# M Head and Power Drawbar?



## Timpmandan (Jul 8, 2017)

Has anybody ever put (any sort of) power drawbar on a Bridgeport M Head? I have started on an idea, but feel the impact wrench would be far too high above the pulley guard to be safe or stable. I may have to think up some other ideas such as a simple spindle lock instead...

Any ideas or pictures of various (preferably M Head) setups would be appreciated.


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## joebaby (Mar 1, 2019)

I see that this is a little late, but I have a shopbuilt power draw bar on my m-head. It is simple but effective design. Contact me if you would still like images.


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## Timpmandan (Mar 1, 2019)

joebaby said:


> I see that this is a little late, but I have a shopbuilt power draw bar on my m-head. It is simple but effective design. Contact me if you would still like images.


Sure! I ended up making one using a 12v impact gun from HF. It's high up there, as suspected, but it's safe. It looks ridiculous, but man it's easy to use. 
If you scroll down through the final post here (http://blog.dkpercussion.com/) you'll see what I came up with. Surely there would be a more elegant solution for someone else finding this thread.


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## joebaby (Mar 1, 2019)

I made this power draw bar for my M-head Bridgeport from material I had on hand, The post, and slide were made from black iron pipe. I used 1/2 pipe for the fixed upright, 3/4 pipe for the vertical slide, and spacers. It was necessary to machine the bore of one, and the o.d. of the other.  A piece of 3/8 aluminum plate to was used to mount the slide (3/4 pipe) to the air wrench with pinch-binds. I had the spring hanging around, and no idea where it came from. It slides freely on a single post, and is easy to use. I had picked the air wrench out of the bin at work some years ago. It just needed cleaning. I only had to buy a piece of reinforced tubing for the plumbing. I had planned on giving a paint job, but that hasn't happened yet.
   Your shop looks great. Mine usually a mess. It is an old leaky single car garage with a minimally effective space heater. I live 900 feet from the salt water, so corrosion is an issue too.


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## Timpmandan (Mar 1, 2019)

Thanks! My shop is only clean right before a project or during picture time... Your setup looks great. I considered the air wrench, but didn't want to keep my compressor running all the time for a quick job. I've since added a solenoid valve, and figure I'll redo this if and once my 12v impact (running on an old laptop charger) dies.


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