As much as I cherish every blessed piece that came with my X3, it really sucks getting out the spanner to hold the quill while loosening the drawbar.
How could a spindle lock be mounted to the top cover? I think somewhat like the lock on a Bridgeport head. Mount a eccentric cam up there to engage the spindle? Have it spring loaded so it won't just drift into the spindle while it's rotating (wow, a roughing mill at work, just at the wrong end!).
Comments, derision, advise, disbelief?
Hey Louis,
I can't say for an X-3, but I added a "brake" to a Bridgeport "M" head. It was a mid-point pivoted lever rather than a cam, and it used quite a short piece of V-belt set to engage the lowest of the grooves of the spindle's V-belt pulleys. In "forward, it "dragged" rather than "jammed".
I lucked in to locating it such that it was easy to operate with my left hand, and it held the pulley stationary extremely well, while providing a brake for quick stopping.
And maybe luckiest of all for me, with a little extra "shove" while turning the draw-bar to release the collet, it would "jam" and self-hold if I needed to use both hands to knock-out something from the collet that I didn't want to bounce off the table. One to hold the tool, the other to beat on the top end of the draw-bar.
Worked a treat.
Good luck.
Take care.
Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario.
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