Thread: Toolholder and Collet Storage

I have a few 30 taper chucks and I have been storing them on a shelf in one of my too small and too crowded Ikea lockers. Sisan in Los Angeles Sisan Company make a range of styrene holders that aren't stiffly priced and can be purchased on Ebay. I have been using their collet racks for a while so I thought I'd follow up with their 30 rack. Built in handles facilitate lifting and make you feel like you are carrying a tray of hors d'oeuvres at an engagement party.

I have a growing collection of W20 collets that would benefit from some form of organised storage. I imagine a block of wood perforated with holes will be the answer.

How do you blokes store your chucks and collets?

BT


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Funny, I was in a bottle shop yesterday picking up some cheap red for SWMBO and I walked past a range of the more expensive stuff in wooden boxes and the first thing I thought of was the boxes would be good well for collets etc.

BT, had a squize on eBay for the Sisan collet racks, and turned up nothing. Any chance of a link to eBay?

The racks look pretty good and probably cheaper than trying to make some.

Ken

Edit: Found the Sisan collet racks on eBay, the price for a rack is reasonable, however that's spoiled by the $48 postage charge, ouch!

Link ER 32 Collet Tray Rack Holds 32 Collets CNC Milling Turning EDM Tool Holding | eBay

Originally Posted by BobL

Funny, I was in a bottle shop yesterday picking up some cheap red for SWMBO and I walked past a range of the more expensive stuff in wooden boxes and the first thing I thought of was the boxes would be good well for collets etc.

You could buy something like this Bob but you wouldn't derive the same pleasure.


ER20 WOODEN COLLET BOX MariTool

Hi BT,

The eBay site I found states postage at $48, your link shows free postage, go figure.

Ken

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

How do you blokes store your chucks and collets?

BT

At the moment I keep the collets in the plastic bags and/or boxes they came in, and arrange them all in an melamine box that's in a tooling cabinet. I try to keep my stuff within plastic if I can as it further prevents any rust forming. However the cardboard boxes are falling apart and even though I keep the ER32s in order, the MT3s aren't and it takes a while to find the correct one.

The plastic looks good Bob, the only reservation I'd have is how long it would last in the long term. Some plastics don't handle oils very well over longer periods and cause them to go brittle and break. I've been meaning for ages to just take some aluminium sheet, cut it to appropriate size and bore the correct size holes, and then bend the ends over at 90 +90 degrees ie so the first bend forms about 10 mm feet, while the second bend forms a stand-off. With another collet set about to arrive, and another en-route I think it's probably about time to get them better organised, so may plan to do that this week.

Ken I think it's free postage within the US, otherwise as quoted Internationally.

Pete

Hi Bob
I store my ER40 and ER30 collets in plastic kitchen storage boxes-strong ones with clip on lids. I find they stay in good shape with a bit of oil on them, keeps all of the dust etc out of them. I did a small project on the mill and drilled all of the holes in some plastic kitchen cutting boards.To hold them off the bottom I just parted off some short lengths of aluminium tubing a bit larger in diameter than the collets and distributed them evenly around the board. Did a similar thing for my parallels. The ER40 chucks and tooling I store in the individual plastic boxes they came in. Do those racks you linked to have covers for them? as I find everything will rust pretty quickly where I like unless it is well oiled and covered.
Bob

I have the same problem in that my collets are loose and the little paper boxes are disintegrating.

The collets that came with the Schaublin are in a wooden board with round holes evenly spaced and some risers to let them drop in.

Works pretty well.

I have plenty of thick MDF board and may make something similar for the drawer.

I don't like boxes with lids, they always get in the way.

The plastic holders look good.

Cheers

Rob

Bob, using the plastic cutting boards is a good idea. I've also seen them used to hold end mills by using a ball nosed mill to cut grooves for them to sit in.

Hi All
Try Hotel Supply places for Cutting boards.
I bought soma a while ago for a job I did. They have them in a variety of sizes and colours and are about 10mm thick.
Prices are reasonable too.

Roger

Originally Posted by Pete F

Bob, using the plastic cutting boards is a good idea. I've also seen them used to hold end mills by using a ball nosed mill to cut grooves for them to sit in.

Now THAT is a good idea.

Haven't heard that one before.

I will put that on MY list of projects to do

PS sorry Krisfarm, I missed your post on this - great idea.

I store my gear in wooden drawers and don't find rust to be an issue. Metal drawers can promote condensation, and they rattle.

Cheers

Rob

This is what I use to keep mills and reamers from rolling around:

http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/80168000/

A sharp chisel will easily remove a divider for larger items.

Originally Posted by krisfarm

Hi Bob
I store my ER40 and ER30 collets in plastic kitchen storage boxes-strong ones with clip on lids. I find they stay in good shape with a bit of oil on them, keeps all of the dust etc out of them. I did a small project on the mill and drilled all of the holes in some plastic kitchen cutting boards.To hold them off the bottom I just parted off some short lengths of aluminium tubing a bit larger in diameter than the collets and distributed them evenly around the board. Did a similar thing for my parallels. The ER40 chucks and tooling I store in the individual plastic boxes they came in. Do those racks you linked to have covers for them? as I find everything will rust pretty quickly where I like unless it is well oiled and covered.
Bob

Hi Bob
I like that idea and will probably use it myself. When ever i buy plastic containers I look for the ones with a hinge as a lot only have the plastic folded over as a hinge.

I was only just thinking the other day I need to make some sort of tooling trolley because the timber blocks I made will only hold around 10 NT tooling and I have around 30, so it would be nice to have them all on a trolley that can be moved over to the mill, but be able to be closed up when finished.
I have looked around and they are pricey for an open to the air trolley, so a custom one that encloses the tooling from the elements would be nice.

Dave

Rob all of my cutters were originally purchased new, so I keep them, reamers, and large drill bits in the little plastic box things they come in. However I have a number of loose ones heading my way so I'm sure my wife won't notice if yet another of her cutting boards goes missing and I'll run a bull nose along it. Sooner or later she's going to start wondering where all her cutting boards are going and then my supply lines will be cut off. Having cutters banging against each other is always a bad idea. I have metal drawers but they have a foam lining and it seems to "grip" the tools in there ok. However I think a lot depends on on the person. I watching a series of Youtube videos a guy from New York had put up. Nice guy and he had some good ideas, but seemed to be incapable of actually placing objects down, and instead would throw everything the final 6" to where he wanted it. Just one of those super annoying things and I felt like screaming when he was doing it to his dial indicators! Likewise some people are just rough with their tools and they're going to get hell in a drawer if not securely bolted down with 3G restraints as they slam the drawer open and closed!!

Another good idea I saw in a store in Hong Kong was some foam strips about 10 mm square with self-adhesive backing on one side. The strips could be cut to length to form dividers to separate larger tools like lathe centres etc from banging against each other. I don't know if it's available in Australia, but will put up a picture of it when I get home if anyone is interested? Anyway it should be self-explanatory if you went to a foam place. It was cheap. If the strips weren't available, cutting foam into strips would work also.

Pete

All my er40 collets are in one of the grey boxes from h&f. I bought a small set when I got my hm50. I have since purchased all the collets needed to make a full set, and these live in the box. My er25's are like petes, just in there cardboard boxes slowly disintegrating. The 4 nt40 tools I bought from ctc when I got the vernier came in good plastic tubes, so that's were they stay.

As for centers and stuff for the lathe the top 2 drawers under the lathe have old cuttlery trays in them, just the cheap plastic ones, and these work great.

Cheers,
Ew