No, the brake is to hold it from rotating while machining. It's on the 4th axis; not the X, Y, or Z.
Anytime the A Axis moves on our Johnford, GSK, or Haas machines, it releases the brake and has a delay ever so slightly to release pressure and then rotate. Then it locks when it is finished with its move.
It's not like a brake for an axis with a ballscrew.
However, I haven't thought of making it work off of hardware, AKA the drive. I'll look into that as well.