I am not sure where you got 68 HRC, but that is not correct. 17-4 is a precipitation hardenable stainless steel, meaning that the material is first solution annealed, and subsequently artificially aged to increase the strength/hardness. In the annealed condition, the hardness will be ~ 36 HRC. In the peak aged conditio (H900) the hardness will be ~ 44 HRC.
A typical fabrication route would be to obtain bar/wire in the solution annealed condition. Forming or machining would take place, and then the precipitation hardening treatment. This allows for easy forming and machining, and since the aging treatment takes place at a relatively low temperature, this is little distortion. Since you are making a gear, you will likely perform a final grinding operation after aging, but the hardness will be much lower than a hardenend or carburized alloy steel gear would be. If the gear is to be completely machined, then I highly recommend you investigate the Project 70+® Custom 630 Stainless with Carpenter, as this will be a big improvement in machinability.