About Marlco Broaches
Founded by the Marley family in 1935, Marlco Broaches has a rich history rooted in innovation and tradition. The company was established by Mr. Marley, who brought valuable experience from his previous work with another broach manufacturer.
Originally based in Hagden Lane, Watford, the Marlco factory and stores were situated on a site that was owned freehold by the Marley family. The company’s sales office operated from a house in New Southgate, London, with the office located on the ground floor.
Marlco quickly became known for its brand name and has maintained its reputation as a respected name in the industry to this day. The company revolutionised the broaching market by introducing a standard range of broaches, including keyway, square, hexagon, round, Izod, and Charpy broaches. This approach to offering standard broaches off the shelf was groundbreaking at the time.
In addition to their standard broaches, Marlco developed a diverse product range of production equipment. The company also offered specialised broach and fixturing design services to meet custom needs and further advanced the industry by developing their own broaching machines.
Marlco Broaches continues to be a prominent and well-regarded name, building on its legacy of innovation and excellence in broaching technology.
Innovation in Production
The development of standard broaches, including keyway, square, hexagon, round, Izod & Charpy types, was a groundbreaking advancement at the time, providing off-the-shelf solutions. Alongside this, a range of production equipment products was introduced, and a design service for special broaches and related fixturing was offered. Additionally, broaching machines were developed to support these innovations.
Marlco’s Legacy and Continued Impact
Marlco became well-known for designing and manufacturing special broaches, particularly small, slender types. They established a profitable subcontract broaching department and offered a range of production equipment, including collet chucks and indexing heads, which, though somewhat dated, are still used in many workshops today.
WDS continues to use Marlco indexers and collet chucks. Marlco also developed manual and hydraulic broaching machines, with their two-speed presses now offered by WDS for broaching applications. A range of manual and hydraulic broaching machines were also developed and sold. The two speed presses WDS offers today were designed for broaching.
Marlco Broaches is a highly respected brand exclusive to WDS Components. It has a pedigree of over 80 years, boasting a diverse customer base with applications across many sectors. We provide a number of individual Broaches and Broaching Kits as well as Heavy Duty Broaching Presses.
Broaches, Hand Presses and Accessories
Originally known as W. H. Marley & Co. Ltd., the Marlco brand of broaching is high quality and offers an extensive range of products. The selection includes keyway broaches, square broaches, hexagon broaches, Broaching Hand Presses and Notch Broaching as well as an array of accessories such as broaching oil designed to give excellent penetration without losing any of the extreme pressure functions.
What is Broaching?
Broaching is used when precision machining is required, especially for odd shapes. Commonly machined surfaces include circular and non-circular holes, splines, keyways and flat surfaces. Typical work pieces include small to medium sized castings, forgings, screw machine parts and stampings.
Even though broaches can be expensive, broaching is usually favoured over other processes when used for high-quantity production runs. Scroll below to find out more on how the broaching process works.
How does broaching work?
- Select broach, guide and shims (of the same style) to suit bore and keyway.
Insert guide in bore and ensure there is clearance for the broach to pass through the base slot on the press. - Place the broach in the guide slot. Ensure it is square in the component and that the first cutting tooth is in contact.
- Apply the cutting oil. Push the broach smoothly through the component. If the tail of the broach is not long enough to push the last tooth through, use an extension shank.
- Insert an appropriate shim into the guide slot for multi-pass broaches.
Insert the broach into the guide slot and repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 until the keyway depth is produced.
Regrinding and Sharpening
As part of a continual maintenance programme, WDS offers an ongoing sharpening and regrinding service for customers who have previously purchased our broaches.
For maximum tool life, correct care and regrind procedures are very important. To ensure maximum quality of our broach regrinds, all broach tools received are examined by our Inspection Department and followed up with a report detailing any damage and the work required. Once the regrind work is complete, the tool is examined further to ensure all damage has been eradicated and the original integrity has been restored.
Simply call us on 0333 0435 443 for more information on sharpening and regrinding.
