DIY Pneumatic Power Drawbar for under $300

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In this video, I set out to make a multi-stage pneumatic air cylinder and a power drawbar system for my Benchman MX milling machine, in order to use the Tormach Tooling System (TTS™). The assembly ended up costing less than $300 to make. Parts listed below:
Lyndex TTS™ Adapter Collet R8:
tormach.com/tts-adapter-colle...
TTS 3/4" Straight Shank ER25 M Collet Chuck Tool Holder:
www.ebay.com/itm/225567106688
SDA80 x 15 Pneumatic Air Cylinder:
amzn.to/42Dd5nH
O-Ring Kit:
amzn.to/49mIk8W
Aluminum Round Tube, 300mm Length 18mm OD:
amzn.to/49uf5kG
3/8" PT Male Thread 6mm Pneumatic Connector Quick Fittings:
amzn.to/3wcOme1
6mm OD Push to Connect Pneumatic Fittings Kit:
amzn.to/3OE1nnc
Pneumatic Tubing 6mm x 4mm:
amzn.to/48cDZUI
6061-T6 Aluminum Plate 8x12x1/2:
amzn.to/4bCrqFl
1/4"NPT Pneumatic Solenoid Valve 2 Position 5 Way:
amzn.to/48iDbOa
McMaster Carr 12” Bolts:
www.mcmaster.com/91236A658/
McMaster Carr Belleville Springs:
www.mcmaster.com/9712K435/
McMaster Carr 7/16 Draw Bar Bolt:
www.mcmaster.com/92800A248/
Channellock 927 8-Inch Snap Ring Pliers:
amzn.to/3OBoAGH
My website: www.id3ntitycrisis.com
My design portfolio: www.id3ntitycrisis.com/portfolio

[@CinemaEngineer]

this guy has one of the best workshops on youtube. He could literally make anything.

[@cncrouterinfo]

Cool project, stacking the cylinders like this!

[@stevecarlisle3323]

This channel has Fantastic Content, and very well formatted. Thanks for a Great source of entertainment. 🇨🇦

[@ElectricBikeLaboratory]

Very satisfying to watch

[@roguecnc788]

Great job, well done

[@BrilliantDesignOnline]

A couple thoughts: I would rig up a segmented blow tube to allow the chips to be cleared as you mill to prevent re-cutting; I have been doing this cutting plexiglass and it makes for a much nicer surface finish, and keeps MDF from burning. When I saw the tool generating 'smoke', I was thinking it needed an occasional touch of WD-40 or whatever. I had no idea you could get modular air cylinders like this so cheap: cool! The chamfering is very satisfying, as was watching the Belleville washers compress. Love watching you engineer.

[@diyfiberlaser]

I certainly need to get a mister hooked up to this machine!…it was the WD40 I had sprayed that was smoking

[@MichaelTeeuw]

Cool project. I don’t completely understand how it holds or releases the tool holder. Time for some googling. :)

[@BrilliantDesignOnline]

The drawbar pulls up on a 'claw' which grabs the 'stud' on the tool holder; pushing the drawbar down releases the claw.

[@JoeMalovich]

So one piston just pushes on the backside of the next? Any piston length issues with this configuration? I love your stable of machines!

[@diyfiberlaser]

Exactly, multiplying the force. The piston travel length is 15 mm on the cylinders I purchased. The rear piston fully extended would not fully extend the next one, because there was space in between them...so I lost a little travel, but I only needed about 5 mm in the end.

[@JoeMalovich]

@@diyfiberlaser makes sense. And if you did need full travel you could add a bit of stud to the end of each piston. I have a Prolight 1000 and want to do this mod among others.

[@brentnorman464]

@@diyfiberlaser Please clarify this a little bit. What do you mean by the rear piston? Is this an issue on only one of the cylinders?

[@diyfiberlaser]

@@brentnorman464 Sure, it's not an issue with one or any of the cylinders, it's just how they fit together...the air cylinders piston has 15mm travel, and it achieves that distance when used individually. But when stacked, when the rear cylinder extends 15mm, the next in line cylinder only gets pushed out to say about 10mm from it's force, because there is some space between the pistons when stacked...it may travel 5mm before it makes contact with the next one...so in the end you end up with a little less than the 15mm piston travel you started with. It's not a problem though, there is still enough travel because the disc springs only need to be compressed a little bit.

[@cinobro6393]

Seems like a downgrade to go from the iso20 style holders to the TTS tool Holders.

[@diyfiberlaser]

The iso20s are great for ATC, but with the TTS I can hold larger tools and also use a face mill and drill chuck in the 3/4 collet…tradeoffs

[@stevecarlisle3323]

I would have agree, he now has 2 connections, and compound runout to deal with, but sometimes, like he says, it maybe worth the trade off.

[@stevecarlisle3323]

Hello Travis, I notice your older video has a standard Prolight 1000, and this machine is a Super, with ISO20 spindle. Do you own 2 machines. What type of linear guides do these machines have, and what is the tolerance you expierance. Thanks again. 🇨🇦

[@diyfiberlaser]

@@stevecarlisle3323 I've had 3 Intelitek mills now...The Prolight & Super Prolight both have round linear rails, and all 3 have the same epoxy granite base. They were both great machines, but I've sold them both. Now I just have the Benchman....it has square linear rails, 6" longer table, flood coolant ready enclosure, ac servos. The first time using it, I immediately noticed better edge finish and ability to take more aggressive cuts.

[@monsieurb24]

2805 lbs (Pi*Rsquare x 90 psi *4 stage) a lot of pressure. nice set-up, next step up it's a carrousel :), side way with arm it's hard, you can use genova mechanism or drive. nice work nice masso and macro :0

[@diyfiberlaser]

Haha...I was already dreaming of a carrousel!...I don't know if I could make it accurate enough...these tool holders seem to need near perfect alignment to insert.

[@monsieurb24]

@@diyfiberlaser for the spindle aligment some machine have proximity sensor and piston to lock a spindle in position, some vfd now have a detection for angle in the drive, with 8 position , retainer make in plastic, 2 bolt to retain this gl have fun :)

[@brentnorman464]

What type of end mill did you use for the o ring groove?

[@diyfiberlaser]

I believe it was a 1/8" 2-flute end mill

[@ThyerHazard]

What spindle servo did you use? thanks!

[@diyfiberlaser]

amzn.to/3UEExzw

[@ThyerHazard]

@@diyfiberlaser Thank you M'lord

[@BrilliantDesignOnline]

@@diyfiberlaserWith this servo, it should set you up to do rigid tapping; Personally, I like milling theads.

[@MikeZ8709]

How do you like the Qidi X-Plus 3? Enough to give it a face, I see.

[@diyfiberlaser]

I definitely prefer the Q1 Pro over the X-Plus 3. I just put the face on it because I wanted to replace the front door with a flat piece of acrylic because it was so hard to see through and see how the print was going. I also just found the shape of the enclosure unpleasant...the eyes and mouth was just my way of making it tolerable to look at.

[@MikeZ8709]

@@diyfiberlaser what’s better about the Q1 pro?

[@diyfiberlaser]

@@MikeZ8709 I don't know if you are aware of what happened at launch...but my X-plus 3 is one of the first launch models...Qidi stopped selling them and made some modifications after some initial bad reviews. It prints fine now, but was a rocky start. In contrast, the Q1 Pro has printed great right out of the box. I thought I wouldn't like it because of the slightly smaller build area, but it turns out most things I print fit just fine.

[@onjofilms]

What is a power drawbar?

[@jaro6985]

Draws the bar in the middle up to hold the cutter in

[@BrilliantDesignOnline]

The drawbar grabs the stud at the top of the tool holder when installed into the spindle. Using belleville dished washers creates a spring that generates this upward force. Pushing down on the drawbar releases the grip on the toolholder stud to allow a tool change.