# Shars 5" ER40 Zero Set Fine Adjustment Collet Chuck



## mksj (Feb 6, 2018)

Wish this was around previously so I wouldn't have had to make my own set-true ER40. This is the first I have seen of a Set True or Set Fine adjustment style ER40 chuck from a manufacturer, and at a reasonable price.  Should be easily to use different style back plates. Also see they now offer ER bearing nuts, although do not know the quality. FYI.
http://www.shars.com/5-er40-zero-set-fine-adjustment-collet-chuck
http://www.shars.com/er-40-ball-bearing-collet-nut


Works best on light cutting operation with easy to cut material such as aluminum or alloy steel
4 Fine adjustment screws on the side can be used to true up the chuck within 0.00005“ TIR repeatability
Collet chuck body is made from forged steel and precision machined
Compatible with standard ER40 collet which has a range of 1/8" to 1"
Max 6,000 rpm
Comes with 3 mounting bolts M8 x 70mm
Offer in plain back mounting with various threads size back plate or D series direct camlock mounting


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## ddickey (Feb 6, 2018)

Not sure if alloy steel belongs in the same sentence with aluminum.


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## Alan H. (Feb 6, 2018)

Thanks for the tip Mark. I need one of those. Need to look for a backplate now.


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## ttabbal (Feb 6, 2018)

I saw those, but couldn't find any reviews for them. I'm interested in picking up an ER40 collet chuck for D1-4 in the future and found these interesting. If I can really adjust the runout that well, it might be worth the extra cost for these and some nicer collets.


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## pstemari (Feb 6, 2018)

Your D1-4 probably has a MT5 in the bore—lots of ER chucks will fit that directly, which should have less runout.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## ttabbal (Feb 6, 2018)

pstemari said:


> Your D1-4 probably has a MT5 in the bore—lots of ER chucks will fit that directly, which should have less runout.



It does. The only reason I've considered not going that route was to keep the through-bore accessible for longer stock.


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## mksj (Feb 6, 2018)

With a set-tru chuck you can dial the TIR down to nil., the standard D1-4 ER40 chuck direct mounts (which I previously ordered and returned) often had issues of bad TIR and also axial skew. A few issues with the MT5 to ER40 adapter, it requires a 3/4" or 20mm drawbar which further compromises the through hole capacity and limits the usefulness of the chuck in this application. The better MT5 to ER40 adapter are expensive, the cheaper ones are about the same price as this Shars chuck and the adapter spec. for runout is 0.010-0.015mm (0.0004-0.0006") which is worse than the Shar's.  Your machine spindle is unprotected from grit and swarf.


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## mikey (Feb 6, 2018)

mksj said:


> Offer in plain back mounting with various threads size back plate or D series direct camlock mounting.



Looks really good, Mark. I wonder if they mean that it is available already mounted to a D1 back plate.


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## jbolt (Feb 6, 2018)

Gotta love Shars. On their Ebay store the shipping for the chuck is $51. Through the website it is $31. Price of the chuck is the same.


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## middle.road (Feb 6, 2018)

That sucker would fit in a medium flat rate.....
Shar's shipping has gone wonky since November. 
Ordered (4) AXA holders then and it took over a week for FedEX SuperSaver to get here. And they charged $12 for shipping.
I'm looking for (8) or so BXA's now and the shipping charges came in at over $42.
I sent them a message and just received this back:


```
In order to get combined shipping, all items must be added to your cart. 
You do have to commit to buy, however you do not need to pay. 
If you are not happy with the shipping, we can simply cancel the order

Regards
```

That's all fine and good but I doubt that is how eBay will see it...


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## Bob Korves (Feb 7, 2018)

jbolt said:


> Gotta love Shars. On their Ebay store the shipping for the chuck is $51. Through the website it is $31. Price of the chuck is the same.


Sure.  That is to pay for the cut that eBay takes off the top and the additional hassles.  Work it the other way.  Find All Industrial's deal and part number for the tool holders on eBay.  Then call them and give them the part number and ask for their best price delivered to wherever you are.  Ask them to make it good because eBay will not get a cut.  I did that, got an incredible price, much lower than anybody else would go,  They showed up the next day.  Sellers are very happy to cut eBay out of a sure deal.


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## jbolt (Feb 7, 2018)

Bob Korves said:


> Sure.  That is to pay for the cut that eBay takes off the top and the additional hassles.  Work it the other way.  Find All Industrial's deal and part number for the tool holders on eBay.  Then call them and give them the part number and ask for their best price delivered to wherever you are.  Ask them to make it good because eBay will not get a cut.  I did that, got an incredible price, much lower than anybody else would go,  They showed up the next day.  Sellers are very happy to cut eBay out of a sure deal.



The flip side to Shars is on several occasions I found the Ebay price was less than the website and with free shipping so go figure.


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## Bob Korves (Feb 7, 2018)

jbolt said:


> The flip side to Shars is on several occasions I found the Ebay price was less than the website and with free shipping so go figure.


That shows that Shars has more wiggle room...


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## middle.road (Feb 7, 2018)

Bob Korves said:


> Sure.  That is to pay for the cut that eBay takes off the top and the additional hassles.  Work it the other way.  Find All Industrial's deal and part number for the tool holders on eBay.  Then call them and give them the part number and ask for their best price delivered to wherever you are.  Ask them to make it good because eBay will not get a cut.  I did that, got an incredible price, much lower than anybody else would go,  They showed up the next day.  Sellers are very happy to cut eBay out of a sure deal.


Neat, from Chicago - SanFran in a day. FedEX couldn't get those AXA's here in East TN for a week. They sat for (3) days at the airport I believe.
I may try calling shars tomorrow. A dollar here a dollar there and soon you have enough for a gallon of fuel.


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## davidpbest (Feb 7, 2018)

I would still want this on an extra thick backplate to push the collet out away from the lathe spindle nose, closer to the carriage.   But it's nice to see someone is finally putting out a Set-Tru style ER40 collet chuck.   Thanks for posting this Mark.


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## Alan H. (Feb 7, 2018)

davidpbest said:


> I would still want this on an *extra thick backplate* to push the collet out away from the lathe spindle nose, closer to the carriage.   But it's nice to see someone is finally putting out a Set-Tru style ER40 collet chuck.   Thanks for posting this Mark.


David, 
Do you know of a "store bought" backplate that would work for this or would you make one from scratch?


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## mksj (Feb 7, 2018)

Alan H said:


> Do you know of a "store bought" backplate that would work for this or would you make one from scratch?



The Bison 7-875-054 - 5" D1-4 Back Plate for Set-Tru should work, the Gator equivalent would be FLA-125D4 that usually runs about 50% less. You could also call Shar's, they may have one but may not be listed yet.  I would call Ajax, I purchased my FLA-125D4 from them, their search function/menu system is poor so it does not show up on their site. The shipping costs with Shar's is disturbing, way out of line with the actual cost and often poor packaging.  Almost all their plastic boxes (like parallels) seem to show up broken.  I have ordered a few things through them in the last couple of years, some good, some not so good. You get the feeling that there are just a few suppliers and everything is rebranded with the different seller's logo. Still, they seem to do a bit better in the QC department then buying from no-name vendors.
https://www.ajaxtoolsupply.com/bibapldtafor3.html


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## davidpbest (Feb 7, 2018)

Alan H said:


> David,
> Do you know of a "store bought" backplate that would work for this or would you make one from scratch?



Here is what I did Alan - started with a Bison 7-878-054F backplate that I bought from MSC for $161 (their part #54987250), and added a spacer between it an the collet chuck:  

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidpbest/albums/72157684506733032

I've been super happy with this setup.   I needed the collet chuck pushed out because I don't usually have the compound mounted on my PM1340, preferring instead the solid tool post mounting setup I covered in another posting - but shown here:   

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidpbest/albums/72157684102384825


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## middle.road (Feb 7, 2018)

Bob Korves said:


> Sure.  That is to pay for the cut that eBay takes off the top and the additional hassles.  Work it the other way.  Find All Industrial's deal and part number for the tool holders on eBay.  Then call them and give them the part number and ask for their best price delivered to wherever you are.  Ask them to make it good because eBay will not get a cut.  I did that, got an incredible price, much lower than anybody else would go,  They showed up the next day.  Sellers are very happy to cut eBay out of a sure deal.


Bob, could you elaborate on your interaction with Shars? Were you purchasing Tool Post holders or a different item?
Their response on eBay yesterday was a tad short, so I'm sure if it's worth the time to call them.  Thanks.


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## Bob Korves (Feb 7, 2018)

middle.road said:


> Bob, could you elaborate on your interaction with Shars? Were you purchasing Tool Post holders or a different item?
> Their response on eBay yesterday was a tad short, so I'm sure if it's worth the time to call them.  Thanks.


My transaction was with All Industrial Tools.  They are also on eBay, and compete with Shars and the others there.  By going direct to them, I took eBay and the tithe they charge out of the equation, also took the competition out of the mix, and by asking them for their "best out the door and delivered to me" pricing I took the shipping game out of the equation and reduced everything to how badly they wanted to make the sale and still make a profit.  It worked, and has worked other times as well.  Not always...

Don't play their games.  Put them on the spot.

Shars seems to be trying to build themselves into the Chinese tools MSC.  So is MSC, and others.  Yawn.


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## jbolt (Feb 7, 2018)

I've used a couple of the South Bend thick back plates for adjustable chucks. Good quality and reasonably priced. 

http://www.southbendlathe.com/products/accessories/back-plates

Here is a D1-4 on Amazon. 

https://www.amazon.com/South-Bend-L...pID=415LXTnGUsL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch


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## jbolt (Feb 7, 2018)

This is my ER40 collet chuck. 




Under $30. I use it my adjustable 3-jaw chuck. They also make a square block that can be used in a 4-jaw chuck.  I recently ran some parts that had milling and drilling ops. Turn the part, take the part still in the holder and run the second ops on the mill.


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## gwade (Feb 7, 2018)

What is the source of the above hex/square holders? I have an adjustable 4 jaw currently on my lathe.   I may be interested in a square block.  I've considered making my own since I didn't know they existed.


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## jbolt (Feb 7, 2018)

gwade said:


> What is the source of the above hex/square holders? I have an adjustable 4 jaw currently on my lathe.   I may be interested in a square block.  I've considered making my own since I didn't know they existed.


https://www.amazon.com/HHIP-3900-51...rd_wg=oYjDh&psc=1&refRID=XK585YSCVVFCS5HARDF7


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## ttabbal (Mar 31, 2018)

So, I picked one up along with the D1-4 backplate. They don't offer it pre setup. The backplate they recommend is 202-7048. 

Packaging was good, no significant damage in spite of signs of rough handling. 

I unpacked and cleaned up both parts. So far, pretty good. 2 things I don't like. It doesn't come with a spanner for the nut. That's like selling a 3jaw without the key. I have one that came with the lathe that fits it though. The second is that the threads have chips and lubricant in them. Mildly annoying, but given the price I guess I'll live.  

I mounted the backplate on the lathe and got the pins set up. It sits nicely on the spindle. It needs to be turned to fit into the chuck. Looks like about 0.1" diameter reduction. That should make it as concentric as possible with my spindle, which is probably the point. Assuming I don't screw it up.  

Indicating on the OD of the mating surface shows about 2 thou runout. Doesn't really matter I suppose since I have to turn it anyway. I just wanted to see where I was starting from. The face was within 0.0005. 

Looking at the chuck, there are 4 set screws around the OD that thread into the mating surface. So I suspect I want to make sure there is a little play in there. Perhaps 10 thou? There are also 4 threaded holes in the front that look like you can use them to adjust the alignment that direction as well, though it did not include screws for those holes. I guess I'll add them if needed. Should the front end of the ER40 taper be accurate enough to adjust that? 

I'm reading up on turning cast iron, but hope to have it mounted and indicated over the weekend.


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## mksj (Apr 1, 2018)

On my ER40 Set-Tru that I machined, I gave myself a total of 10 thousandth adjustment room for TIR adjustment. As far as the other face adjustment screws, haven't seen those before, I would first see how it works without using them. Have not seen any ER chuck that comes with a nut wrench unless it is a complete kit, also people often switch out the stock nut to a bearing or higher quality which will most likely use a different wrench. Thread quality, well it is at a price point. I purchased a direct mount ER-40 chuck a couple of ears ago, the TIR was quite bad as well as the fit and finish. But if this new one works, it saves a lot of time and money turning your own. Looking forward to see how yours turns out.


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## ttabbal (Apr 5, 2018)

I agree on the thread chips, it's made to a price and part of the price for me is cleaning up the chips. Not a big deal. After cleaning the threads are cut well and the nut spins on/off with ease. 

I made an HSS tool for cast iron and it cut nicely. I turned it down to leave 10 thou for adjustment. 

The adjustment phase was about like indicating a part in a 4 jaw. After playing with the adjustment, I have under 0.0005 indicating on the taper. With a collet and an endmill and a nice straight drill bit, I get right on 0.0005. I expect I could get it better, but I will save that for after I get a 1 tenth DTI. Due to the test materials, I could only test right next to the collet. 

Overall I'm quite happy with the chuck and would recommend it.


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## 65Cobra427SC (Nov 20, 2018)

Consider anyone who already purchased their Shars collet chuck lucky. I've been trying to find one for days with no luck. Looks like they've all been bought up and the only one's available are now selling on eBay for $1,400 give or take... nope, that's not a typo. Pretty sad, isn't it?

There are some knock offs on eBay but no idea if they're any good or not. I could buy one, then machine it to make it true but was hoping someone here might have a source or a better idea?

Thanks


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## ddickey (Nov 20, 2018)

I emailed about the price. That is ridiculous.


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## davidpbest (Nov 20, 2018)

Consider making your own Set-Tru ER40 collet chuck system.   I prefer an ER40 collet chuck with more projection from the spindle nose than the Shars unit.   This is why I like more stickout:   https://flic.kr/s/aHsm1cKjPB

I've posted plans and full details for making your own Set-Tru ER40 collet chuck here - just click on each photo for a complete description:  

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm1PtHsq

As for sourcing the various components, here is where I got my materials - you may have other/better sources.
The collet chuck part can be ordered here:  *https://tinyurl.com/y8kx5frg*
The Bison D1-4 Camloc back plate is available here:   *https://tinyurl.com/yd6mtyum*
And the steel here:  *https://tinyurl.com/yd6mefg5*

It's a fun project, and I am more than pleased with the repeatability of the Bison Camlock mount and the quality of the ER40 collet chuck.   The only other thing I have done is moved to a REGO-FIX ER40 collet nut which has improved concentricity (repeatable TIR) considerably (relative to any of the six other brands I've tried).   That REGO-FIX ER40 nut is available here:   *https://tinyurl.com/ybocxulp*


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## 65Cobra427SC (Nov 20, 2018)

Thanks David. I've looked at your threads before... immaculate work I might add. What you did made complete sense... using the 100mm collet chuck was a smart move with that spacer. But I won't be using a spacer, and the Shars 125mm version appealed to me more because I already have a D1-4 matching plate. Unfortunately, Shars doesn't have them in stock and the question is if they'll get any more. The only place I can find them is on eBay, but don't know the good sellers from the bad. Thanks anyway.


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## ddickey (Nov 21, 2018)

The title and price was raised/changed due to one item remaining. If the listing goes to zero, e-bay will close the listing and we would need to re-write the entire post. As soon as the inventory is replenished, the price/title will fall back in line. The ETA on the next shipment is around 30-60 days


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## Dabbler (Nov 21, 2018)

Nice work, David!


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## kd4gij (Nov 21, 2018)

https://www.shars.com/5-er40-zero-set-fine-adjustment-collet-chuck


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## 65Cobra427SC (Nov 21, 2018)

Yes! I was finishing my purchase list when I noticed it was still in my cart but the out of stock notice was gone.

I'm now waiting for midnight CST time


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## T Bredehoft (Nov 21, 2018)

https://www.shars.com/5-er40-zero-set-fine-adjustment-collet-chuck

This ad says "Now In Stock"


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## ddickey (Nov 21, 2018)

20% off doesn't start until midnight.


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## jdedmon91 (Nov 22, 2018)

I use a ER 32 but I machined down a backplate, mine came from Grizzly because odd cam lock chuck. Then I machined an aluminum plate to fit the adapter on and bolted it to the backplate. The adapter was turned on the lathe While mounted to the backplate. Of course I left the register a 
.005 so I could adjust the adapter for runout 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## diamond (Mar 12, 2019)

Sorry to raise an older thread but wondering about this setup since I'm in the market for collets for my Bridgeport I recently acquired.   I also have a PM 1340gt.   I'd like to be able to use the collets in both so thinking of going ER40 and that led me to this thread.   As  others mentioned I am not wanting to go MT5 on the chuck and have to use a drawbar to allow long stock.

Are folks using the Shars Zero Set still happy with it after a while?  

May not have been available when this thread started but I see Shars does have a D1-4 backplate for a very reasonable price.   At current Shars website prices I could get the zero set chuck, bearing nut & backplate all for about 250 (+ ship).  This is attractive from a price point of view.    

Anyone else have experience with the Shars D1-4 backplate?   The price has me wondering about a "get what you pay for" disappointment if I go that way.   Always a risk I know.   But sometimes I get pleasantly surprised too.   

Thanks for any input!

-dave


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## ttabbal (Mar 12, 2019)

Still running mine. No problems to report with it or the D1-4 mount.


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## T Bredehoft (Mar 12, 2019)

I, too, saw this thread a few months ago, ordered one to use on my (at that time not yet delivered) PM 10-30 Lathe. In the process of mounting it on the appropriate  backing plate I incorporated a screw-in adjustable part stop for short pieces.


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## diamond (Mar 23, 2019)

So to follow up I did end up getting the Shars adjustable ER40 and their D1-4 backplate.  Today I set it up on my PM 1340gt.   I followed the advice of another (deleted?) member in this thread:  https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/shars-er40-chuck-on-a-pm1340gt.68998/

The short story, I'm extremely pleased.   Thank you Mark Jacobs for originally posting about it.

Skim cutting the back plate was very messy.   I've never machined cast before.  No chips, just black dust everywhere.   Yuck.   Perhaps that's my inexperience, was using a carbide insert and 1100 rpm.   Tried slower but didn't like the finish.  Even that didn't turn out to be a mirror but it is nice and true.

Once that was done, I mounted up the chuck and dialed it in.  Was able to get it down to less than 0.0002 runout on a Mitutoyo dial indicator.  Honestly it's probably ~0.0001.  Needle hardly moves.  Was very easy to dial in.   I didn't take it off the spindle and remount it to see how it holds.

After machining the backplate:



With the chuck installed:



With a bearing nut & a test cut.   This is going to be SO much nicer for small parts.



Since I do use my compound I really don't need more stick out.   This seems to be plenty.


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