Organize And Store My Er-32 Collets......finally

[Millalot]

I got my first ER-32 collet set for my old lathe years ago. Since then I have bought many more collets from ebay and my local used tool store, both imperial and metric.

Up 'til now they were all thrown in a box making it a long process to find the right size for a job.
No More!

I started with a piece of left-over luan plywood that would fit into a tool-box drawer. I marked out and drilled a grid of 1-1/4"(I think) holes with a Forstner bit.
View attachment 109870

I added some MDF strips on the bottom for legs (and some strength); one each at top and bottom edges and one between rows near the middle.

I once made a comment here worrying about wood in contact with metal due to the wood absorbing humidity and keeping it against the metal. At that time someone suggested soaking the wood in oil (if I could figure out who said it in what thread, I would give credit!). So I soaked it face-down in a tray with clean motor oil overnight, then let it hang and drip off the following day.

I left space at one end of the drawer for the lathe adapter and pin wrenches. It turned out alright:
View attachment 109871

All that's left is to add some little labels below each of the collets marking the size.
Not only will they be easy to find, but I'll also see what sizes I am missing.

Organizing is never finished....what to do about those large drill bits......hmmmmm.


-brino

Soaking the wood with oil is a good idea, I have accumulated a lot o tooling in various cardboard boxes. So before storing tools in them I soak the boxes with heavy oil this helps preventing moisture and chemical reaction against the tools.
Your ER racks have reminded me that I have some spare office folder drawers in a steel cabinet these are 2" deep would be ideal for ER collets.
Millalot.

 

[brino]

update....I finally got labels printed, laminated, cut and attached.......
brino

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Brino, nice job on the Collet organizer, how did you get the labels to stick? I thought with the oil soaked plywood it would make the labels near impossible to stay on.

I thought you may have to cut 3/8" strips of thin alum, screw them on and apply labels or (or use lamacoid and have it engraved for a real professional look)

Don't those empty spaces just yell at you to complete the set? I know it would for me.

David

 

[brino]

nice job on the Collet organizer, how did you get the labels to stick?

Hi David,

I printed the small labels on a full sheet, cut them apart then laminated them all at once, then cut them apart again, and finally used hot-glue to attach the labels. If you look close you can see some of the glue squished out around the labels. I got rid of most of the little "strings" it leaves behind. I kinda wondered if it would work too, but so far none have fallen off.

Don't those empty spaces just yell at you to complete the set? I know it would for me.

Every time I see them!...........but then I close the drawer

Seriously, I gotta take a picture and keep it on my phone so when I'm out at the tool store I know which ones I need.

-brino

 

[C-Bag]

Organizing is never finished....what to do about those large drill bits......hmmmmm.

So did you come up with something for those large drill bits? I’m going through the same problem. I wish I could find a simple plastic open channel tray that could hold the drill bits in place in a drawer. They make that kind of tray for drill cores so I can’t just go down to HF and pick me up one

 

[mickri]

My ER collets came in these yellow cases. I screwed the cases to a piece of plywood. The collets have the size written on the end. I keep them in ascending order. The two I use the most are the 10mm and 12mm. They live in a collet nut. I have two other collet nuts that get used for whatever other size collet I happen to need.

 

[savarin]

I once made a comment here worrying about wood in contact with metal due to the wood absorbing humidity and keeping it against the metal. At that time someone suggested soaking the wood in oil (if I could figure out who said it in what thread, I would give credit!). So I soaked it face-down in a tray with clean motor oil overnight, then let it hang and drip off the following day.

Not that I'm shopping for credit but was it this one?
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...in-your-shop-today.14637/page-305#post-453381 post 9126
Yours is way more professional.

 

[brino]

Not that I'm shopping for credit but was it this one?
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...in-your-shop-today.14637/page-305#post-453381 post 9126
Yours is way more professional.

Nope, but I only know that because my original statement was Sept 2015 and your POTD post was Jan 2017!
Likely a case of "Great minds think alike!"

-brino

 

[Papa Charlie]

I got my first ER-32 collet set for my old lathe years ago. Since then I have bought many more collets from ebay and my local used tool store, both imperial and metric.

Up 'til now they were all thrown in a box making it a long process to find the right size for a job.
No More!

I started with a piece of left-over luan plywood that would fit into a tool-box drawer. I marked out and drilled a grid of 1-1/4"(I think) holes with a Forstner bit.
View attachment 109870

I added some MDF strips on the bottom for legs (and some strength); one each at top and bottom edges and one between rows near the middle.

I once made a comment here worrying about wood in contact with metal due to the wood absorbing humidity and keeping it against the metal. At that time someone suggested soaking the wood in oil (if I could figure out who said it in what thread, I would give credit!). So I soaked it face-down in a tray with clean motor oil overnight, then let it hang and drip off the following day.

I left space at one end of the drawer for the lathe adapter and pin wrenches. It turned out alright:
View attachment 109871

All that's left is to add some little labels below each of the collets marking the size.
Not only will they be easy to find, but I'll also see what sizes I am missing.

Organizing is never finished....what to do about those large drill bits......hmmmmm.

-brino

That looks great, easy to get what you want and keeps them from being damaged.

I have a question regarding the Lathe Adapter. Is this something you made? How does it attach to the lathe?

Thanks

 

[tjb]

Very nice, Brino! I made similar racks for my 5C, ER40 and R8 collets - some made out of aluminum and some cast acrylic. There's photos in the 'What did you make in your shop today' thread.

I don't do wood work anymore (quit it decades ago because of asthma), but if did, I think I'd like your idea as well if not better. Labeling on my sets would be very nice, but I never thought about the way you did it. I recently made a rack for my commonly used lubricants and made a color-coded label strip in Excel or Word (don't remember which) and taped it on:



It'll probably come loose because of inadvertent drips from the bottles, but I can always make another one. I suspect hot glue would work on aluminum, but do you know if it will adhere to cast acrylic?

Regards,
Terry