Hhip D1-4 Direct Mount Er-40 Chuck Review

mikey

mikey

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I've wanted an ER-40 chuck for my Emco Super 11 CD lathe for awhile now. It has a D1-4 mount and until recently, finding a direct mount chuck has been a challenge - you either have to make one from scratch or buy a backing plate and chuck separately and cobble them together and hope for decent concentricity. I looked hard for a US manufacturer but never found one.

One day I saw a 125mm diameter chuck on ebay for $77.51! I thought, "No way is this chuck going to live up to the claim of 0.0002" concentricity. Come on, it's Chinese!" However, I was curious and I have to admit that having a chuck with minimal overhang was sorely tempting so I ordered a 125mm diameter D1-4 ER-40 chuck from HHIP: http://www.ebay.com/sch/hhindt/m.ht...N8IAAOSwT~9WjCDj&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

The chuck is nicely finished, has a nicely ground taper inside and has holes for a Tommy bar on the rim of the chuck. However, the D1 mounting lugs in back were loose! Its almost as if they got the thread wrong. I was going to send it back but figuring the accuracy of the chuck should rely on the mounting taper anyway, I decided to check the concentricity first.

My Emco lathe has zero run out at the spindle and at the registration taper for the mount but I rechecked and verified that this was so. With the chuck locked down there is no visible gap between the mount and the back of the chuck so this was a concern. However, there was absolutely no play when I jiggled it before locking the chuck down so I hoped the chuck was fully registered.

I then checked concentricity in the taper. The manufacturer claims a concentricity of 0.0002" but he was wrong - I got 0.0001" TIR using my Compac 215 GA tenths-reading dial test indicator. I checked the taper in several places and got the same reading. I checked again with the chuck mounted in all three mounting positions and got the same reading.

Using a 1/2" dowel pin in a generic Chinese ER-40 collet and the nut that came with the chuck, I got 0.0007" TIR just past the chuck. My pin is only 1" long and is the most accurate pin I have so I used it. I'm sure if I used a longer rod I would have gotten more TIR but 0.0007" is not bad for a generic collet. I repeated this with an ETM nut and an ETM collet and got 0.0002" TIR. Clearly, better quality collets and nuts make a big difference but under a thou with generic collets is way good enough for the work I do.

Now, I'm all for making my own tools when possible and I admit to being wary of offshore tools in general but I have to say that this chuck was a big surprise. I don't know if the chuck is hardened - I haven't taken a file to it yet - so I do not know how well it will hold up but I figure in a hobby shop it will work just fine.

I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this chuck as I just got it and don't know how it will perform in the long run. I can say that the seller's claim of concentricity is valid and that the chuck is nicely made, especially for the cost. Call me lazy for not making my own chuck but even if I did I doubt I could have beaten this one.
 
that is a fantastic price and sounds like a great bit of kit. Could you update the ebay link with the item please and perhaps some pics? I had a bear of a time indicating the run out on my home made collet chuck because I don't have many long precise rods and supposedly ER collets don't like to grip just at the tip, they need the work inserted the length of the collet. Don't know how true that is though - certainly the small sizes only have the gripping region run 1/2 the length of the collet..
 
rwm said:
Aren't the pins on the back supposed to be loose? All mine are.
R
Click to expand...

Yes, they are all loose but this one was loose enough to make me worry. Stupid of me, really, since the studs do not contribute to accuracy.
 
kd4gij said:
Sounds good but where are the pictures?:dunno:
Click to expand...

I just knew someone was going to make me process those pics!

Here it is, mounted:

installed.jpg

And here is the set up for checking concentricity:

taper.jpg

This one is almost 5" OD, which is a nice fit.
 
mattthemuppet said:
that is a fantastic price and sounds like a great bit of kit. Could you update the ebay link with the item please and perhaps some pics? I had a bear of a time indicating the run out on my home made collet chuck because I don't have many long precise rods and supposedly ER collets don't like to grip just at the tip, they need the work inserted the length of the collet. Don't know how true that is though - certainly the small sizes only have the gripping region run 1/2 the length of the collet..
Click to expand...

Hi Matt. It looks like they are out of the direct mount chuck I bought. Here is what the ad looked like except it was listed as a direct mount D1-4:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/132MM-DIAME...335511?hash=item51de43c9d7:g:N8IAAOSwT~9WjCDj

ER collets need to grab at least 3/4" of the work to be accurate enough to measure run out. I suppose I could have chucked up some drill rod but I wanted to see what this chuck could really do and the dowel pin I have is balls on so I used it, short as it was.

Isn't it amazing what the Chinese can make for such low prices? I was blown away with this one, Matt.
 
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wow, that's really not much, even if you have to buy the back plate. To be honest, if I can make one, anyone can, so I'm not tooo surprised at the price. I'm more surprised that these more affordable versions didn't come out before - no critical purchase mass I guess. Given that there are only 3 reference surfaces and 1 threading op, they're shouldn't really cost a fortune anyway :)

if and when I get a bigger lathe, one of these would definitely be an option. I'm super pumped with my ER25 collet chuck, but after paying for material for a bigger one I doubt there'd be much money to be saved over buying one of these.

just have to get a bigger lathe now :D
 
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