lathe collet question

One thing to think about is 5c setup lets you use square and hex collets ,soft collets you can bore to size and over size collets and ID collets that you can use to hold parts on their bores. I also have a metric set of 5c collets. And you can move a 5c collet to the mill or drill press in a spindex or indexing fixture. And if you get the lever style 5c collet you can load parts with the machine running. A big time saver if you have lots of parts to do.
 
Last edited:
Another advantage of the 5C collet chuck is the relatively unobtrusive nose of the chuck which allows you more freedom to work close to the collet.
Edit: Looking at the size of an ER40 collet nut, the difference is minimal though.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the suggestions Gents.
Moving up from my old C Man lathe to this PM 1236 is proving to be a new adventure for sure

Obvious (to me) question.... Is there a MT 5(spindle bore size) collet set available???
tks
ed
 
There are MT5 to 5C (Grizzly P4026001 - COLLET ADAPTER ) and MT5 to ER40 chucks, which would need a draw bar/tube to mount. Problem is that it is very close to the headstock and also you are more limited as to the size stock that can be passed through.
http://zlivecenter.com/MT5ER40S23
 
There are MT5 to 5C (Grizzly P4026001 - COLLET ADAPTER ) and MT5 to ER40 chucks, which would need a draw bar/tube to mount. Problem is that it is very close to the headstock and also you are more limited as to the size stock that can be passed through.
http://zlivecenter.com/MT5ER40S23
I am using the shop made hand wheel 5C collet closer I recently finished:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/hand-wheel-collet-closer-build.62278/

It uses the Grizzly P4026001 MT5 to 5C adapter. That adapter is not particularly cheap ($100+) and not really accurate either (mine came with .0006" runout, and that seems to be pretty typical.) I have partially reground the adapter with my tool post grinder, using a wheel with a flexy 1/8" shank, which was hopelessly slow, and now it is at .0004" runout until I can get a 3/4" wheel to fit my 1/4" arbor, then maybe I can make some real progress.

I have room for up to 1 1/8" stock to go through my 1 1/2" spindle bore with the drawbar in place, which is more than the 1" maximum 5C collet capacity, so it should work for most anything I would want to do in a collet.

I mostly use even Imperial sizes of stock and fasteners when working with the collets, so I do not expect that to be a problem. I will get a few emergency collets to use for odd sizes.

Yes, the drawbar collet setup gets the carriage close to the headstock, but I do not see that as much of a problem. The QCTP and tooling reaches to the collet easily. The only real issue for me is that I will need to make a different arrangement for measuring carriage travel than the mag back indicator on the ways I am now using.

I only have about $125 in the entire hand wheel drawbar setup, and some metal I had laying around and the 5C collet set I have for other tasks as well. It seems to work just fine and should meet my needs for collet holding on my 13x40.
 
After a bit of searching here, I like the 5 C style Lathemaster true - set chuck that runout can be adjusted out....unfortunately no longer available.
Anyone happen to know if this style chuck is available elsewhere? Shars appears to have it but "out of stock" at the moment
 
Last edited:
Back
Top