Thread: Collet Chuck for the Lathe

Originally Posted by nearnexus

Gawd Dean, you couldn't get anything easier to make.

You want instructions ???????

Rob

I know!!! Its just that I would prefer watching someone making something than watching them talk about it. I can do the talking for myself.

Dean

I have a spare shaft if you want, for what it cost me, $15.00 plus postage. The collets I use are ER25 metric, as that is what came with the mill when it was given to me.

Thanks, but I will see how I go with the air die grinder first. Using it in the lathe is one of the reasons I bought it after all. I have 2 flexible shafts already. The Dremel is soft touch plastic, bigger in the middle and tapered to each end. I also have one from a Rhino tool that does not fit the Dremel. It is plastic and tapered from front to back. I am not sure why I still have it. I may find a use for it one day.

In regard to the air compressor, I had a couple of those and hooked them together for spraying, only just kept up. If you go to the local tip you might find a couple or more . Early last year I gave a tank from one away, as well as a NEW top assy. that was given to me the year before. I gave a friend my old one, that made 7 that he had to repair, a lot of them it's the head gasket (if you could call it that) that lets go, or the valves.

I have done spraying with the 45kg lpg cylinder as extra storage. I had to stop to let it build up quite often. At the time this was not a problem. I have yet to do a job big enough that it is a problem. Very little stuff like that at the local tip. Do you have any idea what farmers are like when it comes to throwing stuff away? Heck, I know what I am like and I am only a pretend farmer. What is a real one like. I may find an lpg cylinder, but a lot of people may have caught on to the swap and go trick to get an up to date one.

I went to trash converters to look for a larger unit, they wanted $450 for a S/H unit, went to the local Auto pro and got a brand new one with warranty and delivered for $399 (same unit) .

It is years since I have been to Cash Converters. It is rare to see anything at a fair price. I wonder what sort of value they give for purloined traded goods.

An email came from CTC Tools today. 6 - 9 weeks delivery. I should be starting vintage soon and all I will have time for will be to open parcels and look at the contents, so that is not really a problem. I have decided to go with their ER40 collet set. They have a 10% sale for January. I had enquired about the collet set, a pair of collet nuts, an MT4 ER40 collet chuck and a Microadjustable Angle Block. I have now added 2 sets (5) 30mm grinding wheels, a set of 4mm needle files and an electronic digital 0-1/0-25 micrometer.

If your air tank is leaking due to corrosion I strongly suggest you stop using. The rust weakens the tank and it will catastrophically fail eventually. They go off like a bomb when they fail. People have been killed and maimed when their air tanks have exploded.

If it does fail my Triton Work Centre will be very unhappy. The compressor is sitting underneath it. It is not in a position to be likely to cause issues for people. Scare the carp out of the cows is all. I am only using it when I have to. Unfortunately I have had a few issues with tyres lately. Maybe I should mount it on top of the 45kg lpg cylinder and use that for the tank. Will not be quite so portable then, but I have not taken it anywhere to use it anyway. I wont use it unless I have to.

Dean

Unless you bore the back of your collet chuck taper larger than required you will not be able to use the wheels you have unless you dress them down quite a lot.

Are you able to achieve a good finish with your lathe tooling ? If so just use different grades of emery and oil to polish the bore.

If you can't achieve a good finish with your lathe tooling I think it will be a long drawn out process.

Even the pictured chuck that has had the taper ground with the die grinder doesn't look very good from the partial picture taken of it , it appears to have a lot of vibration or wheel bounce in it.

Originally Posted by pipeclay

Even the pictured chuck that has had the taper ground with the die grinder doesn't look very good from the partial picture taken of it , it appears to have a lot of vibration or wheel bounce in it.

I had a very fine stone in it, it came out polished for the first 2 mm, but I think I got a bit aggressive first time around, as it broke . I ended up having to use a very coarse stone, hence the finish. Will go to the green shed next week to get a couple of fine stones and redo it.
Kryn

Originally Posted by pipeclay

Unless you bore the back of your collet chuck taper larger than required you will not be able to use the wheels you have unless you dress them down quite a lot.

Are you able to achieve a good finish with your lathe tooling ? If so just use different grades of emery and oil to polish the bore.

If you can't achieve a good finish with your lathe tooling I think it will be a long drawn out process.

Even the pictured chuck that has had the taper ground with the die grinder doesn't look very good from the partial picture taken of it , it appears to have a lot of vibration or wheel bounce in it.

Thanks for that info PC.

I don't know what sort of finish I will get. The steel I have decided to use is a mystery steel, but it was/is a machined shaft that looks like it should be made from a decent material. Only time will tell. My lathe does produce a reasonable finish, but most of my work is with ms. Maybe I can improve on that finish.

Part of this process is to try out new things and see what works and what doesn't.

Dean