by Ed Nisley
The drawbar bolts on a Sherline mill (and, presumably, the lathe) have a fitting that adapts the bolt head to the top of the spindle. There’s nothing to keep it from sliding right off the bolt, which happens 100percent of the time when you just pick up the drawbar. The fix is easy: a short length of heat-shrink tubing applied near the bolt head. I happened to have some tubing with an internal hot-melt glue lining that sticks like, well, glue to the bolt. Pretty nearly any heat-shrink tubing will work, although you might need two layers to catch the fitting’s ID.
Sherline drawbar bolts with heatshrink tubing to capture the fitting
(click to enlarge)
Thanks Ed! Your Subscription has been extended an issue!
Please do us a tremendous favor and forward this e-mail on to your machining friends!
Are you not a subscriber to DIGITAL MACHINIST? Visit us at www.digitalmachinist.net and request a no-obligation issue, or call and request it at 1-800-447-7367. Tell them you received an e-mail from a friend!
And don’t forget to check out Digital Machinist’s page on Facebook and our Twitter feed!
Your friend thinks you’ll enjoy DM, or you wouldn’t have this e-mail!
We hope you enjoyed this e-mail tip, brought to you by your friends at Digital Machinist.
Get Involved!
Do you enjoy our e-mail tips? Has one of them ever “knocked something loose” in your head? Your tip could be a future e-mail blast from your favorite magazine. Just send your tips to george.bulliss@VPDemandCreation.com. If we use your tip, we will extend your subscription by an issue. We like to see 200 to 300 words, plus an image, if available. Thanks!
We hope you enjoyed this e-mail tip, brought to you by your friends at Digital Machinist, dedicated to precision metalworking.