New (to me anyway) HF 33686 - my first mill

[Tomzo]

So the seller from whom I bought the machine from indicated in the ad that he had a "spare" drawbar included as part of the deal. It seemed to be kind of an odd thing to have as a spare but when he dropped it off he handed me the spare - which was in reality a piece of all thread.

Yesterday I went to install a collet and found no drawbar in the machine. I used the all thread "spare" but the lack of a tall nut on top requires the pully cover to be opened in order to access the nut - kind of a hassle. It also just seems to be in the "not right" category to me. I contacted the seller and he searched about his shop and found the drawbar but the tall nut on top had sheared off somehow. I noticed damage to the sheet metal cover near the drawbar so I presume that at some point in the life of this machine someone left a wrench on the drawbar and spun it up - or something like that.

I also found that the keyway pin is missing (or sheared off in there) but reading various posts here it seems that many don't bother with those pins so right now that is not a huge concern for me.

I suppose I could figure out a way to machine a new tall nut (I am not sure if this is the right nomenclature here so forgive my ignorance) and weld it to the broken drawbar, but I also see a variety of drawbars sold online for about $30 which puts the time/money equation squarely in the "just buy one" category. They seem to be sold in various overall lengths. I can't seem to find listings that say "will fit HF 33668" and since the original drawbar is sheared off I can't measure the actual overall length. Does anyone know what the proper drawbar is for this machine or what the correct method is to measure the correct length? I have seen posts where a drawbar that is a bit too long can work fine is I turn down a spacer to take up the extra length - I guess I need to just make sure I don't get one too short.

 

[epanzella]

The drawbar on my 33686 is 16 1/2 inches from the end of the 7/16 x 20 thread to the base of the nut. I bought my machine new and the first thing that happened is the drawbar nut sheared off. It was only held by a cross pin. I built up the end of the shaft with weld and then machined it to the same size as the nut on my vice so I could use the same tool for both. The second thing that happened was I took the belt cover off. GOOD RIDDANCE!

 

[Manual Mac]

I suspect our drawbars are the pretty much same.
The “long nut” is part of the drawbar. It is 17mm & 9/16 tall.
I open the top every time I change a collet.

EDIT: my RF31 clone is a Grizzly G1007
While probably the same, my drawbar appears to be better built than the one HF uses.

 

[woodchucker]

take that 123 block off the magnet bar... you don't want certain things magnetized. actually you'll want to demag some things after use.

 

[Tomzo]

Thanks Epanzella and Manual Mac - that is the exact info I needed. Now to scour the web looking for one - most that I see that are readily available are for Bridgeports and are quite a bit longer. I may just source a new "long nut", weld it onto the broken drawbar, and then see if I can chuck it up and face the end where it contacts the spline of the spindle. Still waiting on a proper vise for this machine to arrive as the one that came with it is not a machinist vise - nowhere to set a parallel at the fixed jaw.

 

[epanzella]

Thanks Epanzella and Manual Mac - that is the exact info I needed. Now to scour the web looking for one - most that I see that are readily available are for Bridgeports and are quite a bit longer. I may just source a new "long nut", weld it onto the broken drawbar, and then see if I can chuck it up and face the end where it contacts the spline of the spindle. Still waiting on a proper vise for this machine to arrive as the one that came with it is not a machinist vise - nowhere to set a parallel at the fixed jaw.

Don't get too paranoid, Tom, your drawbar doesn't need to be made by NASA. The precision is built into the spindle taper. Just weld a nut onto your existing drawbar. If it's too short, use two nuts or turn a spacer tube that you can weld to the nut on one end and the drawbar on the other.

 

[Manual Mac]

I’m with epanzella on this. Weld a nut on your drawbar & machine flat where it contacts the spindle.
But if you do opt to buy a new drawbar, buy the Grizzly part #P1126102. You might as well buy a good one.
Also get the spindle wrench. Every time I change an R8 collet i’m glad I bought it.
Look up the manual on Grizzly G1006/1007, it’ll be close to your HF machine.
Cheers and have fun, Manny

 

[Aaron_W]

Thanks Epanzella and Manual Mac - that is the exact info I needed. Now to scour the web looking for one - most that I see that are readily available are for Bridgeports and are quite a bit longer. I may just source a new "long nut", weld it onto the broken drawbar, and then see if I can chuck it up and face the end where it contacts the spline of the spindle. Still waiting on a proper vise for this machine to arrive as the one that came with it is not a machinist vise - nowhere to set a parallel at the fixed jaw.

I can't say for sure on this machine, but in many cases with these everybody sells them machines Grizzly parts will be identical or at least close enough to work. Grizzly's parts ordering is simple and usually painless.

Where they are different if you look at the parts diagram for the Grizzly version it will be usually be obvious that they are doing something differently. I've used parts from Grizzly on my HF 4x6 bandsaw, and parts for my Enco 9x20 lathe and they have been drop in replacements. There was one handle on the 9x20 that didn't work, and when I looked at the parts diagram on the G4000 (Grizzly's version of the 9x20) it was shown that they changed how if attached. Probably more of a difference because mine is a 1994 lathe vs new, rather than an Enco vs Grizzly thing.

 

[Janderso]

I have a Touch DRO with iGaging scales on my mill like yours. It is awsome and probably the lowest cost DRO available

I put one of these on my old Bridgeport. My first introduction to using a DRO.
It worked fine and taught me never to own a mill without a DRO!
Nice score on the mill.

 

[Weldingrod1]

The best source for a "long nut" to weld on is called a coupling nut. Loctite would probably work better than welding, but YMMV. That said, I'd buy a drawbar ;-)

I own an ER collet set for my mill, but use R8 99.9% of the time. The ER is used when I need a non-1/8"-fractional drill without all the length of a chuck.

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