ER-40 collet quality

LMS quality is about average for import, and their prices are a bit higher, but if you need to return/exchange something it's far easier with them.
Twice now they sent a replacement collet when I complained about runout and they didn't ask for the other one back. To me that's worth the higher price.
M
 
RWanke said:
I can't justify spending the kind of money that really good quality collets would cost me. I'm even dragging my feet on spending the money on the 12 I'm thinking of buying.
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Since you're using these collets on a lathe I would go on ebay and buy a cheap ER-40 set. They will very likely not be any better or worse than those sold by LMS. Then buy a decent nut for your chuck. This will give you the best outcome for the least money.

Now, if you intend to use ER collets on a milling machine the story changes. There you need to bite the bullet and buy good quality collets and nuts. I know us hobby guys are all about doing it for cheap but every bit of run out you have on a milling cutter will reduce the life and accuracy of that cutter so it is wise to not cut corners here. The good thing is that you don't need to buy full sets; only buy the sizes you need to hold common end mills and tools, then buy the best nut you can find.

Personally, unless you have a definite or specific need for an ER chuck on the lathe I would suggest you spend your money on an ER set up for your mill instead. You can do all you need to do on the lathe with a 3 and 4 jaw chuck. It will be slower but just as accurate, perhaps even more so.
 
I agree with Mikey, I'd buy better quality collets. I use Techniks ER collets & they are the best bang for the buck. I use ER-40 & ER-16 for tool holding for the mill.

ER collets weren't designed for workholding even though many people do use it for that. ER collets aren't good for holding short workpieces, it's best to have at least 2/3, full length is best, of the workpiece engaged in the collet. This why 5C is better for work holding but ER collets have a wider clamping range so less collets are needed compared to 5C. ER collets for work holding is slow to use also.

Like everyone else I made me a ER collet chuck for the lathe. Because of this plan I went with ER-40 for the mill so I could use the same collets for the lathe to save money. Well between my 6-jaw & 3-jaw Set-Tru chucks as well as my 4-jaw I never use the ER collet chuck. My 6-jaw is pretty much like a collet chuck except a collet chuck is much safer for your knuckles working up close. I regret going with ER-40. I wish I had gone with ER-32 for the mill & never made the ER-40 chuck for the lathe.

Since I use ER for tool holding, I don't have a need for a full set of collets. The smallest I run in the ER-40 is 1/2" end mills, maybe 3/8". 3/8" and smaller for the mill I use ER-16. ER-40 just gets in the way for holding small end mills, like a 1/8" end mill in an ER-40 chuck is just ridiculous. I use nominal sizes for endmills so I only need a number of sizes for each chuck, even if I added metric size endmills to my arsenal I still wouldn't need a full set of collets. Would just be a waste of money for me.
 
RWanke said:
My purchase was going to include their 4" collet chuck that I will put on a backing plate. I would really like to gain the experience of making my own collet adapter for my SB 9c to learn internal threading but I don't have the right change gears to thread Metric threads for the collet nut.
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You could almost make your own collet chuck by the time you machine a backing plate for that 4" collet chuck. BTW the nut on that chuck is exactly the same as my import nuts and I bet their collets are the same as bangood and ebay ones.

You can easily cut the 1.5mm threads with your change gears.
Here is a howto: http://web.archive.org/web/20090421082049/http://ixian.ca/gallery/metric/metric.htm
Just remember not to use the threading dial, keep the 1/2 nuts engaged, back out cross slide and reverse motor to make each pass.

Here's a 4 part video to make the chuck:
He has an alternate method of cutting the metric threads

I've made 4 of them, gets easier every time and is a fun project. If you have a mill you'll want a square and hex ER chuck too.

If you have some barbell cast iron locking collars, they are about the right size to make ER32 chucks
 
Greatly appreciate it guys. I've watched Halligans videos on making one of these about 4-5 times. Problem is I don't have a quick change gear box on my lathe like he does (change gears only) and don't know how to figure what combo of gears would work if even possible with my setup. The print is quite helpful.
 
Also, unfortunately I don't have a mill let alone the room for one. I've looked long and hard at the Precision Mathews smaller mills but it is just not justifiable budget wise right now.
 
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