Square broach

**EclecticNeophyte** · Feb 8, 2021, 11:42 PM

...er, well sort of.

After spending countless hours building a 17ft all wood fishing boat, finding a suitable motor (and rebuilding it), and then FINALLY getting everything into the water for a maiden test run...everything was...so far so good! Or so I thought...

...while returning to the dock, I went to shift the old Merc outboard into reverse, only to have the shift lever break off and fall in the water. Too deep to retrieve,

so I managed to shift it using my multi-tool and get docked, onto the trailer and then home.

Once there, I removed what was left of the shift lever.

It was the factory original, and made of all things...plaaaaas---tic???

I scoured the web as well as local sources, but couldn't find a single replacement. So I made a pattern, rammed up a green sand mold, and cast a new one in aluminum!

Only one problem...that cursed square hole to fit the shift-shaft!

To date, I still know very little about making a broach, and I knew even less at that time. But I decided to give it a go, and see if I could make something that would work. I found some square key stock that was the same dimension as the shift-shaft, as well as the old handle remnant, and turned a round section onto one end to act as a guide. Here's the finished item (photo'd after it was used):

It didn't work the best, and had to be resharpened often. But it did broach the square hole, and that's all I needed. The new handle was fitted to the old Merc motor, and works great!