Arbor Press, how big a press is needed for...

For broaching a hydraulic press is really bad. No feel and is slow. Even for pressing pins and bearing a lot of times an arbor press can do it in a fraction of the time compared to setting up a hydraulic press. I have always had both available and the arbor press is an 8 ton Dake with quick adjust bed.

May I suggest

It is also in one of the HSM books, I don't remember is its ONE or TWO but I will look
Haven't a single broach to use, so not being able to broach with a hydraulic press isn't an issue. Just looking for a solution at an affordable cost now.
 
It is interesting to watch Fireball’s vid. I loved to read and look at the articles in the old Popular Mechanics and always wondered about the home made tools in there. The vid shows the press to be a mixed project.
 
If you do go hydraulic please don’t try and do broaching with it. Unless you don’t mind launching HSS missiles around your shop. Arbor press is bad enough but hydraulic has no feedback to know if the broach is cocked and you won’t know until it shatters if it’s stuck.
So much negativity about broaching with a hydraulic press. This is somewhat nonsense, in my opinion. I have a small 1T arbor press that is pathetically limited in height, and an HF 20T hydraulic press, which isn't, that I've used to broach maybe 50 keyways of various sizes and to press on/off gears and bearings on fairly long shafts. Of course, one could be a klutz and mess up broaching with either tool, but it's not much of a challenge to broach with the HF press, since you can control pressure very precisely with the handle, and for speed I've added an air/hydraulic cylinder.

Now if you had an arbor press like the one at H&W Machine Repair, yes, use that. Wish I did.
 
So much negativity about broaching with a hydraulic press. This is somewhat nonsense, in my opinion. I have a small 1T arbor press that is pathetically limited in height, and an HF 20T hydraulic press, which isn't, that I've used to broach maybe 50 keyways of various sizes and to press on/off gears and bearings on fairly long shafts. Of course, one could be a klutz and mess up broaching with either tool, but it's not much of a challenge to broach with the HF press, since you can control pressure very precisely with the handle, and for speed I've added an air/hydraulic cylinder.

Now if you had an arbor press like the one at H&W Machine Repair, yes, use that. Wish I did.
Its because many have been hurt broaching in a hydraulic press. In semi production its always an arbor press. In production they pull broaches with hydraulic rams instead of push. The shops I have worked in using a hydraulic press will get you fired after your first warning.
 
Its because many have been hurt broaching in a hydraulic press. In semi production its always an arbor press. In production they pull broaches with hydraulic rams instead of push. The shops I have worked in using a hydraulic press will get you fired after your first warning.
Again, I would have to agree. The use of a push style hydraulic press for broaching was strictly prohibited at the company I worked for. I think it was as much for the cost of replacing broaches as it was for the safety of the individual. In our case all the shops had compound leverage ratcheting Model #3 presses capable of 12 tons of force. These presses may be the norm for an industrial application, but likely out of budget range for the hobbyist. The press alone is a bit over $5,000.00 then there's the stand and all the other accessories.

I can see a hydraulic press being used by a skilled individual, but it wouldn't be my first choice. A quality arbor press can get the job done in 1/10th the time while giving feedback to the operator. On the other hand, I would certainly give it a try for a one off as opposed the spending several hundred or several thousand dollars on a machine that might never be used again.
 
Its because many have been hurt broaching in a hydraulic press. In semi production its always an arbor press. In production they pull broaches with hydraulic rams instead of push. The shops I have worked in using a hydraulic press will get you fired after your first warning.
We were making a bunch of belt conveyors and were making our own drums. The drum ends needed to be broached and I’d never done it before. The asst. manager set me up with the broach, oil and did the first one on the arbor press. The 20tn hydraulic press was back in the same area and I asked him why we didn’t use that? He said you could but don’t let anyone see you as they had a guy get hurt that way and if the manager saw you he’d fire you. Good enough for me.
 
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This concept also applies to machining, broaching, table saws, running with scissors, etc.
Yep, exactly, broaching with a hydraulic press is like flying with only one magneto working. You will get away with it for a while but one day it will bite you.

You will be the first one to the scene of the crash.
 
Yep, exactly, broaching with a hydraulic press is like flying with only one magneto working. You will get away with it for a while but one day it will bite you.

You will be the first one to the scene of the crash.
Or IFR when only rated for VFR.
 
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