Hydroptic-6 ... user manual?????

does anyone have a users manual for this jig boring machine??? Or anyone have experience on it??? I'm trying to get a tool out of the spindle, when I put the spindle all the way up and lock it, it still rotates... is it suppose to lock??? Do i use the big hex right above the taper on the spindle to remove tools??? thanks, sorry but the guy who would ALWAYS run this machine retired and only now are we trying to get some use out of it.... thanks in advance... Eugene

you pull the spindle all the way up and hit the button to release the tool. no user manual but i've run one before.

I have to assume you have the Hydroptic 6 and not a Hydroptic 6A The older Hydroptic 6 machines are a manual toolchange, not an electric change like the later 6A's
The Hydroptic 6 the spindle has to be raised to the uppermost position, which locks the drawbar, but you get the tools out by using the hexwrench and rotating the spindle right above the taper.
The thread direction is typical right hand. If the tool has been in the taper for quite awhile or left in after the machine was hot, you'll have to give it a pretty good tug to unlock the tool. When you're rasing the spindle up to the toolchange postition, you'll feel a spring pressure for the last inch. Once the spindle is up all the way, put the wrench into the hex on the right side of spindle and pull the wrench TOWARDS you.This is the direction for releasing the tool. For reinstalling the tool you can thread it up until it seats, and then install the wrench on the LEFT side of the spindle and pull towards you. This will tighten the tool in the taper. I have both a Hydroptic 6 as well as several 6A's in my shop, so certainly know how to install the tools. SOME of the Sip tools have a rectangular projection above the Morse, and this has to locate into the recess at the base of the spindle. Then there's the external taper, that the toolholder needs to be oriented by matching up the dot on the tool to the dot on the spindle. To install these tools, you have to just rotate the spindle until the taper fully seats. Ditto for removing them.

If the tool refuses to budge even after you've reefed on the short wrench, just tap the side of the toolholder while it's still tensioned with the drawbar, with the side of your wrench. Just a slight whack is usually enough to pop the taper out.
Remove the toolholder after you're done running the machine. It makes it WAY easier to get out than fighting with it after it's been in there for days ( or weeks)

thanks Dave... no button to push though...

Brian, thanks so much for the info... yeah, there is a drill chuck in there that has probably been in at least a year!!! hahhahaha... So, the other day I before I posted, I was going to town on that hex and it finally gave so I thought the tool loosened but now when I put the spindle all the way up, it doesnt lock, it free spins really easy... Can you please tell me thats an easy fix or have you never encountered that??? Well, if I can get maintenace to fix that, I will try putting a little pressure on the hex and tapping the actual tool to shock it out of the taper. thanks for the insight on how this spindle actually retains tools...

learn something new every day! I didn't know the difference.

Not being there, and not in a position where my tools are stuck, I THINK what may have happened is your drawbar has released the tool, but the tool is just stuck in the taper.
I've been MORE than intimate with all aspects of the Hydroptic six, as I've removed the spindle twice on mine, albeit several years ago. So I think your drawbar has raised up, and completely unthreaded itself from the tool. So give that drill chuck a JUDICIOUS whack on the side, while pulling down on it. Don't bother doing anything with the hex. If your spindle turns freely in the direction I wrote about in my previous post, then your tool is completely unthreaded. Now I KNOW it's sacriligious to BEAT on the spindle of a SIP, but when you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose. If you can't get the drill chuck out, you either have a high end drill press for the rest of that machines life, or it's scrap.

thanks Brian... I really dont want to beat on the spindle but it's what needs to be done... Definately dont want a high end drill press... I will let you know the outcome.... thanks again for all the help!!!! aloha

Couldn't get the holder out ... ... I did manage to shock the drill chuck adapter out of its holder though... hahhaahah... now I just wait for maintenance to take a look and see whats going on..

quick update for anyone who was wondering....
OUr maintenance pulled out the drawbar and the first 1/2" or so of thread is completely wiped out.
Ended up using a long 5/8" barstock to tap out the tool from the taper.... what a nightmare.....
now all thats left is to cut off the threaded end and weld on a newly manufactured one...

thanks to all who posted for your valuable information and experience......

aloha!!!

and one more thing...

You can bet that there will be no more tools left in the spindle of our hydroptic.... ever!!!!

Ive done the fix on more then one Sip draw bar .... I dont weld them on, I just make a new end that has a tight slip fit to a hole I bore in the end of the stock draw bar after cutting off the wiped out threads, then pin it in place.
thanks for the update :-) Cheers Don
(sent from the computer right next to the Sip 6 I run most days )

Thanks for the recommendation Don... I had considered that but wasnt sure if the pin would be adequate, I'm guessing there isn't really THAT much rotational force when tightening or loosening... I'd much rather go that route and I believe I will. Thanks!!!!!