BROACHING

MACHINE

What is a Broach?
A broach is a series of progressively taller
chisel points mounted on a single piece of
steel, typically used to enlarge a circular
hole into a larger noncircular shape such
as a square or other desired shape.

A push style 5/16" keyway broach

Broaching Tool

Broach elements

Pull end: This is designed to permit engagement of the broach with the
broaching machine through the use of a puller head.

Front pilot: This centers the broach in the hole before the teeth begin to
cut.

Roughing and semi finish teeth: They remove most of the stock in the
hole.

Finishing teeth: They are for sizing the hole and must have the shape
required of the finished hole

Rear pilot and follower rest: They support the broach after the last tooth
leaves the hole.

Land: The top portion of a tooth is called the land and in most
cases ground to give a slight clearance.

Back off or clearance angle: This corresponds to the relief

angle of a single point tool. This is 1.5 to 2 for both cast iron and
steel.

Rake or hook angle or face angle: This corresponds to the rake

angle on a lathe tool. The rake angle varies according to the material
being cut, and in general, increases as the ductility increases.

Pitch: The linear distance from the cutting edge of one tooth to
the corresponding edge on the next tooth is called pitch.

Types of broaches

Type of operation: internal or external

Method of operation: push or pull

Type of construction: solid, built-up, inserted tooth, progressive cut, rotor

cut, double jump, or overlapping tooth
Function: surface, keyway, round hole, spline, spiral, burnishing etc.

CLASSIFICATION
Vertical Broach Machines

Horizontal Broach Machines

Vertical
Broach
Machines

About 60% of the total number of broaching

machines in existence are verticals. Vertical
broaching machines, used in every major area of
metal working, are almost all hydraulically driven.

Horizontal
Broaching
Machine

This type accounts for only about 10% of existing broaching

machines, but this isn't indicative of the percentage of the total
investment they represent or of the volume of work they
produce. Horizontal surface broaching machines belong in a
class by themselves in terms of size and productivity.
Horizontal surface units are manufactured in both hydraulically
and electro-mechanically driven models, with the latter now
becoming dominant.
Electro-mechanically driven horizontal surface machines are taking over at an
ever-increasing rate for certain applications, despite their generally higher cost.
Because of their smooth ram motion and the resultant improvements in surface
finish and part tolerances, these machines have become the largest class of
horizontal surface broaching units built.

BROACHING METHODS
Broaching, according to the method of operation, may be
classified as:

PULL BROACHING:
The work is held stationary and the broach
is pulled through the work. Pull broaching is mainly used
for internal broaching but it can do some surface
broaching.

PUSH BROACHING:
The work is held stationary and the broach is
pushed through the work. This method is mostly used for
sizing holes and cutting keyways.

SURFACE BROACHING:
Either the work or the broaching tool moves across the
other. Many irregular or intricate shapes can be broached by surface
broaching, but the tools must be specially designed for each job.

CONTINUOUS BROACHING:
The work is moved continuously and the broach is held
stationary. The path of movement may be either straight horizontal or
circular. This method is very suitable for broaching a number of similar
work at a time.

Push broaching v/s Pull

broaching
Push

Pull

Work is held stationary and the broach

is pushed through the work.
Broach has a tendency to bend under
compressive load.
Broach is shorter and stocky.
Fewer teeth, hence less material is
removal

Work is held stationary but the broach is

pulled through the work.
Broach is entirely under tension.

Hand and hydraulic arbor presses are

popular for this method.

Broaches are usually long and are held

in a special head.

It is used mostly for sizing holes and

cutting keyways.

Broach usually long and slender.

Large number of teeth, hence more
stock can be removed.

It is used mostly for internal broaching

but it can do some surface broaching.

Operational Details

Applications
Typical use of a broach is to cut splines or a square keyway
on objects such as gears, driveshafts, pulleys etc. The
amount of material removed by each broach tooth varies with
the material being cut. A broach tooth designed to cut steel
might remove only 0.05 mm (0.0025 inch), while a broach
tooth designed to cut brass might remove as much as 0.10
mm (0.004 inch). The succession of teeth (chisels) removes
the total amount of material required. A broach may also be
designed to be pushed or pulled through an existing hole;
broaching machines are therefore designed accordingly.

Here are jobs that can be done faster with

broaching

Machine flat and slots with unbelievable speed

Accurately create profiles that allow mating

parts to fit together with great precision.

Create parallel surfaces with incredible ease.

A broach can knock out rectangular holes with no

problem.

Broaching can create tools accurate enough to be used for gauging other machining operations.

Grooves and splines are easily created

with broaching.

Multiple identical features can be broached in a single pass.

Flats can be machined along both the axial and radial axes of a shaft.

Advantages

Rate of production is very high.

Little skill is required to perform broaching operation.

High accuracy and high class of surface finish is possible. Tolerance

of +-.0075mm and a surface finish of about .8 micron can be easily
obtained in broaching .

Both roughing and finishing cuts are completed in one pass of the tool.

The process can be used for either internal or external surface

finishing.

Any form that can be reproduced on a broaching can be machined.

Limitations
The limitations of broaching stem from the fundamental characteristics inherent
in the process.

Broaching bars are very expensive tools.

Any revision in the design of a gear, such as a change in the number of

teeth or the pitch diameter, would require a new broaching bar.

Wear or abuse, often as simple as broken teeth, eventually necessitates

replacement of the entire broaching bar.

Very large workpieces cannot be broached.

The surfaces to be broached cannot have an obstruction.

Broaching cannot be used for the removal of a large amount of stock.

Parts to be broached must be capable of being rigidly supported and must

be able to withstand the forces that set up during cutting.