Collis Or Knock Offs, Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

coolidge

coolidge

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So I ordered a couple of Collis brand R8 end mill holders recently and I'm wondering if they pulled the old switch-a-roo on me here. These are not cheap, over $100 each, I got them on sale for $70 each but still I can buy an entire set of made in Asia for just what these two cost.

So here are the Collis product photos from the web site, top is a .500 inch holder and the bottom one is a .375 holder.



This is what I received. Neither matches the product photo, the black one doesn't even match the specs on Collis web site measurement wise its a lot shorter. The silver one has a shallow key slot typical of made in China/Asia .064 deep. The black one keyway slot is .084, the keyway slot is rough and jagged, there are a few dings and scratches but it was sealed in a plastic bag. The plastic bag on the silver one was cut open. Note the patch of satin chrome coating polished off the silver one. Part numbers are stamped on in the product photos, both of these below were inked on and even that is radically different from one another. The silver one was in a yellow plastic bag, the black one in a clear plastic bag.



The black one was rusted.



Even the plastic containers were radically different.
 
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Hmmmmm....I would be on the phone!:mad:
 
Ugly! Surely even the the Chinese workers can understand the effect of a bad first
impression. I can remember the shining beauty of a new tool in my hand in an earl
ier day, whoever made it. Pride,please !..........BLJHB.
 
I'm curious. What do you think you'll gain from high dollar end mill holders?
 
Not the poor quality, accuracy, and lack of consistency I see in made in China products. Things manufactured so poorly they wobble like a cartoon. These end mill holders are for roughing so I don't need .0002 run out but I also don't want to bugger up my spindle with crap tooling.
 
Thanks for the reply, I was curious because I've never seen an import holder with runout problems. I figure they are all pretty much made in the same place and re-badged these days like the first two you received.
 
No you can still buy quality not made in China, if you pony up the money. Hardinge collets for example or Lyndex.
 
I saw a video Oxtool did on R8 collets, China versus Lyndex and there was no difference in runout as I recall. I have Lyndex collets for my mill but no experience with China made. I do have mostly Chinese made 5C collets plus some Hardinge and other US made. You can definetly tell the difference with those.
 
Totally bogus knock offs. I would be curious to know where you purchased them from, probably avoid buying from them again. Collets can vary quite a bit, but if you look at the build quality and consistency, the generic knock-offs are often poorer. That being said, I bought some Shars 5C collets to fill the gaps in my 5C sets, decent, but not as good as the Lyndex and Royal in the rest of the set. I also returned two sets of Chinese R-8 collets because they did not fit, ended up finally springing for a Lyndex set and had no problems.
 
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