As much as I cherish every blessed piece that came with my X3, it
really sucks getting out the spanner to hold the quill while loosening
the drawbar.

How could a spindle lock be mounted to the top cover? I think
somewhat like the lock on a Bridgeport head. Mount a eccentric cam up
there to engage the spindle? Have it spring loaded so it won't just
drift into the spindle while it's rotating (wow, a roughing mill at
work, just at the wrong end!).

Comments, derision, advise, disbelief?

On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:00:05 -0500, Louis Ohland
wrote:

As much as I cherish every blessed piece that came with my X3, it
really sucks getting out the spanner to hold the quill while loosening
the drawbar.

How could a spindle lock be mounted to the top cover? I think
somewhat like the lock on a Bridgeport head. Mount a eccentric cam up
there to engage the spindle? Have it spring loaded so it won't just
drift into the spindle while it's rotating (wow, a roughing mill at
work, just at the wrong end!).

Comments, derision, advise, disbelief?


Hey Louis,

I can't say for an X-3, but I added a "brake" to a Bridgeport "M"
head. It was a mid-point pivoted lever rather than a cam, and it used
quite a short piece of V-belt set to engage the lowest of the grooves
of the spindle's V-belt pulleys. In "forward, it "dragged" rather
than "jammed".

I lucked in to locating it such that it was easy to operate with my
left hand, and it held the pulley stationary extremely well, while
providing a brake for quick stopping.

And maybe luckiest of all for me, with a little extra "shove" while
turning the draw-bar to release the collet, it would "jam" and
self-hold if I needed to use both hands to knock-out something from
the collet that I didn't want to bounce off the table. One to hold
the tool, the other to beat on the top end of the draw-bar.

Worked a treat.

Good luck.

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.