Collet selection for lathe; questions and advice

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architard

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Now that I've got my Clausing 4914 up and running I'm starting to look into getting it set up for using collets. I've read a lot of posts, and information out there on collets and this is what I've learned so far.

The lathe has a MT4 taper with a 1-1/16" bore in the headstock spindle. The spindle nose threads are 1-3/4" x 8. I believe as an original accessory you could get a 4c collet setup with either a closer or a drawbar.

In my research I've looked at 4C, 5C, and ER40. It seems to me that 5C is the most common and versatile, ie many other fixtures utilize the 5C collets. 4C seems to be hard to find and expensive. ER40 seems to be perfectly fine but probably not as versatile as the 5C.

I like the idea of being able to utilize a collet and still be able to pass long stock through the spindle. As I am aware that is not possible with a collet chuck, only with a drawbar or closer. I'd like to be able to hold up to 1" stock with the collets, I don't believe a 4C goes that big. However I don't believe a 5C collet would fit within a 1-1/16" spindle, so if I went with 5C I'd have to use a collet chuck. The ER40 goes up to 1" but again I'm not sure that would fit into my spindle without also having to use a collet chuck.

It may just not be possible with my lathe to be able to utilize up to a 1" collet capacity while also maintaining the ability to pass that through the spindle.

So I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on which direction to go based on their own experience. I'd love to tell you what kind of work I do to help inform your advice, but as I've just gotten into machining I really don't know where I'm headed in all this.
 
Some collet chucks do allow material to be passed through the headstock. I am using an ER32 collet chuck (cause it was cheaper than alternatives and I can use the collets in my mill) and am passing material through the headstock.

You won't be able to pass material through if you are using an internally threaded drawbar as the drawbar will be blocking the inside of your collets. if you have an outside threading drawbar/closer then you would be able to pass material through.

for 5C setup which IS indeed the most versatile you'll need a 5C collet CHUCK - make sure you get one that threads on the collets on the outside as otherwise it will block the end of the collets.
 
Ah, so it's a matter of the type of collet chuck (inside vs outside thread) which determines if you can pass through? So I CAN have my cake and eat it too!

I've started looking at chucks. The places I've looked don't seem to provide information on weather the chucks grip with the internal or external collet threads. From some of the drawings it appears they grip form the outside, how can you be sure?
 
Take a look at last months "Project of the month" winner. It was a 5c collet chuck ;)

[thread]8079[/thread]
 
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