# I want an ER40 collet chuck for my Atlas 618.



## Pat of TN (Mar 12, 2014)

So what in the world should I look for?!

Hey, guys. As I said, I am looking for an ER40 collet chuck for my 6" Atlas lathe. Spindle has an MT2 taper, and a 1" - 8 TPI thread.

I am not sure about which would be better - an MT2 taper shank, or threaded onto the spindle. For rigidity and such, I would imagine the taper shank would be superior. The only disadvantage compared to a threaded-mount would be passing stock through the spindle, but with only a .530" through-hole, that doesn't mean a whole lot...

Taper shanks are also more common, it seems. There are several on Ebay for around $50 to $60. I'm not sure what to look for as far as brand, maker, etc.. Any chance you guys might be able to help me out?

And trust me, I've attempted to make one... I hate to say it, but I just don't see myself taking all the time it would take to make one, especially on my little, tiny, under-powered lathe.

Anyway, have at it, guys. Thanks in advance.


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## stevecmo (Mar 12, 2014)

All things considered, I would have to agree that the tapered shank is your best bet with your limited spindle bore.  I would be afraid of the runout on a purchased threaded chuck.   I did make my own for my Logan and am happy with the outcome.  Making your own would help it be concentric with your spindle but may be a little tough to achieve on that size lathe. 

Hope that helps.

Steve


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## LEEQ (Mar 12, 2014)

I have seen one on a plate with a bolt pattern, that with a threaded backplate blank would get you there. I want to do this too. The only one I was finding is a back order till?? I hope someone else knows more. It would be easier to find a morse taper chuck, but I for one don't want it pugging up the spindle. I might settle for er32, you can find that fixture on ebay.

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stevecmo said:


> All things considered, I would have to agree that the tapered shank is your best bet with your limited spindle bore.  I would be afraid of the runout on a purchased threaded chuck.   I did make my own for my Logan and am happy with the outcome.  Making your own would help it be concentric with your spindle but may be a little tough to achieve on that size lathe.
> 
> Hope that helps.
> 
> Steve



If you got a threaded blank and turned it true on your spindle you could put the collet fixture on the boss you just cut on your backplate blank.


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## darkzero (Mar 12, 2014)

Pat of TN said:


> I'm not sure what to look for as far as brand, maker, etc.. Any chance you guys might be able to help me out?



As far as the big quality name brands, I'm not aware of any that make them in MT2. Most make them for CAT, BT, NMTB, ISO, etc, tapers. Not many of them even make them in R8. I have Bison ER40 chucks in R8 & just to give you an idea I paid $135 for just the chuck, they have gone up since.

I've never used an Asian import ER chuck but I've seen good reviews of them, no brand names though. If I were in your shoes I would just buy from a reputable vendor like tools4cheap.net. They have the ER40 MT2 w/ collets set for $150. Or if you're looking for something a bit less expensive then ebay would be a better choice. 

I choose to go with a backplate because the through hole was important to me. I also didn't buy a complete set of generic brand collets & went with Techniks collets. They are Taiwan made & inexpensive with great quality.

I recently mounted one on the lathe, I used the ER40 plate from tools4cheap.net, they're the only ones I have seen that have the ER40 size. It's very easy to make a backplate for it to fit your lathe & using the lathe. You don't need a mill to drill the holes, a drill press or even handheld drill would do fine. After I mounted mine I measured the runout on the inside taper & the needle barely even moves at all.

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php?t=11475&page=2&p=185063&viewfull=1#post185063


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## David Kirtley (Mar 12, 2014)

I would hate to lose the through spindle option even for that small of a bore.  A half inch is better than nothing. I bought a screw on ER32 collet holder for my wood lathe (1"x8tpi ) from Penn State Industries (the pen turning people) through Amazon and also J.R. Beall sells them. I suspect Mr. Beall's will be be better made as he makes them and the one from Penn State was Chinese origin if I remember correctly.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCDOWEL.html?prodpage=1LC



Beall:

http://www.bealltool.com/products/turning/colletchuck.php


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## Pat of TN (Mar 13, 2014)

Lots of good info here... thanks a bunch guys. I think I will go with an MT2 shank chuck... 

Any comments on this item and seller off of Ebay? http://www.ebay.com/itm/MT2-ER40-Ch...6?pt=BI_Tool_Work_Holding&hash=item4cf970aa54

50 to 60 bucks just for the chuck makes me happy. Even if it were only within .001, that is far, far better than my three-jaw!


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## David Kirtley (Mar 13, 2014)

Not a bad price. I went with the ER32 because I already had the collet set and an adapter for my mill. 

Either see if it comes with or be sure to get a spanner for it as well.


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## darkzero (Mar 13, 2014)

Pat of TN said:


> Any comments on this item and seller off of Ebay? http://www.ebay.com/itm/MT2-ER40-Ch...6?pt=BI_Tool_Work_Holding&hash=item4cf970aa54



I have, been going back & forth with them for the past week. Good communication & they ship fast though. Don't get their ER40 spanner/hook wrench from them. It's too small, they sent me what appears to be for ER32 twice. Told me my machines must be wrong. :nuts: I was planning to get something else from them but now I don't trust them anymore.


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## LEEQ (Mar 13, 2014)

Anybody buy one of those er40 fixture plates for the lathe? I was hoping someone knew of one that was in stock.


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## Pat of TN (Mar 14, 2014)

darkzero said:


> I have, been going back & forth with them for the past week. Good communication & they ship fast though. Don't get their ER40 spanner/hook wrench from them. It's too small, they sent me what appears to be for ER32 twice. Told me my machines must be wrong. :nuts: I was planning to get something else from them but now I don't trust them anymore.



I see... so, you did buy the chuck? Have you found it to be of adequate quality? Then again, without a wrench, it may be hard to tell! What you say makes me a bit nervous about buying from them.


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## darkzero (Mar 14, 2014)

Pat of TN said:


> I see... so, you did buy the chuck? Have you found it to be of adequate quality? Then again, without a wrench, it may be hard to tell! What you say makes me a bit nervous about buying from them.



The only thing I bought from them is that wrench. I was planning on getting an ER40 MT3 chuck from them but I'm not so sure now since they don't know what they are talking about saying it's my machines' fault. I do have other ER40 wrenches that work fine, I just wanted the hook type for my Lyndex bearing nuts. I ended up just ordering a Lyndex one. Who knows, you might be ok with their chuck, I'm just not willing to risk it again from them. I had to pay shipping twice back to them & the wrench was only $13, that's enough wasted time & money for me.


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## Pat of TN (Mar 14, 2014)

Ahh, I understand. You're entirely right about dealing with that company after what they've done for you, or lack thereof. I think I'll avoid them myself... thanks for the tip, bud.


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## kd4gij (Mar 14, 2014)

Check out Tallgrass Tools He makes the er collet chuck eather complete or kit form. He list er 32 on the site but will do er40 also Just contact him He will work with you on what you wan't


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## darkzero (Mar 14, 2014)

Pat of TN said:


> Ahh, I understand. You're entirely right about dealing with that company after what they've done for you, or lack thereof. I think I'll avoid them myself... thanks for the tip, bud.



No problem. I just checked & tools4cheap.net does sell the ER40 MT2 chucks individually for $35. http://www.tools4cheap.net/products.php?cat=35

Kind of hard to see on that page as there is no picture by the description. It's on the right column of that page towards the bottom. Shipping is just over $15.

Now Jeff I can highly recommend. I got my ER40 plates from him as well as some other things.


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## Pat of TN (Mar 14, 2014)

I have heard good things about Tools4Cheap. I will ask them for some more info on the chuck, and I may just go with that. For 50 bucks shipped, that's not bad. I could probably pick up a couple collets and a wrench to go with it for under 100... thanks a bunch for showing me that, Darkzero.


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## LEEQ (Mar 14, 2014)

Tools for cheap is out of stock and not due in for some months on the er40 that would go on a back plate fyi. I hope to hear on that sooner rather than later.


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## Dataporter (Mar 14, 2014)

This company has an ER40 MT2 Collet Chuck. http://amtools.com/millingchucks.aspx 

About a year ago, I bought an ER40 MT4 from them for the head stock of my lathe and it is pretty good. Not like it was made in America, but very useable and the price was right...


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## darkzero (Mar 14, 2014)

Pat of TN said:


> I have heard good things about Tools4Cheap. I will ask them for some more info on the chuck, and I may just go with that. For 50 bucks shipped, that's not bad. I could probably pick up a couple collets and a wrench to go with it for under 100... thanks a bunch for showing me that, Darkzero.



No problem, the least I can do for "messing up" your plans with that other seller. Another great thing about Jeff is that he's very helpful & quick to answer emails so I'm sure he'll get you the info that you need.

I just may end up ordering a ER40 chuck from him too but in my case the taper really doesn't matter as I'm going to chop it off. I just need the front the portion so I can use the ER40 collets to mount stuff in my chuck on the super spacer. 

But I may end up getting a CAT 4" extension ER40 chuck & chop the taper off that if I find something I like on ebay. I do also have one more of the ER40 plates that I could user instead but I just may end up mounting that one to the rotary table, haven't decided yet. Thanks for this thread as it reminded me & got me thinking again.




LEEQ said:


> Tools for cheap is out of stock and not due in for some months on the er40 that would go on a back plate fyi. I hope to hear on that sooner rather than later.



Yeah I did see that. I was responding in regards to the MT2 ER40 which doesn't show out of stock. Seems like those ER40 plates sell out often. When I wanted to purchase one last year they had just sold out too. I contacted Jeff & he told me a few months to restock. So when they arrived I ordered 2 just in case. 

Tools4cheap.net is the only place I have found that has the ER40s, I searched for a while at that time. Maybe he gets them made for him along with those faceplates? Been thinking about getting one of those as they do look nice & has threaded holes too but I never even use the one I have now.

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Dataporter said:


> This company has an ER40 MT2 Collet Chuck. http://amtools.com/millingchucks.aspx
> 
> About a year ago, I bought an ER40 MT4 from them for the head stock of my lathe and it is pretty good. Not like it was made in America, but very useable and the price was right...



I hate to possibly spoil another one but that vendor was 800Watt from ebay. I have purchased from them when they were selling on ebay & never had an issue but if you search online you'll see a lot of bad experiences with 800Watt & later stories about very slow/long delivery from amtools after purchasing. Seems like when they first turned into amtools they were ok. Buyer beware.


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## omni_dilletante (Mar 15, 2014)

I am sorry to hear you had trouble with this eBay seller.  I purchased the MT4 ER40 chuck and collet set.  It was shipped promptly and although I have not done much with it I am pretty happy with it.







darkzero said:


> The only thing I bought from them is that wrench. I was planning on getting an ER40 MT3 chuck from them but I'm not so sure now since they don't know what they are talking about saying it's my machines' fault. I do have other ER40 wrenches that work fine, I just wanted the hook type for my Lyndex bearing nuts. I ended up just ordering a Lyndex one. Who knows, you might be ok with their chuck, I'm just not willing to risk it again from them. I had to pay shipping twice back to them & the wrench was only $13, that's enough wasted time & money for me.


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## JoeSixPack74 (Mar 15, 2014)

Pat of TN said:


> Lots of good info here... thanks a bunch guys. I think I will go with an MT2 shank chuck...
> 
> Any comments on this item and seller off of Ebay? http://www.ebay.com/itm/MT2-ER40-Ch...6?pt=BI_Tool_Work_Holding&hash=item4cf970aa54
> 
> 50 to 60 bucks just for the chuck makes me happy. Even if it were only within .001, that is far, far better than my three-jaw!



I just purchased this from them last night along with a spanner wrench.  Next Wednesday I can tell you what I think of it.  Hopefully I don't have the same problem DarkZero had with the spanner not fitting.  I only need it for the tailstock of my 9x20 to hold a 1.25" reamer with a 1" shank.


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## darkzero (Mar 15, 2014)

JoeSixPack74 said:


> I just purchased this from them last night along with a spanner wrench.  Next Wednesday I can tell you what I think of it.  Hopefully I don't have the same problem DarkZero had with the spanner not fitting.



Please do share, doesn't make a difference to me anymore but I am curious. They have both types of wrenches, the E type that has multipe notches & the hook type that just has 1 notch. I'm assuming if you get the E type you may be ok. I do have E types & they work fine but I need a hook type for one specific application. They kept sending me a ER32 wrench instead of for ER40. The fact that they told me they were in fact sending me the correct wrench & telling me my machines are the issue is aggravating. The ER collet nuts have nothing to do with my machines.


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## aametalmaster (Mar 15, 2014)

Pat of TN said:


> So what in the world should I look for?!



Some blocks of steel, tool bits, time and a neighbor to show you how to build one. I made the first ER-40 chuck for my SB 8 years ago and still love using it. I would make more of them for people but i want a good fit on their spindle...Bob


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## kd4gij (Mar 15, 2014)

Same here for my craftsman 12"


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## SG51Buss (Sep 1, 2014)

I know this is an old thread, but it was the inspiration for me to pursue this long-desired attachment, an ER-32 collet chuck for my Atlas/Craftsman 6" lathe.



David Kirtley said:


> I would hate to lose the through spindle option even for that small of a bore.  A half inch is better than nothing. I bought a screw on ER32 collet holder for my wood lathe (1"x8tpi ) from Penn State Industries (the pen turning people) through Amazon and also J.R. Beall sells them. I suspect Mr. Beall's will be be better made as he makes them and the one from Penn State was Chinese origin if I remember correctly.
> 
> http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCDOWEL.html?prodpage=1LC
> View attachment 72385



I liked this Penn State collet kit suggestion by David Kirtley because of the included collets, and the price.  It's difficult to justify remachining and possibly ruining an expensive attachment.  But, as cheap as it was, and expecting it to be of poor quality, the guilt level is lower and it's easier to justify hacking on it.  In other words, why pay for an accurately machined taper bore when you've got to recut it anyway to match your machine?

I also liked the large knurled base ring, drilled for a tommybar.  Convenient for me as I already have a tommybar chuck, and my tommybar fits this Penn State chuck perfectly.  So, here's my thread on fitting this ER-32 collet chuck onto my Atlas/Craftsman 6":

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php?t=25476


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