Powered Drawbar for your Mill

Patrice Lemée

Patrice Lemée

Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
5,703
This may have been posted before on here, but I just thought I'd post it again in case someone doesn't know about it cause it works GREAT! I have some shoulder problems so reaching on top of the mill for the drawbar and applying some force is not fun. And not only that but if you have to change the collets often for a particular project it can be very time consuming. I already had a shop air hose on top of the mill so I only had to buy a butterfly impact wrench. Cheap enough, 35$ on sale. :thumbup: I turned down the impact force to the minimum for this particular tool. I did not want to damage anything with too much force but, as Nathan the Machinist mentioned to me, if you do this just make sure that there is actually enough force being applied so that you don't get endmill slippage. For me the minimum setting is as hard as I use to manually tighten it.
Of course now I have to split the hose in 2 because I don't want to have to switch between the blowgun (which I use a lot for clearing chips) and the wrench but it's easy enough to do. And let me tell you it works sooooo good! I wish I had done it before. It's not hard to understand but even then here are a few pics.


power_drawbar1.jpg



power_drawbar2.jpg
 
I run the exact set up for my mill.

I could not live without it now :)
 
Sometimes I inadvertantly move the regulator wheel and when I go to use it there is no power.....I panic and start looking for the damn wrench and then remember to turn the reg wheel up and it is good to go.

I have mine hanging by a bungee cord :)
 
Looks great.

For those of us who don't keep air compressed in the shop:

I bought a gearwrench and keep it right by the mill. Makes quick work of changes (not as fast as air would be, but faster than the manual wrench I used to use.

Tait
 
AV, the bungee cord is a good idea.
Do you oil the wrench on a regular basis? I know they say to do it but I am usually bad with that. :(
 
A squirt of oil in the hole daily is all that is needed to keep it running good for a long time. Without it you will just wear out sooner.
 
Thanks Carl.
Now if I could only find an oil container that doesn't leak. :( It like magic, every one I tried seeps oil from somewhere eventually. :?
 
I give it a few drops now and again.
 
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