Need a drawbar

[lesrhorer]

The Central Machinery Mill is here, quite a bit faster than I expected. It didn't come with a drawbar, however. It did come with some R8 tools, but no drawbar. Does anyone know where I can get a drawbar that fits? Failing that, does anyone have specs for the drawbar so I can make my own? The parts list says it is part # IYT-1014.

 

[NCjeeper]

Not to be a smart butt, but did you check the T slots on the table. I remember a friend of mine bought a bench top mill. He said it didn't come with a draw bar nor the 3 handles for the quill. Low and behold they were in the T slots of the table. The table had a sheet of wax paper covering it and he hadn't bothered pull it off.

 

[brino]

I just use the proper size of all-thread for whatever collet, or end-mill holder I'm currently using.
I currently have them in three different thread sizes.
Available and cheap.
-brino

 

[darkzero]

Did you buy it new or used? If the former call HF & tell them it's missing. They should send you one free of charge. I hear HF is actually pretty good about supplying replacement parts.

I don't have a HF mill but I made a new adjustable length style drawbar for my mill drill cause I wasn't happy with the quality of my stock one but it worked fine.

As far as dimensions, it would help if you mentioned what model you have. HF has various models & the drawbars aren't all the same.

 

[Hawkeye]

I just use the proper size of all-thread for whatever collet, or end-mill holder I'm currently using.
I currently have them in three different thread sizes.
Available and cheap.
-brino

I've made draw-bars this way. If you get a flanged nut the right size, you can drill through the nut and the rod and pin it with a roll-pin. Cut to length, smooth the cut end and you're good to go. Just check that the size of the nut will fit down inside the spindle. If not, you may have to use a smaller nut and turn down the end of the rod to fit, thread it to fit the smaller nut and pin it in place.

 

[graham-xrf]

I have to go the same route. The (small) mill comes with MT3 taper mount, and a supplied MT3 chuck, which one would only use for drilling. The drawbar to suit that chuck has 10mm thread.

The ER32 collet set I have has a MT3 holder which expects a 12mm drawbar! I guess the solution has to be like suggested by @brino , and @Hawkeye . I may get a length of M12 studding (All-Thread?) and make up something to go over the end, and a M12 nut. I might sacrifice an old ratchet wrench socket, whatever.

I take it that draw-bars do not need to be pulled up mad tight, but they do need something to pretty much guarantee they won't come undone while in use!

 

[lesrhorer]

Not to be a smart butt, but did you check the T slots on the table. I remember a friend of mine bought a bench top mill. He said it didn't come with a draw bar nor the 3 handles for the quill. Low and behold they were in the T slots of the table. The table had a sheet of wax paper covering it and he hadn't bothered pull it off.

Oh, pfft! There it is.

 

[lesrhorer]

I don't have a HF mill but I made a new adjustable length style drawbar for my mill drill cause I wasn't happy with the quality of my stock one but it worked fine.

I am not sure how useful an adjustable length drawbar would be, but I am curious of the details. I could think of a couple of different ways to accomplish this, but how did you do it?

What might be more useful, it seems to me, would be an "adjustable" thread size. Although 7/16-20 seems to me to be the most common, not all tools have that thread.

 

[NCjeeper]

Oh, pfft! There it is.

You found it? That's good.

 

[darkzero]

I am not sure how useful an adjustable length drawbar would be, but I am curious of the details. I could think of a couple of different ways to accomplish this, but how did you do it?

What might be more useful, it seems to me, would be an "adjustable" thread size. Although 7/16-20 seems to me to be the most common, not all tools have that thread.

I can't think of any way to make a single draw bar with adjustable thread size. Would be easier to just swap out the drawbar with a different thread size. I've also never seen R8 arbors with threads other than 7/16"-20, all of mine are 7/16"-20.

I have though ran into inconsistent threading on R8 arbors. Some where the threads start deeper in the arbor than others as well as how far deep down they are threaded. That's when an adjustable drawbar can be useful. Not necessarily required but it saves time. That's how my stock drawbar was, I liked the idea so I just copied the design.