Me again,yes should be getting on with the lathe chuck,but a friend came in today an gave me a box of collets 24 in all ,he said that he had them with an old lathe and they fit in the spindle nose with a nut to pull them in,well l have an old ixl lathe with a mt3 taper in the spindle so l gave them a try and first go the run out was bad , so after a think l put a mt3 reamer and cleaned out the spindle ,am now getting 1/2 a thou run out with a bit of silver steel in it ,the worst collet seems to be the 1/4" one that looking at it has done a real lot of work,but as l am making bits for the southbend l may as well make a collet chuck as well that fits the southbend spindle thread ,from what l read they can not be any worse than some cheap collet set ups sold,l know they may not be as good as say a decent set of er32 etc but being free plus a bit of more turning skills to master l may as well give them a go, and yes back to the chuck.
Collets
- Thread starter wesley
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If I understand, those are MT3 collets. They should not be too hard to make. Likewise the collet chuck seems doable.
I don't know where you are in the world, but you should be able to find a source for the 1/4-in. one if you need it sooner than you can make it.
--ShopShoe
PS: Would read a thread of your progress and, of course, We Like Pictures.
--SS
I don't know where you are in the world, but you should be able to find a source for the 1/4-in. one if you need it sooner than you can make it.
--ShopShoe
PS: Would read a thread of your progress and, of course, We Like Pictures.
--SS
Interesting. I take it that these collets don’t make use of a draw bar? I’m just trying to figure out what type of collet you have here. Maybe a picture.
Yes you are right ,they have no draw bar to pull them in ,you just push the collets in to the mt3 lathe spindle then fit the collet nut if thats what it is called mine is home made,put the round stock in tighten up and away you go,will se if l can get a picture sorted ,will ask daughter for help ,l have trouble driving this let alone pictures.
nel2lar
Well-Known Member
It sounds like some sort of ER style collet. The nut pushes into the holding position.
Good thinking never looked at that way of thinking about them ,yes they work the same way,the er collet have a lot of slits in them ,mine have just 4 slits in them ,they may not be as good as er collets but being given them and apart from making a nut its been a cheap collet set,mind you reading reports about some of the cheap far east made sets they may be better than some of them sets.My next want is a rotary table looking at the price of them ,l think that it will have to be a cheaper import type ,at the end of the day its pay the money and take the chance,still will ponder that one while l save up.
Because they only close at the big end, morse taper collets are only really suitable for holding material close to their nominal bore size. Anything much smaller is only gripped at the tip, and the back end of the piece can, theoretically at least, waggle about. ER collets, on the other hand, are split from both ends and will grip properly over the size range. Because the taper is so much slower, MT collets don't need anything like the brute force that an ER demands.
goldstar31
Well-Known Member
John
As you will observe, I have liked Charles's reply.
I have several sets of collets to No2 MT and would add that my Myford ones are 'dead' to size and there is a likelihood of snapping them if the notional diameters of rods are - say 3 thous down. In other words, I keep them for precision ground bar and the ER sets for less demanding stuff like 'garden gates' or as my late blacksmith relatives would say 'pit/colliery work'
So be aware
Norm
As you will observe, I have liked Charles's reply.
I have several sets of collets to No2 MT and would add that my Myford ones are 'dead' to size and there is a likelihood of snapping them if the notional diameters of rods are - say 3 thous down. In other words, I keep them for precision ground bar and the ER sets for less demanding stuff like 'garden gates' or as my late blacksmith relatives would say 'pit/colliery work'
So be aware
Norm
