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Tips/Techniques Making the Square Drive hole in a custom socket.

Tips/Techniques
Years ago I had a toolbox stolen from my truck after that any tools that lived in the truck lived in a plastic lunchbox sitting on the transmission hump… they will steal your tools but not your lunchbox.
 
Tom O said:
Years ago I had a toolbox stolen from my truck after that any tools that lived in the truck lived in a plastic lunchbox sitting on the transmission hump… they will steal your tools but not your lunchbox.
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Back in one of the trash stikes in NYC (80’s? 90’s?), those who owned cars and parked on the street were putting their garbage in a box, gift wrapping it and leaving it on the seat with the door unlocked hoping someone would steal it.
 
ChazzC said:
Back in one of the trash stikes in NYC (80’s? 90’s?), those who owned cars and parked on the street were putting their garbage in a box, gift wrapping it and leaving it on the seat with the door unlocked hoping someone would steal it.
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When I lived in Montreal, they were threatening people who put garbage on the curb in Grocery bags, with fines. Said they would search through the contents to link it to the 'offender'. A wag in one of the papers suggested that it only took a wee bit of computer literacy, to print addresses of various city council members on envelopes, thus directing the fines at those esteemed personages! LOL!

On the package theft side, there is a whole genre of videos out there, showing the results of 'trap' parcels, as used against the 'porch pirates'.
 
ChazzC said:
Smaller than the corners, but not smaller than the flats; for a 1/2" making the hole one drill size, 33/64", 17/32" or 35/64" (even 9/16" would work, it's not an everyday tool) to lower the cutting forces:

View attachment 62286
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Yeah. Correct! Drilled hole to clear (barely) the pilot of the broach.

But, I don't think I was so far off as to be giving bad info. :) No foul, no pack drill! :P

It does take some pressure to push a broach through. Done a fair few 1/2 inch holes with a 3 ton arbor press. Usually that involved a couple resets to account for the travel of the broach.
Might be a stretch to get a 3/4 inch broach pushed through on a 3 ton Arbor Press. Never tried that.

On the cheap side, it occurs, that if you drilled a hole, milled out as much as was practical with milling cutters, you could make a broach guide to be able to use a keyway broach to clear out the corners and square those up.
Use a ball end mill, after the hole was squared up, to put a groove inside the hole for retention on the socket driver.
 
I hate to do this to you, especially since I have only skimmed through it, but I did catch where he makes the square cutter, and also the part where he used the quill of his mill like a slotter, using the tool he previously ground.
IMG_0485 (1).gif
 
For those interested: using a square broach requires a hole that matches the first guide section of the broach. You don't have the option to use another size. Someone with an undersized press can do some milling with a small diameter cutter to ease the pressure, but it is considered easier to use a bigger press!!
 
Dabbler said:
For those interested: using a square broach requires a hole that matches the first guide section of the broach. You don't have the option to use another size. Someone with an undersized press can do some milling with a small diameter cutter to ease the pressure, but it is considered easier to use a bigger press!!
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That makes sense; I guess my suggestion is more suited to "nibbling away" at the 4 sides using a single edged tool.
 
KenjiMcfee said:
If that's everyone is learning, then teach me too.
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Those welders are a selfish bunch. They don't want to teach anybody anything until we already know. Then they just want to argue. They use all kinds of jargon to confuse us too.

I think brail means to close your eyes and poke the weld rod/wire at some metal till it sticks, then turn the machine off, wait till everything stops glowing, cut the rod/wire, rinse repeat. It's a very slow process. But stuff eventually sticks together if you never look at it. Here is some of my finest braille:

Screenshot_20250416_133546_Chrome.jpg
 
Susquatch said:
Those welders are a selfish bunch. They don't want to teach anybody anything until we already know. Then they just want to argue. They use all kinds of jargon to confuse us too.

I think brail means to close your eyes and poke the weld rod/wire at some metal till it sticks, then turn the machine off, wait till everything stops glowing, cut the rod/wire, rinse repeat. It's a very slow process. But stuff eventually sticks together if you never look at it. Here is some of my finest braille:

View attachment 63280
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I was blessed with several really experienced welders (one was 25 years in the game and had time in both shipyards, and underwater), and they were all REALLY keen on passing on their knowledge to anyone that was interested enough to listen.

I have not met a welder yet, that was not keen to see success from anyone that was even remotely interested in doing a decent job of it!
 
If you are really ambitious, try investment casting.

We used to cast Woodruff ‘Shaft Keys’ and ‘pump impellers’ for high speed centrifugal pumps.
Slip-Fit Dimensions and weird shapes were made of high alloy and even titanium.

The WAX PATTERNS is where the expense lies.
Plus the oven for heating and evacuations of wax.

Google it for details.
 
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