Presses and techniques for 1/2" HEX broaches

[asid61]

Originally Posted by thinker&planner

I actually brought home a 3.5" dia 14" stroke pneumatic piston form my summer job, with the intention of converting our press for broaching, but nobody took me seriously, so nothing got done. And now nothing will before build season.. :/

And we actually made a little piece to go on the end of the hydraulic ram, but it is not long enough to hold the broach straight, just in the center of the ram.

I calculated that that cylinder only puts out about 1000lbs of force on 100psi. Were you planning on adding a lever arm or something, or is that enough to force a broach though?

I feel like I'm missing something. What's wring with just using the 1/2" shank on the bottom of the broach to keep it straight? Is that not good enough?