Mill riser block step so i can reach draw bar.

One of the guys here used an electric impact in his Rong Fu. Electric impacts kick pretty good for a 7/16 with a worn in and polished thread. The pin is optional with R8, powered or not.

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pontiac428 said:
I used to think power locks and windows were ridiculous luxury items. I could always lean across my bench seat and pop the lock or turn the crank. But after living with them for some years now, I've grown fond. As have I with my pneumatic drawbar. It's one of those things, like a Reeves drive or a QCGB, that you really can't appreciate unless you've exhausted yourself shuffling belts over sheaves or tinkered change gears. Reaching and holding the brake and wrenching and tapping is now just a button push. It's like honey butter after a diet of bread and water.

I'm a picky bahstahd about my stuff, but the pneumatic butterfly wrench DIY drawbar setups people have come up with are easily as good as commercial units. The $1,000 Kurt power drawbar might have a better coupler on the drive mechanism, but that's a small gain for a one-man shop on a budget. A beveled nut and dished socket on a release spring work fine for home shop duty.
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I’m not familiar with this diy “butterfly wrench” apparatus, any more info? One of my machines has a kurt pneumatic drawbar on it and I hate it. It’s literally a modified impact wrench. I was going to buy another torque-rite like my other one but they’re a little pricey.
 
Basically something like this: http://home.insightbb.com/~joevicar3/cheap_drawbar.htm

Note that I picked that up off google, and it was the first that wasn't a bunch of blog-spam, but the idea is that you mount a butterfly impact wrench (like this one!) https://www.amazon.com/SUNTECH-SM-4...erfly+impact+wrench+3/8&qid=1674495421&sr=8-2

Then, you make a metal mount to hold it above the drawbar on some springs, then add a lever that pulls it down onto the drawbar, and presses the 'butterfly' control one way or the other.
 
ErichKeane said:
Basically something like this: http://home.insightbb.com/~joevicar3/cheap_drawbar.htm

Note that I picked that up off google, and it was the first that wasn't a bunch of blog-spam, but the idea is that you mount a butterfly impact wrench (like this one!) https://www.amazon.com/SUNTECH-SM-401-Butterfly-Impact-Wrench/dp/B01FFPM5RK/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=butterfly+impact+wrench+3/8&qid=1674495421&sr=8-2

Then, you make a metal mount to hold it above the drawbar on some springs, then add a lever that pulls it down onto the drawbar, and presses the 'butterfly' control one way or the other.
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Oh I see, basically the same as a kurt without the shroud and air cylinder to pull it down.
 
Another approach, that I took, was to go to KWIK SWITCH tooling. There is one master holder that fits in the R8 spindle, and various tool holders that click in and out without tools, and are right at the bottom of the spindle, no stretching required. Having to mess with the drawbar is way less frequent now. Not zero, as there is an occasional unique tool I don’t have a KS holder for. Of course the main plus is it’s way faster to swap KS tools than any R8 stuff.
 
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