Abstract: A method for producing steel alloy gears comprises the steps of providing a gear with a shape in which its tooth surfaces have excess material requiring subsequent removal; grinding the gear's tooth root and flank surfaces to a final finish shape; and subsequently performing a final heat treat to the ground gear to provide a hardened surface layer extending at least to a minimum depth required by the function of the gear. The grinding is advantageously accomplished by cubic boron nitride grinding. The final heat treat is controlled so that the hardened surface layer extends to a depth not substantially greater than the minimum depth required by the function of the gear. The final heat treat also relieves stresses caused by the preceding steps and also imposes beneficial stresses.