Team 343 is extremely fortunate to be situated in the Hamilton Career Center, where they teach machining, carpentry, auto body, welding, robotics, graphics design, autocad and drafting, video production and editing, and even culinary arts. We have EVERYTHING in house to design, build, machine, weld, paint, and feed the team...

It really depends on the size but most standard key widths you can just order key stock for and sand or grind them to fit if they come a little over size. You should be able to find them from any manufacture.

http://www.mscdirect.com/IWCatSectio...e startFlow=t

that shoud take you to the key stock page from the MSC big book.

If you have a basic broach set you will need an arbor press. All you do is drill your hole for the shaft. Then you place the colar in the hole and the broach in the slot in the colar. You then put it in an arbor press and slowly push it thru. Use lots of oil. Then after the first pass you should have a shim. Place the shim in the slot and broach thru again. I hope that helps. If not let me know and maybe I can find a resource for you.

Aha, I understand how the broach set works now. We need one pronto.

What about keyways in the shaft. Does that require milling? Is there a work-around?

A milling machine would be the easiest way to cut it. Broaching can be dangerous in some ways, but for quickness and for a lot less money, a milling machine will do the same thing. Just make sure where ever you cut the key way is well supported in a vise.

I didn't know how important such equipment would be... :D oh well.. we do have a lathe and mill in my basement.

O yes, with a miller and a lathe, the possibilities are endless.

There are other ways beside a key. It all depends on what you are driving. The easiest way is to use a set screw (I know other teams don't like this) but you can keep them from backing out one of two ways. First the have Nylock set screws that have a nylon insert in the treads. Second they make a thinner set screw call a die set screw. It is used to jam against the first one. They use this in stamping dies to keep the set screws from backing out and at 400 strokes a min they hold just fine. Make sure you put a flat on the shaft or you could have a heck of time getting the part off the shaft.

Another way is something called a taper pin. You have to buy a special reamer to do this but they work well. It's basically a pin that has a taper and you ream a hole to fit. You hammer the taper pin in and it holds really well. If you have ever had to take one out you'll know how well they work. If you have used a lathe the tall stocks use a taper to hold the drill chucks or centers in them.

you can make a clamping collar. You could put a flat on the shaft and make a two half collar that would clamp over it.


Those are some ideas I have done in the past and all do work. I have use them on machines I have built and rebuilt. Some of the Machines have been using those designs for 20 years.

As for putting a keyway in a shaft. The only safe and good way is with a mill. Just make sure you are on center or it won't go together with the part you broached.

I hope this helped. If you have any question or need anything cleared up please just ask.