KERT mill and Hardinge lathe retrofitted with LinuxCNC

I really like his Not-A-Kern mill.

We need to get him set up with a proper bar feeder so that Hardinge can really shine.

I was mostly kidding.

He's got that oddball Hardinge pneumatic/hydraulic system that uses a rotary union to pressurise a follower plug inside the drawtube.  It works, but it's a silly mess and limits you to bars shorter than the spindle.  And also makes it a pain to reload.

He doesn't appear to have room for a 3m/12-foot feeder, although there are a number of them close to me dirt cheap.

What he needs is a short-length magazine feeder.  Failing that, a pneumatic 36" muzzle-loader like on the Haas CL-1 would be better than nothing.  That'd be pretty easy to DIY.

I've got a Hardinge Vari-grip collet closer laying around I could let go cheap, but he'd still need to fabricate the tube, mount, and so forth himself, including an oil trap at the outboard end of the spindle.

Thusly: