CDCO 5C Collet Chuck Review

C

Charley Davidson

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I finally mounted my collet chuck to the mounting plate, I must say I'm quite disappointed in the quality. It doesn't operate very smoothly, the tolerances were very poor, the collets I got were very light weight and poorly deburred, After looking at the Hardinge ones at work they don't even compare.

I chucked a piece of steel rod in the 4 jaw at work and turned it to 1.00" then put it in my lathe 4 jaw and trued it up, chucked the 1" collet in the collet chuck and slipped it over the 1" rod then tightened it down. I then faced off the mating surfaces and then trued the inside of the outer ring that the bolt holes are in. After getting that done I mounted the backing plate on the lathe spindle and turned it to fit the recess in the collet chuck. It fit perfectly.

After filing all the burs off I assembled it and put it on the lathe, I chucked a 1/2" pin from my gauge pin set. I indicated it and unfortunately I have .0035 total run out. Here's some pics and videos (not in ant specific order)

collet mounting (1).JPG collet mounting (2).JPG collet mounting (3).JPG collet mounting (4).JPG collet mounting.JPG
 
OOOPS!!! I miss understood some of the write up...
Looked at the pictures...
Do you have the video?

I would still try #4 to see if you can reduce the run out.


Thanks for the write up Charley.

Why do you have it mounted in your 4 jaw chuck?

Correct me if i am wrong but i think the correct way to do it is:
1- Buy a backing plate to match your lathes nose threads.
2- Mount it to the lathe and true it up
3- Drill the holes to mount the 5C collet to the backing plate. Make them slightly larger so that you have a bit of wiggle room.
4- Chuck up your 1" test bar and tighten the 5C chuck to the backing plate while checking run out with a dial indicator.

You should have much better if not perfectly acceptable results.

By mounting it in your 4 jaw you are compounding the inaccuracies inherent in the 4 jaw.

Andrew
 
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I used the 4 jaw to true up the back of the collet chuck, it was way out of whack and had to be done that way. I did try to mount it into another collet but decided not to go that way. I tried it the way you mentioned but decided to make it a perfect fit to the back plate. It is mounted to a backing plate
 
Watching the video the face is true but what about the periphery?
 
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Kennyd said:
Thanks Charley. Do you feel it was worth saving a few dollars over getting a better one? Like the one from LMS: http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3047&category=-199764519
Click to expand...

Absolutly not!!!!!! If I had it to do over I would but the one from your link or at least do some more shopping, the one in your link the mounting plate comes machined and drilled to fit the collet chuck. If it's out of round you just ship it back, now that I've machined mine I own it :mad:

CDCO does ship out their product quickly.
 
Looking back at my review of this tool I failed to mention it was very hard to turn the T handle as it would hangup at each full revolution. I took it apart last night and found the gears were mangled as if it were 50 years old and abused every day. I filed one so it turns smooth and left the other out. I plan on calling Frank on Monday and requesting (demanding) a new set removed from another and sent to me or I will ship it all back and never buy from him again and recomend everybody on all the forums I belong to to steer clear of him.:biggrin:

Bad Gear (1).JPG Bad Gear (2).JPG Bad Gear (3).JPG
 
WOW, good luck with Frank! No personal experience but I have read many negative things, along with some positive also.
 
Hi Charlie,

Watching the video I saw one thing that I have been corrected for on a few other forums that could lead to some issues.
Tool overhang.

Wen you are turning the backing plate there is way too much tool overhang.
This causes flexing and could be part of the problem.

Just something I have had drilled into me and thought I would mention!
Good luck with Frank!!
Let us know how it goes!

Andrew
 
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