I was getting a bit sick of my lathe chuck (3 jaw) being a bit of whack. While the runout isn't too bad it is hard to re-chuck material accurately, well to my tolerances at least lol.
So the choice was either replace (big bucks for a precision 3 jaw) or invest in a collet chuck. I decided to go with collets and try them out so I have an ER40 set on the way.
New toy, I mean tool, ordered.
- oklahoma red
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 6:14 pm
Re: New toy, I mean tool, ordered.
I have one. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Of course Mr. Murphy likes to stick his head in so every once in a while you'll wind up with a bastard size of something that's right in between two collets.caskwith wrote:I was getting a bit sick of my lathe chuck (3 jaw) being a bit of whack. While the runout isn't too bad it is hard to re-chuck material accurately, well to my tolerances at least lol.
So the choice was either replace (big bucks for a precision 3 jaw) or invest in a collet chuck. I decided to go with collets and try them out so I have an ER40 set on the way.
Chas.
-
- Posts: 3120
- Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 4:29 am
- Location: Kansas City, USA
- Contact:
Re: New toy, I mean tool, ordered.
The thing about collets is the more slack you have to take up when tightening, the less accurate they are regarding runout & etc. All nominal measurements in the catalogs are with a part that's an exact slip fit into a completely relaxed one that's then tightened a smidge. The moral of the story is to have as many sizes on hand as you can afford, and always use the smallest one possible.caskwith wrote:I was getting a bit sick of my lathe chuck (3 jaw) being a bit of whack. While the runout isn't too bad it is hard to re-chuck material accurately, well to my tolerances at least lol.
So the choice was either replace (big bucks for a precision 3 jaw) or invest in a collet chuck. I decided to go with collets and try them out so I have an ER40 set on the way.
UFOs must be real. There's no other explanation for cats.
- mightysmurf8201
- Posts: 712
- Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:44 pm
- Location: Hudson, OH
- Contact:
Re: New toy, I mean tool, ordered.
Collet chucks are awesome tools. +1 on what LL said about having as many size collets as possible. I use mine mainly for stem work and I'm very happy with it.
Re: New toy, I mean tool, ordered.
Well to cover my bases I went with the ER system which has the widest clamping range of any system (except maybe Jacobs taper flex but they are obsolete) and is the most cost effective as long as you only work with round stock. Each collet will clamp over a 1mm range and I have ordered a complete set from 3-30mm so I shouldn't have any trouble.
When it arrives today I'll be pulling out the DTI and running some tests on commonly used stock to see how I get on, whatever happens it's gotta be better than my 3 jaw
When it arrives today I'll be pulling out the DTI and running some tests on commonly used stock to see how I get on, whatever happens it's gotta be better than my 3 jaw
Re: New toy, I mean tool, ordered.
I now have three 'spare' 3 jaw chucks if you want to pay the postage.