Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Collets !

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
    Posts
    6,439

    Thumbs up Collets !

    Hi Guys,

    No doubt that some of you will recall me rattling on about Chinese collets and people complaining that they don't run true or hold work with minimal run out. Well I had need to use a couple of collets that up to today had been unused and still in their little plastic containers.

    IMG_0389.jpg IMG_0390.JPG
    This is a 12 to 11 mm collet. You can clearly see the little bits of swarf sticking out from the cutting of the slots.

    IMG_0400.JPG IMG_0401.jpg
    This is a 20 to 19 mm collet. This one isn't as bad as the other one. But the little bits protruding above the surface would be enough to cause a dramatic run out.

    A Stanley knife blade and a small stone easily cleaned this one up, allowing it to give a minimal run out that was below whatever I could measure six inches from the chuck. The smaller collet gave just the thickness of the pointer on a Mercer 1/2 thou dial gauge six inches from the chuck.

    I have no doubt that had these been properly cleaned then non of the swarf and debris would have been present.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    melbourne australia
    Posts
    3,228

    Default

    That 12-11 is absolutely shocking. Fortunately all mine seem to have avoided that fate. I wonder if it is worth giving them all a quick lapping on a mandrel? Start with a piece of 25mm round ali and turn it to the diameter of your largest collet. Give the collet a quick lap with some diamond paste. Turn the ali down to your next smaller collet size and repeat.
    Chris

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
    Posts
    6,439

    Default

    Hi Chris,

    Really they should have been the subject of a complaint to the seller ! But since I have only bothered to check and clean them as I've needed to use them I doubt that they would be interested.

    I've bought MT2 and MT3, ER25 and ER32 collets and chucks from Banggood, and they have been absolutely fine with no problems at all. Whilst I've had a couple of issues with other items, they have been dealt with Ok.

    Thank you for your suggestion about lapping the rough spots. Those bits of swarf do break off easily and should have been removed before they ever got put into packaging. Its the little sharp bits that are left that cause the most trouble. Plus the smaller the collet, the harder they are to get rid of. Small diameter HSS tool bits pushed through do remove them though.

    I suppose what I was really getting at was that Chinese collets get bad comments because people don't examine them before condemning them because the run out is bad. True that the higher quality product has more care taken over its production. So far after cleaning, I've yet to find one that is as bad as some would have you believe.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Mallacoota,VIC,Australia
    Age
    53
    Posts
    1,010

    Default

    Gee their quality control is fantastic - NOT.
    All The Best steran50 Stewart

    The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    N.W.Tasmania
    Posts
    1,407

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by steran50 View Post
    Gee their quality control is fantastic - NOT.
    But their pricing is ultra competitive, especially when compared to the offerings from Hardinge or Rego Fix and their ilk. It doesn't seem that arduous to save at a guess $1000 ++ for a full set of ER40 collets with perhaps 2 hours work you have to lap a few.

  6. #6
    jatt's Avatar
    jatt is offline Always within 10 paces from nearest stubby holder
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Bendigo
    Age
    51
    Posts
    760

    Default

    If you are using them in hobby shop situation, then yeah, spending a bit of time cleaning em up a bit.....

    Long as you can get em to an acceptable degree of runout.
    Frisky wife, happy life. ​Then I woke up. Oh well it was fun while it lasted.
    From an early age my father taught me to wear welding gloves . "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
    Posts
    6,439

    Default

    Hi Jatt,

    The ones that I've cleaned up and used have all been close or within spec. I use a 5/10,000 gauge at between 4" and 6" inches from the chuck. The gauge needle barely quivers on the larger ones and might just move a needle thickness on the smaller ones.

    Any more needle movement than that is a dead give away that there is swarf or rough edges in there. The hard part particularly on the smaller ones is getting rid of it. Chris clued me in about lapping the bore to clean it. Not always convenient if you need to use that particular collet straight away. Also once lapped, its vital to thoroughly wash it clean of any debris and then re-oil it. I use paraffin and a paint brush for this purpose.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    melbourne australia
    Posts
    3,228

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BaronJ View Post
    I use paraffin and a paint brush for this purpose.
    An ultrasonic cleaner is good too John.
    Chris

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Australia east coast
    Age
    71
    Posts
    2,713

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by steran50 View Post
    Gee their quality control is fantastic - NOT.
    I have a MT2 ER16 collet chuck where the drawbar thread follows the angle of the taper, not the axis of the arbor. No idea how they managed *that*.

    It's a reminder to me that buying cheap tools off of eBay is a crap shoot. I still use it though - I just made up a custom bent drawbar for ir out of a length of threaded rod. It's on a baby mill without enough HP or rigidity do actually do any damage....

    That's the only bad experience though and I've got a lot of Chinese made collets from ER16 up to ER40, 2 sets each of ER32 & ER40 for different machines.

    PDW

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    35
    Posts
    1,522

    Default

    I have a set of rego-fix er40 collets and a lot of Chinese collets in er 25 and er 40. I definitely find that the Chinese collets are way easier to get out of the nut as they must spend a week in the tumbler and don't have sharp edges.

    The rego fix collets I find grip a lot tighter as the interior surface finish is much better, also the slot widths are very consistent so they hold truer when collapsed. I also find they tighten up with less wrenching.

    But for 80% of what I do the Chinese collets are fine. Especially the er25 ones.

    Sent from my Nokia 8 Sirocco using Tapatalk

Similar Threads

  1. collets
    By Turbine Builder in forum METALWORK - Machinery, Equipment, MARKET
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 3rd Sep 2018, 04:25 PM
  2. ER 25 Collets
    By pipeclay in forum THE HERCUS AREA
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 10th Jul 2013, 04:25 PM
  3. Collets
    By woodfast in forum METALWORK GENERAL
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 5th Aug 2012, 08:37 PM
  4. ER Collets
    By Anorak Bob in forum METALWORK GENERAL
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 30th Apr 2011, 10:20 AM
  5. collets
    By rfurzer in forum METALWORK GENERAL
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 21st Dec 2010, 11:36 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •