VN 'C' Collets

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BROCKWOOD

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The VN Accessories Catalog from 1954 states C collets are available in 1/64ths from 1/16 to 5/8.

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Yet, I have several in 0.005 increments from 0.030 to 0.115.

20211018 C.jpg

Perhaps the smaller ones are from their Waltham Watch Tool Co days? My question is about tolerances.
Not how perfect or true they are, but rather, what range of material diameters can a given C collet accept?
Is it going to be necessary to collect them right down to the 64th? Just wondering. I can't sell spare VN 2
collets for $30ea - but VN C oddball sizes are listing at $600 for 10 & up.

I went ahead & made room for them all in my collet rack - but hoping they are not needed.
 
I would probably get a straight shank ER collet chuck and "jump" to those instead of collecting all the VN ones
-Mark
 
BROCKWOOD said:
The VN Accessories Catalog from 1954 states C collets are available in 1/64ths from 1/16 to 5/8.

View attachment 384158

Yet, I have several in 0.005 increments from 0.030 to 0.115.

View attachment 384160

Perhaps the smaller ones are from their Waltham Watch Tool Co days? My question is about tolerances.
Not how perfect or true they are, but rather, what range of material diameters can a given C collet accept?
Is it going to be necessary to collect them right down to the 64th? Just wondering. I can't sell spare VN 2
collets for $30ea - but VN C oddball sizes are listing at $600 for 10 & up.

I went ahead & made room for them all in my collet rack - but hoping they are not needed.
Click to expand...
I have many 64ths and 32nds collets in my large collection and have never used any. They do look nice in my drawer! I can't comment on tolerances. As you know, Hardinge makes a 3/4" collet which VN never made (stepped design). A 3/4 collet is what Tormach TTS uses to hold TTS tool holders. So with 1 expensive collet, one MIGHT be able to use a universe of tools including metric. Downside of course is the loss of Z height. For those who might care, imitation Tormach holders show up on Ebay under headings C3/4 and "Tomrach".
 
Good info Samstu! I'm good to go with spares for my larger dividing head (32nds & a drill chuck) While I made a place for all the C Style collets available for my smaller dividing head, subhead for the mill etc, I think my time efforts & money are best spent on more worthy projects. I thank you all for your feedback!
 
I have all the VN ones made, plus an 11/16" and 3/4". They are far from useless if you want to drill any holes. These, combined with the high speed sub head have come in handy a number of times. Running a chuck burns up a lot of head room, so I very rarely use one.
 
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