Lathe Tailstock Tool Holding

[BigWalt]

Alright so I’m a newbie here so don’t throw too many darts; I have a general question about tool holders in tailstock of metal lathes. What is the best option for all around tool holder in a tailstock with Mt 3 taper? 1. Drill chuck system 2. ER collet system, 3. 5c collet system if available. Looking across the board to see which will provide best solution for Drill bits, reamers, etc. without having to buy more than one tool holder system. Which is more accurate, has best tool holding capability and adaptable to more tools types.

 

[darkzero]

Drill chuck & live centers are what I use the most in my TS. A drill chuck primarily sits in my TS. I've seen people use ER collet chucks in a TS but I really don't understand why. So much slower to use than a drill chuck & the added accuracy of collets doesn't matter for drill bits. A drill bit is just used to make a hole, not to make an accurate one. Perhaps for an endmill but I'm not a fan of using endmills in a TS. There's no side load using an endmill in a TS so holding one in a drill chuck should be fine if needed.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

depending on your work, i'd suggest getting a drill chuck with a 5/8 capacity
most tools will fall in that category for a lot of different projects
expect varying levels of accuracy, dependent on how much you wanna spend
drilling is not inherently accurate in the first place, so don't get too hung up on the accuracy of the drill chuck
holding power is more important than appearance or name
i purchased a 5/8 capacity drill chuck in MT2 from Shars for about 50 bucks
i was impressed with the quality and gripping strength of the keyless chuck.
you can go higher end, like Albrecht chuck, if you wanna drop some coin(i have 2 of those too)

 

[darkzero]

i was impressed with the quality and gripping strength of the keyless chuck.

So tight that I'll never use a S&D drill in a keyless chuck ever again.

I use a 5/8" Bison keyless chuck most of the time but I have a Jacobs 14N for whenever I need to use S&D drills or for taps to power tapping. I have a rigid tapping head for the TS but I never use it, I prefer using a keyed chuck for taps, safer that way. That reminds me, I need to get me some taper shank drills.

 

[mickri]

I am relatively new to this stuff too. From one newbie to another the simple answer is that it all depends on what you want to do and the accuracy that you want to achieve. Only you can answer those questions. As the other posters who know what they are doing have said if you are only going to drill holes start with a drill chuck. They are not very expensive on Ebay. If you decide that you need more accuracy than the drill chuck can provide then move on to ER collets. I don't believe that you can use 5c collets in the tailstock because 5c collets require a draw bar to tighten the collet.

The real issue with more than one tool holding system rears its head if you also have a mill. Again it is a question of accuracy and what is acceptable to you. You could use a drill chuck in the mill too. But that won't work for milling. Only drilling. One of the reasons that I went with ER32 collets is that I could use them on my lathe with the correct adapter for the tailstock and also on my mill/drill with the correct adapter for the mill. And I have just finished making an ER32 collet chuck that fits on the spindle of my lathe. So one collet system covers all of my needs. But that's just me.

It all gets back to what do you want to do with your lathe. The answer to that question will lead to what you need.

 

[mksj]

You will probably end up with all of the above, mostly depends on the type and size of hole you want to drill or reamer size. When you factor in that you may use a center drill and then switch that out to various size drills, a 5/8" keyless chuck would be the most commonly used. There are many variants, the one I use I have never had an issue with it getting too tight. Drilling holes over 1/2", I either will use S&D drills if I need something quick and not too deep, but more often I use MT3 drills. I find that they have a sweet spot speed wise in different materials, so nice to have variable speed to dial it in. I also have a few MT3 stepped drills where the tip follows a guide hole followed by a shoulder drilling a larger diameter.

As far as a collet system in the tailstock, ER32 or ER40 collet chuck are the most common that I have seen. I use them to hold endmills when I want to square up a shoulder in a hole. Otherwise way too cumbersome to use. You also need to be careful of pullout from the MT3 as there is no drawbar system. An ER system is more accurate then a drill chuck and holds more securely, but you are limited more by the accuracy of what you are holding.

In addition to the above I have a dedicated MT3 tap and die system which can either be used manual or with power, I use it very frequently. Drilling large holes that you do not want to bore, there are MT3 annular cutter holders that are real time saver alternative to boring in stock under 2" thick.

 

[Tozguy]

Keyed drill chuck of best quality you want to afford, are generally shorter than keyless chucks.
You will be able to do a lot of work before you need something else.

 

[richl]

As the others have mentioned, Keyed chucks are great for beginning. Down the road if money is an issue keyless chucks are great to have. I have one I purchased from glacern during one of their sales. I really like it, I cant remember the price it was less than 80.00 though.

I purchased an er40 holder to fit in the tailstock last summer. Basically for all the reason mentioned above, I'm using er40 collects in the headstock of this lathe, and on my mill, so one set of collets works on both machines.

Build up slow if money is an issue. I used a 14n Jacob's chuck in my first lathe for 4 years. It worked fine for what I was doing. The other systems just makes machining easier and more precise. Make ebay a regular stop, check around for local tool retailers. Enjoy the trip down the rabbit hole

 

[RJSakowski]

I use a 1/2" keyless chuck in my 602 tailstock. I also have a 3/4" keyed chuck which is mostly used for holding my tap follower. So far, I haven't had a need for anything else. The only advantge that I would see with an ER chuck would be the shortened overall length. The tailstock is adjustable horizontally so any benefit from lower runout of an ER chuck is minimal. My QCTP set included a boring bar holder along with a chuck should I need to be super accurate regarding horizontal, vertical, and angular runout.

 

[benmychree]

I would go with the 5/8 keyed Jacobs chuck, and not an self tightening chuck, as they cannot be used for tapping. Personally, I seldom remove the center from the tailstock, as I do all my drilling and tapping from the MT Aloris tool holder. Using the tailstock for drilling is not a real good idea, unless the quill has a tang slot for increased driving torque; all you have to do is have a drill hang up and spin in the tailstock to create galling and consequent inaccuracy in locating the center. Besides that, drilling and tapping from the toolpost is faster and easier than by the tailstock; you don't have to back the quill to eject tools, and clamp/unclamp the tailstock for different operations.