# 5C collet drawer organizer



## jeremysf (Sep 11, 2021)

Quick project to make a 5C collet drawer organizer from some thin plywood. An hour or so with a hole saw (1.25” on 2” spacing) and some black spray paint and I think it turned out pretty good!


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## westerner (Sep 11, 2021)

That is nice! I have been heading that way for a while. 
How did you arrive at that set? I have the small set, divisions of 1/16, with a few additions.
I cannot find the "fill in" set of collets by 1/32 or 1/64. 
Must I sell the 1/16 set and put that money towards the 1/64 set?


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## Weldingrod1 (Sep 11, 2021)

I swear I found a fill in 5C set way back... ebay seller?

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


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## MrWhoopee (Sep 11, 2021)

Nice, very clean.


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## NCjeeper (Sep 11, 2021)

Looks good.


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## Brento (Sep 11, 2021)

That looks great!  I plan to buy the grizzly southbend oak chest that holds 5C collets. But i plan to make nylon bushings bc my SB uses 3C.


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## Nutfarmer (Sep 12, 2021)

Full in as needed. No reason to buy the rest until required


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## hman (Sep 12, 2021)

Just for fun, you could add some visual aids, to make it easier to find a given size collet - either outline the even eighths sizes with a silver Sharpie, or add labels.  I've found this to be nice timesaver for drill indexes, etc.


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## BGHansen (Sep 12, 2021)

hman said:


> Just for fun, you could add some visual aids, to make it easier to find a given size collet - either outline the even eighths sizes with a silver Sharpie, or add labels.  I've found this to be nice timesaver for drill indexes, etc.


Exactly what I did with my set ups. I went with 72 hole racks (8 x 9 hole pattern) with the 9-holes on the horizontal. The left edge is labeled 1/8 and 1/16 on the appropriate rows. Makes it easier to find the 1/2" collet by running across the 1/8" row.

Bruce


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## Firstram (Sep 12, 2021)

BGHansen said:


> Exactly what I did with my set ups. I went with 72 hole racks (8 x 9 hole pattern) with the 8-holes on the horizontal. The left edge is labeled 1/8 and 1/16 on the appropriate rows. Makes it easier to find the 1/2" collet by running across the 1/8" row.
> 
> Bruce


I can't quite *picture* that


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## BGHansen (Sep 12, 2021)

Firstram said:


> I can't quite *picture* that


Here you go!  Sizes increase from top to bottom, left to right.  Eight holes for the columns so rows are in order.  The top two photos are of my Clausing 5418 set up.  I leave a 5-C collet chuck on this lathe 100% of the time.  I ground a 3/8" square socket adapter to fit the chuck as it takes around 20 turns to fully engage/loosen a collet.  The other set on the red cart is at my Grizzly G0709 14x40 lathe.  

It's also nice when hunting for a best fit collet for an oddball diameter.  Work left to right until the work slips in, then up/down until it's snug.

Bruce


These 72-hole racks were around $60 as I recall.  Yup, moment of laziness as opposed to the OPers nice work!


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## Firstram (Sep 12, 2021)

That's a great way to do it!


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## Be_Zero_Be (Sep 12, 2021)

*I bought a 5C rack and made a drawer out of it.*


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## Brento (Sep 12, 2021)

I want to get one of these to set up by my lathe. 5c oak chest The lathe as i said uses 3C so i will make some plastic bushings of some sort to store them. Id like to store my 5C somewhere i just down know where i want to store them bc i would be using the collets as often.


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## jeremysf (Sep 16, 2021)

westerner said:


> That is nice! I have been heading that way for a while.
> How did you arrive at that set? I have the small set, divisions of 1/16, with a few additions.
> I cannot find the "fill in" set of collets by 1/32 or 1/64.
> Must I sell the 1/16 set and put that money towards the 1/64 set?



Inexpensive ebay find.


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