# Er 32 collet set and milling chuck questions



## PT Doc (Dec 31, 2018)

Happy New Years Eve!

I want to get an ER collet chuck for a milling machine that is coming my way. Seems like ER32 will have enough range for my needs. I saw a video and can’t find it now of a combination set of metric and standard collets that covered the full range. Any recommendations of how to piece together this hybrid set of collets? I will also be getting a drill chuck so the lower end of the ER collet set doesn’t have to go down too small.

What are your thoughts on the Techniks brand? They make a variety of ER32 collet chucks and ER32 collets. They make a milling chuck that seems like it would be quite good for end mills. Glacern has a similar milling chuck. I wonder who makes them and who is rebranding them. Maritool is another option and they seem to have good quality tooling according to some youtubers.

The milling machine will be a NT40 taper. I will be modifying the drive keys and getting a longer drawbar of this NT40 machine so that it will accept CAT40 tooling. 

Thank you in advance for your help.


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## ttabbal (Dec 31, 2018)

I really like my Techniks ER40 set. They are very accurate and easy to use. I have not used their chucks, but I have no reason to doubt them. 

You might consider getting a 1mm spaced metric set. As I understand it, that covers everything as they are able to hold up to 1mm smaller than the spec size. Which also covers any imperial sized needs. I'm not sure that is also the case with ER32 but a quick Google implies that it is.


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## pstemari (Dec 31, 2018)

ER collets generally have a 1mm range, so that either a metric set in 1mm increments or a fractional set in 1/32" increments covers all possible sizes. Pick whichever one you use most often.

Techniks, Glacern, and Maritool are all reputable vendors. I have Maritool ER collets and am satisfied with them.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## magicniner (Dec 31, 2018)

With a 40 taper you could take advantage of some nice tooling on 30mm and 32mm shanks if you went for ER40.


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## PT Doc (Dec 31, 2018)

ttabbal said:


> I really like my Techniks ER40 set. They are very accurate and easy to use. I have not used their chucks, but I have no reason to doubt them.
> 
> You might consider getting a 1mm spaced metric set. As I understand it, that covers everything as they are able to hold up to 1mm smaller than the spec size. Which also covers any imperial sized needs. I'm not sure that is also the case with ER32 but a quick Google implies that it is.



Good to know that Techniks is good quality. Not that it matters but are they USA made?

If it not too much to ask, Why did you choose to go ER 40 vs 32? What size machine do you have? Do you use end mills in these collets? Thanks


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## PT Doc (Dec 31, 2018)

pstemari said:


> ER collets generally have a 1mm range, so that either a metric set in 1mm increments or a fractional set in 1/32" increments covers all possible sizes. Pick whichever one you use most often.
> 
> Techniks, Glacern, and Maritool are all reputable vendors. I have Maritool ER collets and am satisfied with them.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk



What sizes did you go with for the ER collets? Do you endmills in these collets? Thanks


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## PT Doc (Dec 31, 2018)

magicniner said:


> With a 40 taper you could take advantage of some nice tooling on 30mm and 32mm shanks if you went for ER40.



What kind of tooling are you thinking of? Thanks


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## ttabbal (Dec 31, 2018)

PT Doc said:


> Good to know that Techniks is good quality. Not that it matters but are they USA made?
> 
> If it not too much to ask, Why did you choose to go ER 40 vs 32? What size machine do you have? Do you use end mills in these collets? Thanks



I went with ER40 as I have a 1.5" spindle bore on my lathe and wanted to be able to use as much as possible. They also seem well sized for my Bridgeport. 

I'm not sure where they are manufactured.


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## Z2V (Dec 31, 2018)

I picked up a 13 pc ER40 set of Techniks from All Industrial for $148.00 They are normally about $250.00   I think the sale ends tomorrow.


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## mikey (Dec 31, 2018)

Techniks collets are made in Taiwan. They are very good collets that are competitively priced and are among the best collets made.

If you're going to use them in the mill, either the Imperial or Metric set will work. Much is made of coverage but unless you are using primarily metric tooling, get the Imperial set. ER collets clamp best at the nominal size they are made for.

I think you should use the ER size appropriate to the tooling you plan to use on your mill. I mean that an ER-32 system goes up to 3/4", while an ER-40 goes up to 1". Smaller mills can't usually handle cutters of 1" so an ER-32 system would be sufficient. Either system will work; I have both. However, the ER-32 is used the most on my smaller mill and is cheaper.

As for brands, the best collets are probably made by Rego-Fix, followed by ETM, Techniks, Lyndex and others. For tool holding on the mill, I highly recommend you spend the money for a good set of ER collets because accuracy here matters. I use ETM ER-40 collets and Techniks ER-32 collets.

If you want to use them for work holding on the lathe, get a cheap import set for that.

Many makers have good chucks. Rego-Fix is one of the top tier brands. ETM is made in Israel and is also top shelf. Glacern supposedly is very good; parts made in China but machined and finished here in the US. Lyndex and many others make good chucks, too. At the bottom are the Chinese clones and those should be your last choice unless you are strapped for cash.

If you opt for a lesser brand of chuck then at least buy a really good nut from one of the premier brands because it makes a difference.


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## mksj (Dec 31, 2018)

I would look at the size range of end mills, etc. that you plan on using to determine the size of ER chuck you want to use. Since I have an R-8 collet system on my mill, I use an ER-40 collet set for 7/8" and 1" end mills, but on my last mill I prefered day to day useing the ER-32. If you are just going up to 3/4" shanks for general machining of smaller size endmills I would suggest an ER-32 because the chuck is much smaller and a bit easier with regard to tightening the collet down. 

If you are using this only for milling with end mills, most end mills come with fixed shank sizes, so you really only need a 1/8" increment set, possible 1/16". DO NOT GET A METRIC SET if you are predominately using it for imperial sized end mills. The 1 mm compressability is possible, but I can say from my own experience and that of others that in practice the TIR suffers when pushed to their limits. It also depends on the type/brand of ER collets you buy. I have several precision ER collets that are for a fixed size end mill/indicator with a narrow +/- window.

Brand wise, I would recommend Techniks first as a high quality mid price collet. Well worth it, although ER collets tend to have tighter specs/TIR than say R-8. So you can do OK with some of the lesser brands. Also sometimes you can pick up an Iscar or other higher end set on eBay occasionally reasonably priced. My ER-32 set is Iscar, my ER-40 is Z-Live which are also very decent, but I would have purchased a Techniks set if it was afforable. My ER-40 system is predominately for my lathe, and I use a 1/32 set to get a full clamping range fo odd size stock. If the mill only I would get the Techniks  1/16" set and be done with it.
https://zlivecenter.com 

By a decent ER chuck and consider a better nut, either ball bearing like from Metaltech, TECHNIKS 41932 ER32 Power Coat Hex Nut, there are several others. I have ER chucks from Iscar, Showa, and the nickle plate precision ones from Shar's and they all measure under 0.0001" TIR.


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## Bob Korves (Dec 31, 2018)

+1 on the ER40 collet adapter, especially since the machine is 40 taper, capable of doing large and heavy work.  I could see a ER32 set if you also bought some 40 taper collets for driving the larger common Imperial straight shank sizes like 7/8, 1, 1 1/8, and 1 1/4".  That would be satisfactory.  Tightening ER collets to spec takes some effort in the larger sizes if the tooling will be doing heavy work.  Things may look somewhat different if it is a CNC machine you are getting, that has automatic tool changers.


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## ddickey (Jan 1, 2019)

ER-32 max size is 7/8".
If you have  40 taper definitely go with an ER-40 setup imo.


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## PT Doc (Jan 1, 2019)

Thank you very much to everyone for the excellent information. I will be getting the Techniks er40 collet set. Their milling chuck does seem like it would provide excellent holding of end mills.

Happy New Year!


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## PT Doc (Jan 1, 2019)

After looking into the TIR on various ER40 collet sets, the Techniks has the lowest TIR of 0.0002. Travers reported ETM as 0.0005. I thought that the Techniks set would be considerably more expensive because of the low TIR but as was stated above allindustrial.com had the set for $148.36.  Some other Techniks stuff was barely a better deal but the Noga 
stuff was very well priced. I love finding good deals on stuff I was going to buy anyway. Thanks again for the help. I will be asking for more help/recommendations when the machine arrives.


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## magicniner (Jan 5, 2019)

PT Doc said:


> What kind of tooling are you thinking of? Thanks



U Drills, milling cutters, lotsa stuff, companies have made a 32mm ER40 collet specifically to allow ER40 users access to the available tooling in that shank size. 
I was discussing this with my tooling supplier and he mentioned what a good idea it was giving wider access to the range of 32mm shank tooling


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## PT Doc (Jan 5, 2019)

When looking at collets for er40 collet chucks, I see the max size as 1”. 
The Techniks milling chuck is labelled as 1.25” and that it 32mm but the reduction sleeves on the Techniks site go up to 1” only and 25mm only. 
For me, 1” max capacity should be plenty but I could see finding larger endmills for good priced simply because demand could be lower.
Thanks for the help.


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## Bob Korves (Jan 5, 2019)

PT Doc said:


> After looking into the TIR on various ER40 collet sets, the Techniks has the lowest TIR of 0.0002. Travers reported ETM as 0.0005.


Accuracy claims by tooling makers and sellers, especially of Asian import tooling, are not reliable for the use of choosing one brand over another -- in my experience.


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## ddickey (Jan 5, 2019)

Just over 1.125" for ER40
https://www.maritool.com/Collets-ER...4/p17856/ER40-COLLET-29.5mm/product_info.html


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## ddickey (Jan 5, 2019)

I was looking on Maritool.com and see they have an ER40 collet chuck with a 1.05" through hole. Cocentricity is <.0002".


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## PT Doc (Jan 11, 2019)

ddickey said:


> Just over 1.125" for ER40
> https://www.maritool.com/Collets-ER...4/p17856/ER40-COLLET-29.5mm/product_info.html



Nice find. Thank you.


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