ER collet holder. Who to buy from ?

[BMyers]

Looking on eBay at ER20 collet holders with #2 MT shank. Prices from $13.00 on up. What is a good one for hobby use and who sells it ?

 

[Ken I]

All I can say is steer clear of "cheap" / Chinese junk.

http://http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=16467

See my comments at the above link. Also tips from other members.

I just don't see any point in a collet that's less accurate than I can accomplish with a MkI eyeball in a 4 jaw.

Whatever you buy, mount it on a piece of turned (to true) stock and go over it with a dial gauge if it won't come in under 0.001" TIR send it back.

Regards,
Ken

 

[purpleknif]

I got a Chinese ER 32 holder on a 1" shank for $32 on flea bay and it has about .ooo2" runout. Close enough for me ! Just sayin' .

 

[bazmak]

I bought an er 32 collet chuck with R8 shank from china.Runout less than half thou.Does what it says on the tin,cost $30.Also bought 19 piece collet set for
$60. No complaints and well worth the money.Good enough for most of us
Guess you have to take pot luck

 

[BMyers]

Are Shar's worth the $$ ?

 

[bazmak]

It depends on what you want.If you work to 0.0001 and can afford it get the best.Most model engineers are happy with 0.0005.I bought chinese from ebay
and very happy.I remember many years ago with my first Myford.Collets were way beyond the reach of my pocket.I made a collet chuck for the sieg
and use it all the time.To remove the work and replace knowing its within half thou is great

 

[goldstar31]

Myford collets? Well, now there's a thing to create a bit of interest. I've got a set of Myford Imperial
ones. But in the real world bright mild steel comes in 2 or 3 thous UNDER size normally. Well, that's my experience. Bunged into a Myford collet, it slips- and one tightens it up---------------------------------CRACK goes a collet!

I've also got a home made set- to the design of old Sparey. As one says, good enough for most things but I lashed out the children's inheritance- and bought a set of Chinese ones. Then I bought a set of ERX16's for the Unimat clone for bowl of rice. I've a set of 8 millis as well.

So another comment? I bought a Vertex Dividing head BSO thing- and got another Myford chuck as part of the deal. And then I started to use my grey matter! Well, the thing fits the mill/drill. OK, I've enough rotaries to to form a club but the BSO came with not only a 2 MT taper but a Myford thread on its nose.
So the little mill thing takes a heap of goodies but there is a Clarkson tool and cutter grinder and the BSO thing bolts onto it- and the Imperial Myford collets take the slot drills and end mills. The Chinese affairs take the assorted drills.

It's lateral thinking

Norman

 

[Theclockworks]

All I can say is steer clear of "cheap" / Chinese junk.

http://http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=16467

See my comments at the above link. Also tips from other members.

I just don't see any point in a collet that's less accurate than I can accomplish with a MkI eyeball in a 4 jaw.

Whatever you buy, mount it on a piece of turned (to true) stock and go over it with a dial gauge if it won't come in under 0.001" TIR send it back.

Regards,
Ken

Ken if it were not for Chinese Junk there is a lot of people out there that could not take part in this hobby me included,just look at some of the work on this forum that's manufactured on junk,and let's not for get a lot of the well known tools and machines manufacturers have components made there then assembled in the U.K or the U.S Myford to mention one. Rant over back to tapping 100 hole on one of my projects built on my junk

 

[goldstar31]

The World's largest container ship has just docked in Felixstowe, England with 19,100 huge shipping containers aboard.

Does one really need to repeat that the Chinese appear to be getting something right?

Norman

 

[Ken I]

Ken if it were not for Chinese Junk there is a lot of people out there that could not take part in this hobby me included,

I'm no different - my lathe mill etc. are Chinese - I just had an unbelievably bad experience when it came to a collet chuck. The unit I eventually settled on is also probably a cheap Chinese make but is at least accurate.

My rant was originally that I was dumfounded that a company could go to the trouble of manufacturing something well - it was hardened and ground all over (including the male & female nut threads) - it was well made - but outrageously inaccurate. Not one of the three units my supplier had in stock was accurate enough to be called "bad" - there were simply uselessly bad.

It seems to me an act of futility to make junk well - but some Chinese manufacturers do it with monotonous regularity.

My comment was simply to raise cautions - don't take anything for granted particularly the phoney "print run" calibration certificate.

Deal with a supplier who will replace, exchange or refund it if you are not 100% happy.