Milling machine drawbar

[beshopkinsParticipant @beshopkins]

I need to make a metric drawbar for a milling machine which does not involve any machining?

[beshopkinsParticipant @beshopkins]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Buy a length of suitable metric studding (all thread) and a matching nut plus a large washer and you will have a working draw bar. Ideally saw off the excess length of the studding.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Some indicative sizes would help … but you should get-away with a suitable length of all-thread [a.k.a. studding, or threaded rod], plus some nuts and washers.

MichaelG.

.

Jason beat me to it.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 24/10/2018 17:32:34

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by JasonB on 24/10/2018 17:26:50:

Buy a length of suitable metric studding (all thread) and a matching nut plus a large washer and you will have a working draw bar. Ideally saw off the excess length of the studding.

You've just described my metric drawbar.

I must get around to making one with a collar to fit the self-release system I made with an imperial one!

Neil

[beshopkinsParticipant @beshopkins]

I had thought of using metric studding with a nut, which assume needs silver soldering or welding to one end of the studding.

Thank you to all those forum members replied to my question.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

No just leave the nut loose.

My M10 drawbar is just that, as I only have one tool with that thread which is seldom used I have not bothered with anything posher.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by beshopkins on 24/10/2018 18:25:57:

I had thought of using metric studding with a nut, which assume needs silver soldering or welding to one end of the studding.

.

If you feel the need to put a 'head' on the studding [which Jason clearly does not], it's a simple matter to lock two nuts together tightly, or to fix one in place with 638 Loctite or similar.

MichaelG.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Yes, my two drawbars (1/2" BSW and M12), although they were threaded on the lathe, have nuts on the top glued on with Loctite. It just works!

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Posted by JasonB on 24/10/2018 18:36:23:

No just leave the nut loose.

My M10 drawbar is just that, as I only have one tool with that thread which is seldom used I have not bothered with anything posher.

That's how my imperial one is done. It's not worth spending any more time on something so simple.

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

I had a nut welded and a loose nut on mine but I had easy access to an expert welder so why not? Whatever you do if it works the jobs a good un.

Mike

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Posted by Mike Poole on 25/10/2018 00:31:06:

I had a nut welded and a loose nut on mine but I had easy access to an expert welder so why not? Whatever you do if it works the jobs a good un.

Mike

You needed an expert welder to fix a nut on a threaded rod?

Suitable grade of loctite would do (as MG above)? Mine mostly have a simple locknut under a longer nut (for easier fitting of a spanner). But it must be comforting to have someone else make it for you!

[VicParticipant @vic]

I made a self extracting drawbar for my VMC, the hexagon section is pinned to the shaft.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Don't pins and welding need machines

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

I thought that was the way most guys made their draw bars ?

Not exactly rocket science.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

When I needed a drawbar, I grabbed two 1/2" bolts, cut the heads off and welded them together, must have done it right enough, it's still holding together after about 25 years.

Ian S C

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

The reason you might want to use a more complex(??) solution is because often the bore in the spindle is larger than the threaded part of the drawbar. In that situation, if you just use studding, it won't self-centre. Not a show stopper but at the sorts of speeds you should be using it will be out of balance with nothing to locate it. Given that most of us here have the machinery to do it properly, it seems a pity to see the handbags coming out – some sort of inverse snobbery there!

One other "simple" option is to drill and tap a hole in the end of a piece of round stock, then Loctite in a piece of stud or the end of a bolt. At the other end you can simply Loctite a collar in place. That way you get the best of both worlds. It's how I did mine before I replaced them with a quick change system.

Murray

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I assumed the OP did not have the machinery and that is why he asked how to do it without machining. I can imagine several first time buyers of mills who don't have a lathe may face the same problem.

[VicParticipant @vic]

I assumed the OP had a milling machine as he wants to make a draw bar for one?

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Vic on 25/10/2018 14:37:43:

I assumed the OP had a milling machine as he wants to make a draw bar for one?

.

But is a milling machine without a drawbar actually a milling machine ?

… that is the question !

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 25/10/2018 15:07:55

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

maybe he has a non-metric machine + tooling with a 3/8th drawbar – I’ve had to make such a drawbar to use some MT2 tools on my otherwise metric machine

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Frances IoM on 25/10/2018 15:20:43:
maybe he has a non-metric machine + tooling with a 3/8th drawbar –

.

Yes, maybe

[JonParticipant @jon]

Posted by Frances IoM on 25/10/2018 15:20:43:
maybe he has a non-metric machine + tooling with a 3/8th drawbar – I've had to make such a drawbar to use some MT2 tools on my otherwise metric machine

You can have metric machines with 3/8" drawbar, toolings all the same just the threads different.

No big deal any way until they break mid job, silver solder wont hold neither brazing. Only ones that hold up are v out, jointed and welded.
All thread will get you out of trouble but its quite weak and the thread will strip.

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Just how tight do you tighten your draw bars?

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Recently, I bought two Collet chucks with M12 female threads. My Mill/Drill has a 3/8 BSW drawbar. So took a length of M12 , put in the lathe, drilled and tapped 3/8 BSW , parted off 3/4 inch long. Onmce Loctited into the 3 MT arbors, and Off we go to work!

I made a metric drawbar for the lathe, for one particular job, (as already said – studding plus nut and washer) but cannot remember when it was last used. The 3/8 BSW that came with the lathe in 2003 is still in almost daily use.

Howard

[Author]

Posts