Rotary broaching a 3/8″ Hex in 416SS using a Haas TL-25 lathe and Polygon Solutions GT Rotary Broaching Tool Holder. Read More »

A 3/8″ hex pocket being broached in 6061-T6 on a 1992 Hardinge Conquest 42. Read More »

Polygon Solutions Inc. continues to expand the variety of rotary broaches it is manufacturing. This gear shaped rotary broach can be used to make holes with the matching form using a lathe or mill. Common methods of hole preparation include using an oversize pilot hole to create individual chips at each tooth, or using small end mills to remove as much material as possible before finishing the hole with the broach and broach brake. Custom rotary broaches fit into Polygon Solution’s standard adjustment free rotary broach holder, or can be made to fit adjustable broach holders. Standard rotary broach dimensions are .500″ shank diameter x 1.75″ length. Swiss broaches have an 8mm diameter shank and 1.25″ overall length. Broach materials include hardened M-2, M-42, PM M-4 or PM T-15. Coatings are also available. Gear shaped rotary broaches are another example of Polygon Solution’s innovative machine tooling. Even when rotary broaching may not seem practical, Polygon has been able to help customers interested in rotary broaching these forms to create custom tooling using multiple roughing and finishing broaches. This method of using multiple broaches mimics the multiple teeth of convention broaches, but can eliminate secondary operations. For more information, please contact sales@polygonsolutions.com, or (239) 628-4800.   Read More »

Polygon Solution’s innovative rotary broach form drill brings lean manufacturing to hexagon and square hole manufacturing. Fort Myers, FL – Polygon Solution’s Rotary Broach Form Drill is a new tool used to improve manufacturing processes used in rotary broaching. Rotary broaching is a machining technique used to create hexagon and square holes in metals and plastic parts such as custom aerospace fasteners, orthopedic bone screws and hydraulic fittings. The new form drill is used to drill the pilot hole needed before the rotary broach can shape the hole. The form drill is appears to look like a common drill, however three innovative features make it much more valuable. The first feature and most important dimension is the pilot hole diameter. Optimal pilot hole dimensions for rotary broaching are about three percent larger than the flat-to-flat dimensions of the hexagon. (see figure 1) The oversize pilot hole makes individual chips curl into the hole, and reduces the amount of material to be removed when broaching. (see figure 2) The smaller amount of material to be removed also reduces the amount of force required by the machine to push the broach into the hole. The second feature of the form drill is ... Read More »

Rotary broaching is ideal for making small polygon shaped forms in soft metals. Soft metals include brass, aluminum and mild steel. Polygon Solution’s standard catalog includes hex broaches 3/8″ and smaller, and square broaches 8mm and smaller. But what if you need to broach a form larger than these sizes, such as the 3/4″ square shown here? The Solution: Polygon Solutions manufactures rotary broaching tools larger than those found in the standard catalog, however broaching those sizes can be challening and may not be possible.For the best chance at success, consider these tips:1. The chamfer for the hole must be larger than the sharp corners or major diameter.2. The pilot hole should be larger than the flat-to-flat dimension or minor diameter.3. There must be plenty of room in the hole for chips to accumulate.4. The machine must have enough power to feed the tool into the hole. In this example, the 1/2″ shank broach shown here is a 3/4″ square and is fastened in Polygon Solutions GT Series premium rotary broach tool holder. The pilot hole is .835″ diameter. This is about 10% oversize which is ideal when rotary broaching squares. The broach and holder were put into a vertical machining center. Simple ... Read More »

We get a lot of questions about rotary broaching in stainless steel. This video shows broaching of a custom shoulder bolt with a 3/8″ Hex in 416SS. The machine is a Haas TL-25 lathe and uses Polygon Solution’s GT Rotary Broach Tool Holder. Rotary broaching any type of stainless steel can be very challenging, but we have many customers who do it and will do our best to try and help you succeed. Read More »

Polygon Solutions Inc. is interested in helping you with all of your rotary broaching needs. The two main components of the rotary broaching process include rotary broaching tool holders and rotary broaches (also known as wobble broaches). If you are trying to identify the manufacturer or supplier of your rotary broaching tool holder or component, please see the list below: Suppliers: Alcoa Bluechip Circle Tool Dayton Hassay Savage Index Janco Jiang Yin Tool Lakeshore Carbide Little Machine Shop Miller Morgood Tools Poliangolar Polygon Solutions Inc. Redline Schlittler Tool Somma Tool Tangi Flow Technicut Universal *please let us know if there are any names we are missing Read More »