Collets 5c vs. ER vs. MT3 vs. Drill Chuck etc ??

[mikey]

Oh, trust me; I understand wanting stuff. My shop is full of stuff that I wanted. I just "wanted" to make sure you were clear on the difference between want and need. Watch and see. You'll buy a collet chuck and use it for awhile, but over the years you will find a 3 jaw on the lathe the vast majority of the time.

I do agree with @ttabbal that a collet chuck is optimal for graver work; getting whapped on the knuckles with a lathe chuck jaw is not fun. I have used gravers with a jawed chuck many, many times but you can bet my sphincter tone is at maximum the entire time I'm working.

 

[mikey]

I fail to see why a hobbyist would invest in a collet system to make, as you say, one part at a time. I do fully understand the quest for ultimate accuracy that many desire, however if only producing several parts without a time constraint an adjustable chuck will do everything that you require and more. It is entirely possible that the people that recommend using only a collet chuck believe that this is the only way because that is what manufacturers use.

Well said!

 

[P. Waller]

Also some machines use push collets, Warner and Swasey for example.

There could be lenghty debate about which is better, push it into the taper or pull it into the taper, are collet pads acceptable?
Was W&S wrong?

They are still used to this day, there are also many types of collet systems in use beyond the commonly known 5C, ER, R8 type, choose wisely.
https://www.shophardinge.com/categories.aspx?catid=126
https://www.shophardinge.com/productGrid.aspx?catID=11031

 

[Bob Korves]

Also some machines use push collets, Warner and Swasey for example.

There could be lenghty debate about which is better, push it into the taper or pull it into the taper, are collet pads acceptable?
Was W&S wrong?

Push collets are often used in production machines. They way in which they work locates the work axially much more accurately than pull type collets do. That is important when making accurate parts as fast as possible from bar stock in a production environment. They would make life easier in a hobby shop as well, but are not often seen except on turret lathes and other production machines, where they are fairly common.

 

[Tozguy]

My 8'' four jaw independant chuck simply does not close to less than 3/8''. My 6'' scroll chuck holds smaller but lacks precision.

On the question of need versus want collets, it is clear that I don't need collets or even need a lathe. For me, a hobby is not an investment nor a question of livelihood. The money I spend on my hobbies is based strictly on entertainment value. It was very entertaining to make a D1-4 to ER32 chuck but have since not used it much.

 

[P. Waller]

My 8'' four jaw independant chuck simply does not close to less than 3/8''. My 6'' scroll chuck holds smaller but lacks precision.

On the question of need versus want collets, it is clear that I don't need collets or even need a lathe. For me, a hobby is not an investment nor a question of livelihood. The money I spend on my hobbies is based strictly on entertainment value. It was very entertaining to make a D1-4 to ER32 chuck but have since not used it much.

I also do not like to run small parts in a large chuck, a small chuck held in the large one is an option for this sort of work including a collet chuck as seen here. Such a setup has many of the benefits of a collet system yet retains the versatility of a scroll or independent chuck for the one off type of work done at home or in a job shop. This one is also pass thu allowing long bars to be inserted from the back and is dead length because the collet does not move.

 

[BGHansen]

I use 5C collets on my lathes for the reasons mentioned above. Have an ER-32 collet chuck on my Bridgeport for easy tool changes. Have R8's on a Jet mill. My 5C's are from CDCO. Have a set from 1/16" to 1 1/8" by 54's and a second set by 32's. I haven't used them all, but haven't had any run-out issues with the ones I've checked. One lathe has a 5C collet chuck, the other a lever-style draw tube. The collets are is rows of 8 columns on the 64th set so the common sizes are all in a couple of rows. If the stock is an odd ball size, just start trying to slip into a collet until I find the best fit.

Bruce

 

[chips&more]

I would get a GOOD 3 jaw chuck. And it MUST have the set-tru feature. Only on blue moon days do I use a collet on my bigger lathe and then it would be 5C. My watchmaker lathes, different story, mostly collets. And that would be 8mm, 10mm and 3c…Dave

 

[T Bredehoft]

I have a product made from 3/8 OD, 5/16 ID 6061 Aluminum tubing, I chase 3/8 24 threads on one end. I found (to my dismay) that the three jaw chuck left jaw marks on them. That's when I began to use my ER40 chuck. No jaw marks, now.
In all honesty I chase them about 3/4 depth and finish them with a die. A plastic cap screws on the end eventually.

 

[Jimsehr]

Most home shops don’t use ID collets. But as about 80 percent of machinied parts have holes in them it is a great way to hold second operations to finish them. There are 5c type ID collets that go up to 6 inch dia . I sometime machine a collet to fit a part where I only make one or two parts at a time . Then I put that collet aside for the next time I run that part again. Sometimes it is a year or two between runs. But the cost of a collet is cheap for tooling.
Jimsehr