# PM 30 mv spindle lock ?



## John1125 (Feb 22, 2019)

Hello everyone ,
Just bought this machine and getting it set up and playing around with it . Made a mic holder for measuring 1911 rails from aluminum and now a dice from a rail spike just to learn the dro and get used to the x asis power feed and what not . I am new to machine work so I am learning a great deal.

One issue that I have with the maching is changing tooling it seems to take about 3 hands and I believe if there were a spindle lock instead of the supplied wrench things would go much better. I also have the tight draw bar to spindle and or cap issue and PM is working on getting me some parts . But the machine does not show much run out with tooling or gage pins and even the outside of the spindle shows true - about 3 tenths or less with my cheap indicators .

So if any ideas for a lock ?

and here is pic of the mic holder my first useful part , yeah !


----------



## Landmark (Feb 23, 2019)

John1125 said:


> Hello everyone ,
> Just bought this machine and getting it set up and playing around with it . Made a mic holder for measuring 1911 rails from aluminum and now a dice from a rail spike just to learn the dro and get used to the x asis power feed and what not . I am new to machine work so I am learning a great deal.
> 
> One issue that I have with the maching is changing tooling it seems to take about 3 hands and I believe if there were a spindle lock instead of the supplied wrench things would go much better. I also have the tight draw bar to spindle and or cap issue and PM is working on getting me some parts . But the machine does not show much run out with tooling or gage pins and even the outside of the spindle shows true - about 3 tenths or less with my cheap indicators .
> ...


I also just received a PM-30MV and I'm having the same drawbar issue. I haven't thought about a spindle lock but I think using the spindle wrench wouldn't be as big of an issue if the drawbar wasn't so tight. What parts are they sending you?


----------



## John1125 (Feb 23, 2019)

I’m not sure what they are going to send said they were talking to the factory on the parts to be replaced. I came up with a pretty good work around for this issue - using a 14 mm 12 point socket and a 1/4 inch cordless impact seems to make things go ok. 

I was changing today from an edge finder to ball end mill often diff size collets the impact would loosen without the spindle wrench just fine. And of course tightening was a quick matter . 

I’ve ran a bizillion sheet metal screws at work with a cordless impact (hvac) so I got a good feel for the tool.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Landmark (Feb 23, 2019)

Sounds like a good work around. I've also seen lots of people mounting a butterfly impact wrench above the spindle to make a kind of power drawbar. I'm planning to make a Tormach style PDB and use TTS tooling. But I do want to get the binding fixed in the mean time.

There seems to be a lot of PM-30MV owners on this forum. I would like to see a sub-forum for us so it would be easier to share machine specific experiences.


----------



## Landmark (Mar 25, 2019)

John1125 said:


> I’m not sure what they are going to send said they were talking to the factory on the parts to be replaced. I came up with a pretty good work around for this issue - using a 14 mm 12 point socket and a 1/4 inch cordless impact seems to make things go ok.
> 
> I was changing today from an edge finder to ball end mill often diff size collets the impact would loosen without the spindle wrench just fine. And of course tightening was a quick matter .
> 
> ...


Did the draw bar issue ever get resolved? I haven't done anything else with mine yet.


----------



## Larry42 (Mar 25, 2019)

I've got a Bridgeport clone (Jet.) The hand brake only holds well enough to change tools when I have it in low gear. And yes, a third hand would be nice on occasions. But most of the time the R8 collets can hold the tool well enough by just turning the drawbar, by hand W/O using the brake, until the tool is held well enough to let go. Some day I'd like to make a power draw bar.


----------



## wrmiller (Mar 25, 2019)

On my old PM24 there was a hold in the side of the spindle for a tool to hold the spindle while tightening. I made a contraption that clamped onto the quill and put a hole in it so I could push a pin through it and the spindle.

Ugly, but it worked.

EDIT: I like your 'first tool' as I too work on pistols. Mostly 1911/2011 stuff.


----------



## darkzero (Mar 25, 2019)

When I made my drawbar I copied the original one that came with my mill. The top nut is fixed with the draw bar & smaller than the main nut. This allows 2 wrenches to be used to loosen. I never used that method, I prefered this adjustable design to account for differences in R8 tools & collets.







I'd usually just put in low gear but when that wasn't enough for loosening I used this wrench by Luminar. Small end is for Sieg mini mills but the large end fits my RF-45 style mill. They're still available from LMS or directly from Luminar. Not sure if they fit your mill.







There used to be a company named Spindle-Lock that made bolt on spindle locks for mini mills & Rong Ru column mills. MSC had them in stock & I picked one up cause my sales guy gave me a discount. They were originally $100 which I did not want to pay.  That's what I have been using ever since when I need it. The slot is for holding a draw bar wrench IIRC. Looks like the company is no longer in business as their website is gone but it should be pretty easy to make. I've seen others make their own also.










Some have asked me why I never made my own power draw bar. Not sure why but I'm ok. If I had a knee mill I'd probably consider it.


----------

