What INVOLUTE GEAR & MACHINE COMPANY does

Involute Gear & Machine Company is a privately held, specialty gear-manufacturing equipment and services firm headquartered at 46449 Continental Drive in Chesterfield, Michigan (Metro Detroit). Founded in 2009, the company was built around the acquisition of the complete Red Ring gear hone tool product line — including all engineering drawings, formulas, resins, master gears, molds, and manufacturing equipment — from Nachi Machining Technology Company (formerly National Broach & Machine), which exited gear hone manufacturing that same year. Involute continues to manufacture Red Ring gear hones (available in pitches from 48 DP to 3 DP) and proprietary honing compounds (HC280 and HC500), with the same experienced Nachi-era technical team (over 75 years of combined gear hone experience) producing tooling that achieves surface finishes in the 4–6 microinch range and supports 5,000–8,000 pinions per tool in production.

The company operates two complementary business lines alongside its Red Ring manufacturing core. First, it is the authorized North American distributor (United States, Canada, Mexico) for Kashifuji — Japan's largest and oldest gear hobbing machine manufacturer (founded 1913), offering 12 CNC gear hobber models from 50mm to 1200mm, plus ancillary equipment such as chamfering/deburring, hob sharpening, and pinion skiving machines — and for Osaka Seimitsu Kikai (OSK), Japan's oldest gear measuring machine supplier, providing CNC gear inspection, hypoid gear measurement, pitch/runout measurement, and gear rolling testers. Second, the company runs contract gear services including precision CNC gear grinding (30–400mm OD, up to M12 module, up to 80kg), gear honing (up to 180-inch diameter), and gear inspection/metrology (up to 350mm OD, same-day turnaround), plus a resale channel for used gear equipment.

Involute sells to enterprise customers across aerospace (Pratt & Whitney), automotive (Honda, GM Daewoo, GKN, Musashi Auto Parts, Richmond Auto Part Technology), industrial machinery (Baldor Electric, Crown Equipment, Muncie Power Products, Team Industries, Whirlaway Corporation, Precision Gear), and appliances (Whirlpool), with all pricing conducted on a quote basis through direct sales (phone, fax, email) — no e-commerce or public pricing exists. The company is a member of the American Machine Tool Distributors Association and operates without disclosed institutional investors, funding rounds, or public financial reporting.

Name

INVOLUTE GEAR & MACHINE COMPANY

Legal name

Involute Gear & Machine Company

Website

https://involutegearmachine.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Involute Gear & Machine Company is a Chesterfield, Michigan-based specialty manufacturer of Red Ring gear honing tools and the authorized North American distributor for Kashifuji gear hobbing machines and Osaka Seimitsu Kikai gear inspection equipment, serving aerospace, automotive, and industrial manufacturers with contract gear grinding, honing, and inspection services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Precision Gear Manufacturing Equipment

NAICS

Metalworking Machinery Manufacturing (3335), Cutting Tool and Machine Tool Accessory Manufacturing (333515)

SIC

Machine Tools, Metal Cutting Types (3541), Metalworkg Machinery & Equipment (3540)

akta.pro primary industry

Grinding, Honing & Superfinishing Equipment (IMAHADAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

CNC Machine Tools (Turning, Milling, Machining Centers) (IMAHADAA)

Keywords

• Precision gear manufacturing
• Gear honing tools
• Gear hobbing machines
• Gear inspection equipment
• Gear grinding services

Headquarters

HQ city

Chesterfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Gear Equipment Sales: Sale of gear hones, gear honing tools, gear hobbing machines, gear inspection equipment, and gear roll testers. Products include Red Ring Gear Hones, Kashifuji CNC Gear Hobbers, and Osaka Seimitsu Kikai inspection equipment.
2. Gear Grinding Services: Contract precision grinding services for parallel axis gears including spur and helical gears, spline gears, and shave cutter resharpening. CNC gear grinder machinery for steel gears with CMM quality control.
3. Gear Honing Services: Contract gear honing services for hardened external and internal spur or helical gears up to 180-inch diameter. Improves sound quality, removes nicks/burrs, and can salvage oversized or damaged hardened gears.
4. Gear Inspection Services: Contract gear metrology services including parallel access inspection, reverse engineering data, visual inspection, analytical evaluation, and chart traces. Same-day turnaround possible.
5. Used Equipment Sales: Sale of used gear hobbers and used gear measuring equipment.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Involute Gear & Machine Company manufactures Red Ring precision gear honing tools and honing compounds in Chesterfield, Michigan, serving as the manufacturing successor to the Nachi Machining Technology / National Broach & Machine Red Ring product line. The company also acts as the authorized North American distributor for Kashifuji CNC gear hobbing machines and Osaka Seimitsu Kikai gear inspection/measuring equipment, and provides contract gear grinding, gear honing, and gear inspection/metrology services for industrial customers.

Product overview

Involute Gear & Machine Company is a specialized distributor and service provider for precision gear manufacturing equipment. The company acquired the Red Ring gear hone tool product line from Nachi Machining Technology in 2009, now manufacturing Red Ring Gear Hones, Gear Honing Tools, and Honing Compounds as its core products. As an authorized distributor, the company represents Kashifuji (Japan's largest gear hobbing machine manufacturer with 12 CNC models from 50mm to 1200mm) and Osaka Seimitsu Kikai (Japan's oldest gear measuring machine supplier). The product portfolio includes gear hobbing machines, CNC gear inspection machines, gear roll testers, chamfering/deburring machines, hob sharpening machines, and pinion skiving machines. Complementing the equipment sales, the company offers contract services including gear grinding, gear honing, and gear inspection/metrology services. The products serve aerospace, automotive, construction, marine, and industrial machinery industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Red Ring Gear Hones Precision gear honing tools available in pitches from 48 DP to 3 DP with mild to aggressive honing materials; includes Class A GH (Non-Ground Tooth Forms), AA GAA (Ground Tooth Forms), and DURA-HONES variants for industrial gear manufacturers requiring hard-gear finishing.
• Gear Honing Tools & Compounds (HC280 / HC500) Abrasive-impregnated honing tools in helical gear form with various grit sizes, paired with proprietary Red Ring honing compounds HC280 and HC500 to produce surface finishes down to the 4-6 microinch range on hardened gears.
• Kashifuji CNC Gear Hobbing Machines Distributed line of CNC gear hobbing machines (12 models, 50mm to 1200mm capacity) including hard hobbing variants with carbide hobs for finishing hardened gears without grinding, offered to industrial gear manufacturers in North America.
• Osaka Seimitsu Kikai CNC Gear Inspection Machines Distributed line of CNC full automatic gear measuring machines (CLP-15S, CLP-35, CLP-65, HyB-35, HyB-65) for measurement of tooth profile, lead, pitch, and runout up to 1200mm O.D., including hypoid gear inspection capability.
• Osaka Seimitsu Kikai Gear Roll Testers Distributed line of double-flank gear rolling testers (GTR-4LS, GTR-30, GTR-40, GTR-PC) measuring total composite error, tooth-to-tooth error deviation, with automatic selecting counters and master gears.
• Kashifuji KD1 Gear Chamfering/Deburring Machine Distributed high-speed gear chamfering/deburring machine processing up to 300 teeth per minute at 60Hz, handling spur gears, helical gears, multi-step gears, splines, and sprockets via reciprocating cutter mechanism.
• Kashifuji KG253 CNC Hob Sharpening Machine Distributed 4 or 6-axis CNC hob sharpening machine for precision resharpening of gear hobs, supporting maintenance of Kashifuji and competitor hob tooling inventories.
• Kashifuji KPS20 Pinion Skiving Machine Distributed CNC pinion skiving machine specifically designed for internal gears, equipped with rotary chamfering device for hard-finishing of internal gear teeth.
• Gear Grinding Services Contract precision grinding services for parallel axis gears (spur and helical) and splines, plus shave cutter resharpening, using CNC gear grinder machinery supporting OD sizes 30-400mm, module up to M12, helix angles to 45 degrees, and weights up to 80kg, with CMM quality control.
• Gear Honing Services Contract hard-gear finishing services for hardened external and internal spur or helical gears up to 180-inch diameter, improving sound quality and load-carrying capacity, removing nicks and burrs, salvaging oversized or damaged hardened gears, and achieving surface finishes down to 4-6 microinch.
• Gear Inspection / Metrology Services Contract gear metrology services including parallel access inspection, reverse engineering data and diagnosis, visual inspection, analytical evaluation, and chart traces, with same-day turnaround capability up to 350mm O.D.
• New and Used Gear Equipment Resale of pre-owned gear hobbing machines and gear inspection/measuring equipment, providing a lower-cost entry point for buyers of capital gear manufacturing equipment.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 80% surface contact achievable with mating gear after honing
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Nachi Machining Technology CompanycoreTechnology or Integration · 1 December 2009In December 2009, Involute Gear & Machine acquired all equipment, machines, supplies, materials, gages, and engineering drawings for manufacturing all types of Red Ring Hone Tools and Honing Compounds. Previously known as National Broach & Machine, Nachi Machining Technology ceased manufacturing gear hone tools in late 2009.
• KashifujicoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor of Kashifuji gear hobbing machines in North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico). Kashifuji is Japan's largest and oldest manufacturer of Gear Hobbing Machines since 1913, offering 12 models of CNC Gear Hobbers from 50mm to 1200mm. Involute provides complete sales, service, and support for Kashifuji products including CNC hobbing machines, gear deburring/chamfering machines, and CNC hob sharpening machines.
• Osaka Seimitsu Kikai (OSK)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor of Osaka Seimitsu Kikai gear measuring equipment in North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico). OSK is Japan's oldest supplier of Gear Measuring Machines, pioneering in CNC control gear surface measuring equipment. Products include CNC Gear Measuring Machines, Hypoid Gear Measuring Machines, Pitch and Runout Measuring Machines, Automatic Profile Measuring Machines, Gear Rolling Testers, and Automatic Gear Selecting Equipment.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Sandvik Coromant: Global leader in metal cutting tools and tooling solutions serving automotive, aerospace, and industrial manufacturers. Adjacent to Involute's gear hone tooling business and shares many of the same end customers.
• Liebherr (Gear Cutting Machines division): Major OEM of gear hobbing and gear shaping machines as part of a diversified industrial conglomerate. Overlaps with Involute's Kashifuji-distributed gear hobbing equipment in target applications and customer types.
• FFG (Fair Friend Group): Asian industrial machinery group whose portfolio includes gear cutting and metalworking machine brands. Comparable to Involute in gear manufacturing equipment supply, though operating at much larger scale across multiple machine tool categories.
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Gear Machinery): Manufactures gear cutting machines, hobbing machines, and precision industrial equipment globally. Comparable to Involute in CNC gear hobbing equipment supply with much larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• EMAG Holding: Broader industrial machine tool manufacturer with gear cutting/hobbing systems as part of a wider portfolio including turning, grinding, and welding. Comparable to Involute in the gear hobbing equipment space but with much broader industrial machinery offerings.

Direct peers

• Klingelnberg Group: German manufacturer of gear cutting, gear grinding, and gear measuring machines, with strong presence in bevel and cylindrical gears. Directly comparable to Involute across both equipment sales and metrology services for high-precision gear applications.
• Gleason Corporation: Global leader in gear manufacturing technology, producing gear hobbing, hobbing machines, gear grinding, and gear inspection equipment. Directly comparable to Involute as both sell precision gear manufacturing equipment and metrology systems to aerospace, automotive, and industrial customers worldwide.
• Kapp Technologies: Specializes in hard gear finishing, gear grinding, and gear honing machines — the closest direct competitor to Involute's Red Ring honing technology. Serves the same automotive, aerospace, and industrial customer base with parallel product offerings.
• Niles-Simmons (SMS group): Manufacturer of gear cutting machines, gear grinding machines, and turnkey gear production systems. Direct peer to Involute in precision gear manufacturing equipment for automotive, aerospace, and industrial drivetrain applications.
• Samputensili (Stellram Group / Seco Tools): Italian manufacturer of gear hobs, gear cutting tools, and gear manufacturing equipment. Direct peer in the gear cutting tool and accessory market that overlaps with Involute's Red Ring hone tool product family.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about INVOLUTE GEAR & MACHINE COMPANY