# manual broaching



## sorrelcreek (Dec 7, 2015)

I had to broach a metric key way today so instead of buying a broach and machining the broach guide I made this tool a long time ago and just grind high speed steel to the size I need and manual broach with the milling machine.


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## EricB (Dec 8, 2015)

Cool. Do you have a slotting-head for the mill, or what drives the broach? Just lock the spindle and use the quill feed?


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## sorrelcreek (Dec 8, 2015)

Nope good old fashion manual elbow grease. Just use the quill handle and only feed in a few thousands of an inch at a time and work your way to your deapth.


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## Alexander (Dec 8, 2015)

Yeah that works great. I did that on my lathe one time and it worked brilliant. Precision wasn't too important in my case I simply used a little hss blank to cut the internal key.


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## sorrelcreek (Dec 8, 2015)

Yes absolutely it works great that way on the lathe also just as long as it's in your lowest gear so the chuck doesn't move on you. Before I got my mill I've had to get quite creative with my lathe sometimes it's interesting trying to figure out how to do a job when you don't have all the easy tools in front of you.  That's what I like the most about machining is figuring out how to set up the part using some sort of jig or the machine to get the job done.


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## Janger (Dec 8, 2015)

How is the hss cutter held in place in the hole? Is it triangular and just wedged in? Does the other side look different? Screws? Is that a screw in the bottom ?


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## sorrelcreek (Dec 9, 2015)

It's just held in with a set screw made the hole so a 1/4 hss will be a nice fit inside.  I've got a couple of these bars with different size holes for different hss.  The bar is only 4 inches long and the part is only about 2 inches long.  It's also just held in my nmtb 40 holder with a collet.  You could use a hss boring bar that you can buy for the lathe with a square hoke but as long as your not taken big cuts I've never had a problem with this setup, it's only took me a half hour to machine the bar and grind the hss to size and very little money for a one off part, wasn't worth the money or waiting time for a broach. Hope this answers your questions


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