Plusses And Minuses Of Various Collet Chucks For Lathe

And now I need a tool post grinder....
I've seen a few DIY ones. Would be a fun project.
 
reddinr
I posted some pics of how I adapted the collet closer on my 4003g over on members projects that might give you some ideas . The setup works very well and I happy with the results.:encourage:
don't know how I posted so many pics :confused:
Tomh
 
Short stock in ER collets isn't that much of a problem, I've used plugs the stock diameter in the back of the collet, ensures the collet closes parallel and grips well. The wide range of sizes per collet is good (apart form perhaps needing a few plugs), but hex and square ER collets seem harder to find than 5C for instance? For speed, nothing beats a collet in a spindle adaptor, levers are the fastest there is, handwheel runs a close second!

Dave H. (the other one)
 
Reddinr said:
And now I need a tool post grinder....
I've seen a few DIY ones. Would be a fun project.
Click to expand...

I can provide some YouTtube links to help with that as well.

I watch more YouTube now than regular tv, because I think hardy anything on regular tv is worth watching anymore.:D
 
Reddinr said:
Thanks for all the ideas and information. Regarding the Hardinge 5C, does the Hardinge 5C take "special" collets or will any off the shelf 5C collet work?
What are the ups and downs of the other types of collets like the ER series?

tomh - Thanks for the heads up at Grizzly. Yet another option to look at! :).
Click to expand...

It take regular 5 C collets nothing special and readily available
 
I'm inspired. Great set of videos. I have a nice Nema 23 4000 RPM servo motor lying around. Now where did I put that belt-drive high speed spindle? :)
Will think of something. I was at first thinking of using a roto-zip since it has been used for little other but I don't think I'll be happy with the bearings in that.
 
I have been cutting metal for more than 50 years. And I have all of the collet types talked about here. I have 8 or more collet closers in my shop now. I think if you get a good collet system of any kind they should work right out of the box.The 5c have the most options you can get great collets from Hardinge but they are costly , some
imports are good some are junk .with 5c you can get soft collets to bore to special size or get step collets to bore to larger sizes to hold parts like 3 inch disks also you can buy ID 5c collets to hold on the inside of parts with bores up to 6 inches dia. With 5c you can get square and hex collets. but with 5c you can only get about 1 inch stock thru the spindle for bar work. the lever systems are by far the fastest and with them you can cut off parts without stopping the spindle. And go to the next part. I have 2j and 3j collet closers that I can mount on my machines that take larger size stock up to my
spindle size.

jimsehr
 
+1 on the Stefan Gotteswinter tool post grinder vid. He is the real deal.
I love his videos, he runs a cnc machine making prototypes professionally, then comes home and plays with manual machines for fun :)
 
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