R8 ER32 collet chuck source.

I got my chuck and collets (I went with the ER40 size) from Penn Tool www.penntoolco.com. Both are Bison brand and the runout is .0004. Compare that runout to the runout specs from other manufacturers. No vibration, longer tool life and a smoother finish. Unless you have a reason to go for an ER32 size ( the 3/32 collet) you may want to check the ER40 size collets.
 
They sound beautiful, but Bison is a real name with a REAL price tag. I'm just a poor white boy looking at low end stuff.
 
Look for "tool4cheap" on ebay. If he has none listed send him a question asking if he has one. His name is Jeff Beck. He is located in Mass. Great guy.

"Billy G"
 
LEEQ said:
They sound beautiful, but Bison is a real name with a REAL price tag. I'm just a poor white boy looking at low end stuff.
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For just the ER32 chuck, GMT sells it for $69.99 & it's very nice.

http://www.glacern.com/er_collet_chucks


I never bought a full collet size cause there are sizes I would never use. I buy Teckniks collets, very high quality too. They're cheap on ebay. I get them from sellers hemlytool or cnctoolinstore. allindustrialtoolsupply is another vendor when I need them quicker since they are local to me but I get charged tax.


Bill Gruby said:
Look for "tool4cheap" on ebay. If he has none listed send him a question asking if he has one. His name is Jeff Beck. He is located in Mass. Great guy.

"Billy G"
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I've purchased from him & he is great but it's cheaper to buy directly from his website than through ebay.

http://www.tools4cheap.net/products.php?cat=35
 
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Ok, stupid question time...

Call me dumb but what is the benefit of a collet system over a R8?
 
Different things for me. I want to hold some metric end mills without buying metric r8 colltes also. There is roughly a .040" range each collet will hold. I can hold drill bits without using the large drill chuck. With two wrenches I can change collets without getting out the short mans stepstool for wrenching and beating the drawbar. That's a biggie. I can take the collets over to the lathe and use them also if I set it up. Those are some anyway.
 
holes in the ranges. Sets graduating in 1/16ths don't cover all the range between sizes if I'm seeing it right. The big sets still have several steps that graduate in 1/16ths, with the tweener collets (like21/32nds) covering metric sizes. That's just my guess why some steps have tweeners and some do not. Other than that, money. One more set of tooling to purchase. Gets hard on a new guy.
 
Pontiac Freak said:
Thanks for the info! Any drawbacks to using them?
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Some collet sizes do not allow you to use a double ended milling cutter. Not very many sizes, but a few of the smaller sizes. Accuracy using a good quality ER collet and collet chuck is generally better than most R8 collets. My Bison collets and chuck advertise .0004 total runout. I've tested all of mine and only get half or less runout than that. On the other hand, my Crawford R8 collets give me the same runout, .0002

I've used my ER collets from 1/8 to 1 inch and never had a slippage problem. It IS nice not having to deal with the drawbar for every tool change.

Oh, one disadvantage. The ER chuck reduces your Z (vertical) distance by about 2 inches or so, depending on make of the chuck. It has not been a problem so far, and if it is, I'll swap to the R8 collets.
 
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