Is There A Definitive Article On Collets

I too like the Beale, but consider it a kit. I had to true up the taper on mine afer mounting on my lathe. Once done, it holds accurately. As received, not so much - like out by over .003" right at the collet face.
 
I can collet up to 1 3/8 stock THRU my 11 inch Logan lathe. With my collet chuck. In fact I held my 1 3/8 5c collet tube in a collet when I made it fit my lathe.
Jimsehr
 
Jimsehr said:
I can collet up to 1 3/8 stock THRU my 11 inch Logan lathe. With my collet chuck. In fact I held my 1 3/8 5c collet tube in a collet when I made it fit my lathe.
Jimsehr
Click to expand...

Jimsehr,
That's huge!
What collet system is that you have on the Logan? (ie, ER-50, or a manufacturer specific one?)

Thanks,
-brino
 
brino
I have 6 or more collet chucks. Two that fit a Logan spindle 2.25 thread ,one that fits a Logan LOO spindle thread and about six more that fit different spindles. I have them that take 5c collets , 2j collets, and 3j collets . Hardinge collets. And some that take rubberflex collets that will go thru the spindle 1 3/8 dia. The 2j collet will take 1 3/8 thru. The 3j will take 1 3/4 thru the front of collet till it hits the front of the spindle.
Some of the speed collet chucks are Hardinge-Sjogren some are Jacobs.
Yesterday there was a collet chuck on Ebay for $95 plus $25 shipping. It did not come with collets . Collets sell for new about $50 each brand new and you need 11 collets for the full set. You can get them cheaper on ebay. they go from 1/8 thru 1 3/8 rubberflex.
MSC still carries Slogren speed collet chucks for camlock spindles collet chucks starting about $1300 and the larger ones go for more
then $2000.
But if you find one on ebay you could make your own back plate . That is what I did on the first one I use on my Logan 11 inch spindle.
jimsehr
 
I like my 5C set up . I just wish I had a larger machine that I could get the through advantage of the 5C.
 
Thinking about collets . They can be so much faster then a chuck . You can load and unload in seconds . If you have a spring loaded stop it can take only about 5 seconds to load and unload parts because you don’t have to stop spindle. You can use 5c step collets to hold like a 4 inch dia 1/8 thick part. You can use 5c collets to hold hex or square parts. And you can put a 5c collet in a lathe to run a part then use the same collet to hold the part in a mill or other machine to drill a hole pattern or mill a slot etc. You can offset a bore on a soft 5c collet to turn excentric parts like cams. I have even threaded soft collets to hold on the thread pitch of parts.
And you can use ID 5c collets to hold on the bores of parts .
 
This chart is just the basics for selecting what ER Collets might be best for you. It's just numbers from Daryl's Hardinge link above boiled down to overall size (inside the holder) & what sizes of stock you should be able to work with for each style.

*EDIT* This chart is just for metric sets. A chart that includes imperial sets is given further down (page 2 of this thread).

ER COLLET DIMENSIONS 01.jpg
 
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BROCKWOOD said:
This chart is just the basics for selecting what ER Collets might be best for you. It's just numbers from Daryl's Hardinge link above boiled down to overall size (inside the holder) & what sizes of stock you should be able to work with for each style.

View attachment 268341
Click to expand...

Brockwood,

That's a handy reference to have but, I noticed an error in the ER 32 Row. The US Size Range shows a max of .118 when in fact a standard US set will go up to 3/4.

Also, as a general note of consideration, most ER collet sets are offered in expanded ranges at the low and high end. ER 40 for example, can go up to 1-1/8.

BTW: We learn something every day. I didn't know there was an ER 8 setup. I bet they're cute little devils.

Ray
 
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