MT3 Imperial and MT3 Metric differences

Hi I am looking to buy a Sieg SX2 Plus mill to accompany the Myford lathe I have. I see on the Arc Euro website that they do a MT3 spindle in both metric and imperial, is it just the drawbar threads that they are refering to or is the something else?

I rather think the references to metric/imperial relate to the slide leadscrews and dial graduations, this being the major consideration when buying a new machine.

Joe

Hi Joe, Thanks for your reply. I think you may well be right.

The drawbar thread is Imperial on a Imperial machine.

Dave

It is the drawbar thread that's different. You can have one of each drawbar if you accumulate a mixture of fittings. Colin

Thanks for the replys and clearing that up for me.

Ok, after having another look at this size of mill and what I would like to do with it, I think I am going to try and get one that can accommodate larger work pieces.

There was a Warco MD30B just sold on ebay, and that seemed and ideal size, is there anything on the market of this size under £1000?

Hi, I agree with Joe that the reference is to the the slideways and the quill dial movements. MT3 is MT3 whatever the thread in the end is, you just need a drawbar to suit which thread you have in your MT3 tooling. I have two or three different ones, but the can all be used on my Imperial mill.

Regards Nick.

As Nick says, you will probably end up needing one of each. A length of studding or even a long bolt, cut to length can serve if you get stuck.

A large chuck with an MT3 arbor and metric drawbar came with my mill. I usually buy/make accessories with imperial drawbars so I've made an imperial self-ejecting drawbar. One day I WILL get around to making a metric drawbar for it!

Neil