HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

So, we just received the HEX broach from andymark, and it doesn't fit into our manual 2 ton press.
The Broach is too long, and therefore we cant really use it.

Are there any solutions anyone has for this kind of a problem?
Will cutting the Broach somewhere in the middle, and therefore doing 2 presses every time we make a part work?

thanks!

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

DON'T CUT THE BROACH!!!!!!

Get a larger hydraulic press, trust me. Harbor Freight sells them or Amazon or wherever. It's worth the investment if you plan on broaching hex.

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

The other day I learned that the Harbor Freight 12- and 20-ton hydraulic shop presses have a fairly active mod community. Swag Off Road has some cool upgrade kits that you can buy (1, 2).

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

This.

Cutting a broach is a good way to throw away $200.

If the broach is only a little larger than the press, you might find that if you slot the broach into the hole of the part you want to broach before you put both into the press, the first few teeth in the broach will actually "skip" and the whole thing won't require as much clearance. Not guaranteed to work (also depends on material and hole tolerance) but something worth trying at least.

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

A larger press is the ideal approach. You're not going to find a shorter broach.

We ran into the same problem this year. Our temporary fix was to create a secondary press platform below the one on the press (we have one like this that lets us pass longer material through the bottom of the press.). We'd put the material on the secondary platofrm, press as far as we could go, then the broach would be far enough into the press that we could use the original platform to finish the job.

I hope I described that correctly. Just remember that if you do this, it's important to make sure your secondary platform is parallel to the original platform so you don't broach crooked.

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

That looks pretty much exactly like the one we have.
Could you possible post a picture of the setup you guys made?
We tried it yesterday and realized that the lower platform has to be attached to the press and not to the table where it all sits, otherwise the press just lifts up when broaching.

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

I keep our broach at work where I have a big enough arbor press. Broaches are very brittle. They need a straight push. The right size press is really the best.

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

It would help if you could provide more details such as the dimensions of the press and broach. if the dimensions are close, and if you have a lathe with a 4 jaw chuck, you can bore a hole into the ram of your arbor press to fit the back of your broach. I also suggest squaring the bottom of the hole with a modified drill bit or end mill. This and the amount of broach that starts in the part you are going to broach can give you an extra couple of inches.

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

We have the same issue with the arbor press in our shop. Our solution was to start the broach using our lathe, which allows us to carefully align the broach to the hole and get the broach deep enough to now fit into our press. We try not to put too much load on the tool when it is in the lathe since we don't want to overload the lathe axially (which would damage the bearing in the lathe).

Ken

EDIT: The amount of load we put on the part+tool when they are in the lathe is very small - just enough to start 2-3 teeth of the broach - which is enough for it to then fit in our press.

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

There is about a 6'' difference between the gap in the press and the length of the Broach, so it isn't really close to fitting ATM.

We will try both the Lathe broaching and the lower platform approach and post results here.

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

I'm in NJ for work and the press is in NH with the team. I'll see if I can get a team member to post a picture. We have a custom steel stand that our press is bolted to, making things a little easier to attach.

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

I admit that I have done this, but on a big lathe. Some of Devin's (another mentor) projects have required far more force but I still can't recommend doing this.

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

However the method of driving the Hex Broach, be careful with your fingers. As the broach passes through the part being broached, the tooth next to enter will take skin with it.

Have you been caught broaching in the classroom yet?;)

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

However the method of driving the Hex Broach, be careful with your fingers. As the broach passes through the part being broached, the tooth next to enter will take skin with it.

Have you been caught broaching in the classroom yet?;)

Re: HEX broach too big for our manual press
 

Check out this thread for some ratcheting presses that are large enough for a 1/2 hex broach. I have a post on there on how we got the very sloppy Harbor Freight 12 ton shop press to work well with some simple mods. We really do need to find time to make a video of it in action.

-matto-