Drawbar size for Grizzly mini-mill? Confusion.

[Cowbell]

I recently bought a chuck collet set from littlemachineshop. It was basically the same thing as Grizzly offered on their website, but was $10 cheaper and came with 3 more collets.

But when I got it, I ran into a problem. The chuck requires a 3/8"-16 drawbar. The one Grizzly offers as an accessory for the mill also requires 3/8"-16. However, the drawbar I have is most definitely not 3/8". I think it might be 12mm (littlemachineshop sells a "Drawbar, 3MT x M12" for the Grizzly).

It's weird. If the standard drawbar that comes with the Griz isn't 3/8", why would they offer an accessory set that requires 3/8"? I suppose I can just pick up the extra drawbar from littlemachineshop, but that's a little irritating.

Also - is it safe to be swapping different sized drawbars in the Griz? Ie, it's not going to be unhappy if I switch in a drawbar that isn't flush with the sleeve is it?

Thanks guys!

[RotarySMP]

It is just there to provide tension to keep the contact on the MT Taper. You can use a bolt or peice of all thread or make something. Maybe Grizzly has 3/8" threaded drawbars. The chinese will manufacture whatever the customer wants. Grizzly is a big enough customer to have maybe speced an imperial thread. LMS is a small player who probably didn't spec the parts, but just bought what was in a catalog.

[LongRat]

I have a Sieg X2 machine too, mine is a metric machine bought in the UK. It has a M12 threaded drawbar.

[rcazwillis]

I just made my own draw bar. The through hole on my HF mill is smaller than 3/8. The stock bar had the 12mm threads welded onto the end. So I copied its design, but welded a 3/8" thread to the end of mine. Problem solved for less than $1.