like surfaces of the teeth starting from an axially inwardly located base of the teeth in a direction toward a ridge of the teeth, the roof-like surfaces of each tooth tapering toward each other pointing away from the base of each tooth defining the ridge adjacent the face of the workpiece.