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More about Mills

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Arbalist:
 Finally got round to making a self extracting draw bar for my mill, works well.

sparky961:
Pictures?

Arbalist:

--- Quote from: sparky961 on April 19, 2015, 08:22:33 AM ---Pictures?

--- End quote ---

It's not very interesting...



Tool end is standard M12x1.75 and the nut end is M14x1.25 (Spark plug thread!)

Made from some 12mm steel rod and a lump of 3/4 steel hex pinned together with an M5 roll pin.

Not my idea, of course! the difference in thread pitch forces out the collet as you undo the draw bar. All I had to do was cut the M14 thread in the top of the mills spindle.

To be honest though it's never been a chore giving the standard draw bar a swift tap with a copper and hide to eject collets. Unlike an R8 taper that needs a fair bit of torque to hold it in place, MT tapers are self locking and only need to be nipped up a little in most cases.

Just thought it was an interesting project and I already had the materials!  :ddb:

sparky961:
Thanks for the picture.  Its sometimes usually the mundane things that make all the difference. 

You're right that it doesn't take much to release the collet if you don't overtighten, but sometimes over-tightening is "necessary" to close the collet on a slightly smaller diameter than what's ideal.

There happens to be a bedroom above where I use my mill; sometimes quite late into the night/morning hours.  So a quieter option than smacking the drawbar is very desirable.  And for those of you thinking this is a bit strange due to the overall noise a mill makes, continuous noise doesn't seem to be a problem.  It's the times where excessive chatter is occurring, or smacking something with a hammer that tend to awaken Sleeping Beauty.

What does the M14 end thread into?  Have you modified the top end of the spindle, or is there an internally threaded component you've attached thereto?

sparky961:
Ok, apparently I scanned your post a bit too quickly.  You did mention the modification to the mill. :)

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