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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Horsham Victoria
    Posts
    113

    Default 2MT v's R8 collet

    There was a multi purpose machine once available that boasted an R8 collet. It was a lathe, saw and all sorts of other things in one - made by Smithy. It was for woodworkers but they reckoned it could also be used to turn steel it was so well made.

    My question is what is the advantage/disadvantage of each. 2MT v's R8 collet.

    This all has to do with a slow rebuild of an old ShopSmith. I want to make it better. I will post a quill question separately as I am trying to deal with each issue individually.

    Thanks again


    Dave the turning cowboy

    turning wood into art

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    N.W.Tasmania
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    1,407

    Default

    G'Day Dave, I'll have a crack at answering for you but there are far more knowledgeable bods than me here, so hopefully some of them will chime in.
    MT 2 spindles have the advantage of fitting a range of existing tooling directly, without needing a collet chuck. Drills and reamers mainly but you would want to be careful and lucky perhaps when using reamers with MT shanks, because they are not very secure, especially when withdrawing the reamer. MT2 collets go up to around 1/2" or 12mm in size, and would usually have a drawbar to make sure that they are retained in the spindle.
    Be aware that if the spindle has no provision for a drawbar, changing tools can get difficult due to the problem of removal of tools from the spindle if it is not bored through to allow a bar to knock the old tool out.
    R8 collets always have a drawbar, so are secure, but although a good range of tooling with R8 shanks which will fit the spindle directly exists, drills do not feature, so a drill chuck or at MT to R8 adaptor are needed for drilling tasks.
    However when it comes to milling work, the range of R8 tooling would far surpass MT tooling I think. R8 collets of up to 24mm and 7/8" are readily available, so a wider range of sizes, and many more in between sizes too.
    If you google Collets you will find plenty of references, and the Wiki article will tell you lots as will suppliers websites.
    R8 is a step up in sophistication from MT2 I think it is fair to say, but you will probably find it cheaper to buy an existing mill with R8 spindle, than restore and change the spindle in a Shopsmith.
    It is likely to be be a better machine than a Shopsmith ever was too, but as a project you will learn plenty doing that resto and conversion, so it could be considered as an investment in knowledge.
    On the subject of do it all machines, in my opinion while they have a place in situations where you have very limited space, they tend to be heavily compromised in performance and features, so are usually best avoided unless space is a serious issue.
    Rob

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Horsham Victoria
    Posts
    113

    Default

    Thanks Rob.

    I know you are right with the shop smith. It is largely the challenge of making it a better machine. I have started another thread about a custom quill. I can see wholesome spect in theory are easy that it is a more major endeavor


    Dave the turning cowboy

    turning wood into art

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Near Bendigo, Victoria, AUS
    Age
    72
    Posts
    3,102

    Default

    Dave, have a look at ER collet systems instead, THey are held in by a nut on the front, are relatively short and available in all sorts of sizes and suitable for holding anything including drills (as each collet has a range of about a millimeter. PDW mentioned this in your other thread already and I tend to agree with him: just fit a small cylinder on the firn of your spindle and bore and thread it to suit ER25 or ER32 coolets and closer nut and replace your bearings with new ones and use the machine.
    I think you will have a very good headstock and very quiclkly find the rest of the machine is the weak part then.
    Cheers, Joe
    retired - less energy, more time to contemplate projects and more shed time....

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Horsham Victoria
    Posts
    113

    Default

    Ok so I don't need a draw bolt. That makes it much simpler


    Dave the turning cowboy

    turning wood into art

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