The Collet Mystery

[Logan Novice]

My Grizzly G8689 has an MT3 spindle. That's fine for most drill chuck mandrels but I haven't been able to find a good set of straight collets (preferably with 1/16 inch incremental sizes) to use with it. I did find a MT2 set that work OK with an adapter but I'd like to standardize my tapers to save time and the nuisance of exchanging one taper to another. Anyone have an idea of how I can resolve my dilemma?

 

[DavidR8]

My mill has MT3 taper.
I bought a ER32 collet chuck with collets from Little Machine Shop.
I’m quite happy with it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Logan Novice]

My mill has MT3 taper.
I bought a ER32 collet chuck with collets from Little Machine Shop.
I’m quite happy with it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If I understand correctly, the ER32 chuck has a MT3 taper and the drawbar secures it to the spindle. The ER32 collects are then installed into the chuck.
Do I have that right?

 

[DavidR8]

If I understand correctly, the ER32 chuck has a MT3 taper and the drawbar secures it to the spindle. The ER32 collects are then installed into the chuck.
Do I have that right?

You got it!
It basically stays in my mill all the time as I have standardized my mill tooling around three different shank sizes:
3/8, 1/2 and 3/4" end mills
I have a face mill with a 3/4" straight shank, likewise my boring head has a 1/2" straight shank.

I try to use drills that fit an ER32 collet size. I could stand to fill in a few of the size gaps to be honest.

 

[DavidR8]

This is the set I bought.

Collet & Chuck Set, ER-32, 3MT 2228

ER Collets & Collet Chucks 2228 Includes eleven ER-32 collets; 3 Morse taper shank; 3/8"-16 drawbar thread; Includes spanner wrench and fitted case; I...

littlemachineshop.com

 

[Logan Novice]

This is the set I bought.

Collet & Chuck Set, ER-32, 3MT 2228

ER Collets & Collet Chucks 2228 Includes eleven ER-32 collets; 3 Morse taper shank; 3/8"-16 drawbar thread; Includes spanner wrench and fitted case; I...

littlemachineshop.com

Thanks a lot for the help. I ordered it just a minute ago. It's a little more expensive than some comparable sets I find (e.g. Amazon) but I trust Little Machine Shop's reputation (I started in this hobby machinist stuff with one of their mini lathes) so I have no reservations about doing business with them. Now I have a nice set of MT2 collets to find a buyer for.


Hell; if it ain't one thing it's another. But the MT2 collection I have been using with an adapter is a very nice set and someone will be very happy to get them I'm sure.
Thanks again, David

 

[DavidR8]

You are most welcome!

 

[Badabinski]

The only bad thing about an ER collet chuck is that it eats up some of your vertical space. That's normally not a problem, but I've had situations with my G8689 where only MT3 collets would do. I bought my mill used and it came with a full set of MT3 collets, but it looks like LMS also has MT3 collets (available individually, or in sets of four, seven, and eleven). You'll be totally fine with your ER collet chuck for a while, but down the road it may be worth it to pick some up.

EDIT: I say this as someone who has an ER collet chuck on the mill 90% of the time. I love my ER collets and anyone who wants to take them will have to pry them from my cold, dead hands.

 

[DavidR8]

@Badabinski has a very good point.
I also have a set of MT3 collets that I have used a few times when space was tight. I have a RF30 clone though so have an abundance of Z-axis height.