# Finished my collet chuck today



## RWanke (Jun 18, 2019)

I think this thing may work out. Thanks for all the help on here with the metric threading, etc. Bought the nut and 4 collets so far. Now to come up with a couple fun projects to try it out.


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## MontanaLon (Jun 18, 2019)

At some point I am going to have to make one of those myself. Still have more tooling to buy before I am ready though. So much tooling.

That is pretty sharp looking. Simple but functional, my wife describes me like that so I take it as a compliment.


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## martik777 (Jun 18, 2019)

How is the runout?  Which nut did you buy?


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## ptsmith (Jun 18, 2019)

Excellent work!


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## markba633csi (Jun 19, 2019)

Great looking part- I want to make one too but my lathe is so, so lame it hardly deserves it LOL
Mark


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## AGCB97 (Jun 19, 2019)

What type spindle thread does your lathe have? It looks like you made it for ER40 collets. Is that true or another size?


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## RWanke (Jun 20, 2019)

Have not checked the runout yet (had to get everything ready to go fishing with my son today). I bought the nut from Little Machine shop along with the 4 ER-40 collets. 1/4" 5/16" 3/8" and 1/2" so far. My lathe is a South Bend 9c so the spindle thread is 1 1/2-8. First time doing internal single point threading. The threads came out a little looser than what I wanted but the register is a good fit.


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## RWanke (Jun 20, 2019)

For my next project I want to build a simple air powered steam engine. Unfortunately I don't have a mill so I would like to find some plans for a lathe only model. If anyone knows of a place I can find something like this please let me know.


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## RWanke (Jun 21, 2019)

Attempted to check runout today but all I have to check it with is a 1/2" piece of 12L15. I have no idea how round it is. Wish I had a piece of TG&P or at least a ground pin to put in it. But what I came up with was out by .0023 about 1" from the chuck. Not very impressive. It was out by about .0045 about 9" out. ???


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## Makinthings (Jun 21, 2019)

How did you handle the metric threading? That's exactly where I'm stuck with my collet chuck! 

Sent from my CLT-L04 using Tapatalk


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## Tozguy (Jun 22, 2019)

Great job on the ER chuck.



RWanke said:


> Unfortunately I don't have a mill so I would like to find some plans for a lathe only model. If anyone knows of a place I can find something like this please let me know.



There have been a few discussions on the forum about lathe milling attachments, both DIY and purchased ones.
This is one of them: 








						Lathe Milling Attachment questions
					

I'm working on building a basic milling attachment for my leblond using a angle plate. I'm going to put the angle plate on and attach my compound slide to do the vertical movement.  2 questions.  1. Are there any options for pre-built vises that would be easily adaptable to fit in the T-slot of...




					www.hobby-machinist.com


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## RWanke (Jun 22, 2019)

Makinthings said:


> How did you handle the metric threading? That's exactly where I'm stuck with my collet chuck!
> 
> Sent from my CLT-L04 using Tapatalk



I made  set of transposing gears by using the link Martik777 suggested. Go to this link. It was fairly simple solution.

http://web.archive.org/web/20090421082049/http://ixian.ca/gallery/metric/metric.htm


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## markba633csi (Jun 22, 2019)

Can you take another light pass on the internal taper to fix the runout?  That might improve things
As long as the chuck screws on to the spindle with repeatable accuracy you just need a slight tweak


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## ddickey (Jun 22, 2019)

Did you check the run-out of the ER taper?


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## martik777 (Jun 22, 2019)

Turn the 12L14 true and test runout again maybe with a smaller collet. Do you have a MT3 collet chuck to test?


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## RWanke (Jun 22, 2019)

martik777 said:


> Turn the 12L14 true and test runout again maybe with a smaller collet. Do you have a MT3 collet chuck to test?


No, don't have a MT collet chuck. Going to play with it a little more next week if I can.


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## Makinthings (Jun 23, 2019)

Why would there be runout when the taper was turned on the chuck mounted to the lathe headstock directly? 

Sent from my CLT-L04 using Tapatalk


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## RWanke (Jun 23, 2019)

ddickey said:


> Did you check the run-out of the ER taper?



Haven't checked that yet. You've got me wondering now.


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## Tozguy (Jun 23, 2019)

There are a few checks that could be done;

1. remove and reinstall the chuck on the spindle and measure run out of the internal taper with a DTI. Do this a few times and measure each time to see if there is any variation.
2. using some blue in the taper, rub a collet gently in the taper by hand to see how evenly the taper fits the collet.
3. procure or make some pins that fit each collet exactly. Mount a collet in the nut and insert the pin then tighten the nut to spec. Check the run out with a DTI on each pin to compare collets.
When using ER collets it is important to use grease on both  the chuck and nut tapers.

Note that ER nuts and collets are not all created equal. Part of the runout might be coming from the components you bought. Are there run out specs on the parts you bought?


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