Manual Operation After Cnc Conversion

When converting to CNC, can I use dual shaft steppers with a hand wheel on the outside shaft to use the mill manually by simply unplugging the motor before manual operation?

I like the idea of being able to do a quick manual job.
I left the handles on my Bridgeport mill when I converted to CNC, and left the 2 axis DRO as well. I am using Mach3, and find that if I just click RESET, I can manually turn the handles just fine. I am running DC stepper motors, which do produce a bit of drag that has to be overcome in manual mode, but as a side benefit, the DRO in Mach3 also changes when turning manually, so I have a second DRO. My Z-axis on the quill does not work as well in manual mode, since there is too much drag produced by the motor/ballscrew combination. I can force it, but it feels wrong to do that. So, I devised a locking mechanism that allows me to disconnect the ball nut from the quill and use the manual handle for drilling, etc.

One problem I have discovered is when making rapid moves in CNC the glass slides and my ancient Accurite DRO cannot keep up with the pulse rate at anything above about 80 in/min, and I get a drift in the DRO reading. The Mach3 DRO saves the day here since I can reset my manual DRO as needed. Be advised though that the handles can really be dangerous if you get tangled up in them while running CNC.

Bob
 
So, I devised a locking mechanism that allows me to disconnect the ball nut from the quill and use the manual handle for drilling, etc.

Can you post some pictures of that. I'm interested in what others have done with their Z axis.
 
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