What is the affordable alternative to this?

[DFWKen]

Thank you, everyone, for all of the great ideas and tips regarding collet chuck for my soon-to-arrive SB Heavy 13. I will definitely take advantage of them.

The reason I think I need a collet chuck is so that I can use some of my milling tooling in the lathe. You see, I sold my big Bridgeport mill. It was a 9 x 49; way bigger than I could ever need and taking up huge space in my 24 x 26 workshop. Also, I needed the money to buy the new lathe (along with the anticipated sale of my existing lathe). I only did light milling on the Bridgeport and plan to continue light milling on the lathe with the appropriate attachment. But need a collet chuck and collets for the tooling. First order of business will probably to machine a QCTP holder T-nut. It was easy on the Bridgeport, but that machine is gone.

Yeah, I know I can buy a custom T-nut; but need a first project.

Ken

 

[seasicksteve]

N/M my mistake

 

[kd4gij]

If holding tooling is the main use than ER40 would be the best choice.

 

[ddickey]

Mike is spot on & I agree. Many people go with collet systems for accuracy. And generally 3-jaw chucks aren't accurate but they can be. Between my 2 Set-Tru chucks & my 4-jaw indy, accuracy is not a problem for me, or should I say runout.

The only reason I got me a collet chuck was not for accuracy but for safety when needed. Much safer to work with a collet chuck when close up to the chuck & for polishing. But still I work close to my chucks all the time. To be honest I rarely even use my collet chuck anymore. But it's there when I need it & no real loss as again I use the ER collets in my mill.

I will say that IMO the greatest advantage of 5C over ER is if using a collet closer or a Sjorgen style chuck like the OP linked is that it's very quick to mount & dismount the work piece.

That's the only downside to D1-5 spindles, not as popular so accessories aren't as readily available and/or inexpensive like with D1-4 & D1-6. That's the exact route I went with my ER chuck. I choose to go with a separate back plate & ER plate. It allows me to fine adjust runout using the "tap-tru" method.

What brand is that chuck? What are the drilled holes on the side for? I notice in your pic that the register looks much deeper than mine.

 

[darkzero]

What brand is that chuck? What are the drilled holes on the side for? I notice in your pic that the register looks much deeper than mine.

Don't know the brand, I got them from Jeff @ tools4cheap. Unfortunately he's no longer in business. He was the only one selling them back then.

The holes are for holding the plate in place so you can loosen the collet nut. In the last pic you can see that I made a tommy bar for it, the same tommy bar fits my super spacer too.

Just curious, what is the OD on your Tormach plate? It looks larger than mine, like 6"? Mine is only 132mm or 5.2"

 

[ddickey]

Yes six inches.
The register is 100mm wide and only 1 mm deep. It has been a challenge for me as the register is so shallow. Also the camlock are in the way so I have to turn them down which is also making my cuts interupted.

 

[Tozguy]

Ken, does the Heavy 13 spindle have an MT5 socket?
How many of your milling tools could be held with a Weldon style holder?
http://www.busybeetools.com/products/e-m-holder-mt-3-1-2.html
I have used some 1/2'' tools in an MT3 Weldon holder with a MT5-MT3 sleeve and get less run out than with an ER 32 collet .
Although my milling set-up on the lathe works for me, it seems rather light work compared to what a BP can do.
What would your largest tool size be?

 

[darkzero]

Yes six inches.
The register is 100mm wide and only 1 mm deep. It has been a challenge for me as the register is so shallow. Also the camlock are in the way so I have to turn them down which is also making my cuts interupted.

I forget but I think my register is a 100mm also but it's much deeper than 1mm that's for sure. 1mm is pretty shallow. I just looked up the Tormach & they sell it as a fixture plate to mount on a rotary table or indexer instead of being used as a chuck. Shouldn't matter though & it should work fine.

Were you able to get it completed? If not maybe use a thicker adapter?

 

[ddickey]

No I wasn't. After going through two back plates I put it away for a while. It works but run-out is not acceptable.