cutting broaches

[sparkey0151]

Hi all, just wondered what would be the best size broaches to have , im just tying to get a good basic tool set together, i have about 10 clocks now which i bought at auction, all with various things wrong so as soon as my workshop is together ill be getting my hands dirty and having a go at repairing them, well try to repair them LOL, i probable be posting a lot and asking a lot of questions , so im asking in advance for everyone’s patience and of course thanks in advance for all your help and kindness

regards john

[arutha]

Hi John.
It sort of depends on what size clocks you will be working on as a carriage clock will need much smalller bushes than a grandfather clock. If you have mainly wall and mantel clocks the main outer diameters of the bushes are from 2mm to 4.5mm. The inner diameters from .45mm up to around 2mm. so from .45mm up to 4.5mm. there will still be instances when you need something bigger for bushing barrel arbor pivots on the plates for example but when they get that big I prefer a tapered reamer.
Regards,
Paul.

[bernie weishapl]

I own 4 sets of broaches. Two of them are different sizes of cutting broaches and two of the are smoothing broaches. These will give you some idea. You can find them at Timesavers, Ronell Clock Co., Otto Frei, etc.

http://timesavers.com/i-8944713-10-piece-cutting-broach-set-for-alarm-clocks-027-141.html

http://timesavers.com/i-8944714-10-piece-cutting-broach-set-for-large-clocks-035-157.html

http://timesavers.com/i-9530630-large-6-piece-smoothing-broach-set-094-244.html

These will get you started and then you can add bigger sizes as you see fit. I do some bushing with broaches by hand but most of mine is done with a bushing machine. Until you get a few years under your belt a bushing machine is your best bet. Some will argue this but to me accuracy is paramount in bushing. When broaching to bush it must be perfectly straight up and down. One word of caution when using smoothing broaches to smooth holes is to make sure the clock plates have been cleaned and the holes pegged before using or you will just grind the dirt and debris into the holes which will cause wear on the arbor. Just some thoughts.

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