I was recently in a machine shop/ plant, where I saw a, new to me, machine. It was a horizontal broaching machine. Looked relatively old. But what was striking, to me (who has only used broaches that are less than a foot long) this machine used broaches that were about 30" long. The obvious advantage being a complete keyway in one stroke. As it was set up, a 5/16 keyway, in steel. The broach was only guided by the bushing at the workpiece! The chips were pretty thick, meaning a lot of pressure. It was pushing, not pulling the broach! I would have never thought that could work, long skinny broach!
This was in a shop where there were a lot of manual lathes and mills along with about a dozen Mori Seiki CNC machines & a big, pallet change CNC.
And one more interesting machine: Pre WW1?? fully automatic, feeding from a coil of 1/4" plastic rod. Drilling a 1/16" hole about 3/4" deep and then cutting off at about 1". I love going through manufacturing plants!
This was in a shop where there were a lot of manual lathes and mills along with about a dozen Mori Seiki CNC machines & a big, pallet change CNC.
And one more interesting machine: Pre WW1?? fully automatic, feeding from a coil of 1/4" plastic rod. Drilling a 1/16" hole about 3/4" deep and then cutting off at about 1". I love going through manufacturing plants!
