Show me your draw bar

[Greg Carles]

I made a custom draw bar for my new lathe.
I used 2 - 12mm shrink tube over the threaded rod to protect the inside of the morse taper while installing and removing the draw bar.
I used 3/8 X 16 TPI rod as that is what my drill chuck accepts.
I had to add a turned cone to center the drawbar in the 5/8 inch opening at the hand wheel area.
Yours will be custom made to your specifications.
If you use your drill chuck in your headstock (sanding, drilling etc..)you really should have one in my opinion.
Here are a couple of pics.
If you have one share a pic if you want.

 

[Lou Jacobs]

Just added this to my to-do list. Thanks Greg!

 

[John K Jordan]

I made a custom draw bar for my new lathe.
…
If you have one share a pic if you want.

I made a these years ago, simple and effective, use them often. Occasionally I hold a Jacob's drill chuck, but more often for 2MT collets, and occasionally to hold a bottle stopper mandrel or a Joyner off-axis jig. The one used the most has a 3/8”-16 thread, the other a 1/4”-20 thread.




For those who may need to make a drawbar and haven't , it's easy - buy a length of galvanized all-thread rod of the size/thread needed from HD or the hardware store, inexpensive.

Cut a length to fit through the headstock and stick out a bit in the back, file off the burrs, and make a knob or use washers and a wing nut to hold it tight.

To use, thread a little into the tool with a 2MT, slide it into the haadstock, then tighten the knob/nut on the other end. It’s quicker if the working length is already close: insert the MT device first, then slide the rod in the other end and turn by hand to engage some threads. No need to thread it on tight.

I grind a small flat on each so if it should get too tight to unscrew by hand I can loosen it with a wrench.

On the 3/8” one I epoxied a flat washer on the end of a knob in my junk drawer.
The wood knob on the 1/4”-20 bar is simply drilled and tapped for the thread,
To center the wood knob on the handwheel, I turned a short seat to fit the hole.
Not much force is needed on a drawbar so the wooden threads are sufficient.

Since I sometimes turn #2 morse tapers on wood so I can hold work tightly in the heatstock spindle without a chuck, I cut several angled grooves on the front end of the 1/4”-20 rod to make a built-in tap - drill a hole in the wooden work piece, hold the drawbar firmly with a wrench on the flat mentioned above, and thread the work onto the drawbar by hand.



For example, I held the walnut thin spindle this way to finish a long taper (1/2” to 1/16” diameter over about 2’). First turned a 2MT on the end, held with the 1/4”-20 drawbar to finish when the tailstock end got too small for support.

If the MT device is hard to remove after loosening the drawbar, simply tap the handwheel end lightly with a mallet.

JKJ

 

[Tom Gall]

Last month I finally assembled my collet chucks … because I’m the president of the PCA (Procrastinators Club of America ).

Bought the collets in 2022, and the all-thread rod and vinyl tubing in 2024. I couldn’t find heat shrink tubing long enough (big box store only sold short pieces in a variety pack) so I bought the vinyl tubing.

The piece on the left is a reverse-collet chuck made in 1991 – originally used to expand into a 1⅜” (35mm) hole for turning some mini clocks. I hoped it would last for a few weeks, but I used it for 15 years (almost 5,000 pieces) and it still good today. The rod has shrink tubing – for the same reason as @Greg Carles mentions.

My Bubinga wheel has a threaded insert and a short tube which works 100 times better than that metal one that came with the 3-collet kit. It slides over the threaded rod (about ¾”+) before the threads make contact and can be spun on/off easily. I HATE that metal one! Maybe I’ll re-work that someday … maybe!. The Cocobolo insert centers the rod in my splindle.

 

[Neil S]

No photos, just a length of threaded rod, a washed that is larger than the bore and a wing nut.

I'm not concerned about the threaded rod galling the Morse taper as the rod I use is a softer metal than the metal in the taper.

 

[Dave Landers]

Mine is a threaded rod with a fender washer and a turned handle/knob epoxied on one end. Rod is cut to the right length to engage with a couple threads (turns). I am not concerned about damaging the morse taper because the jacobs chuck is already there.