Thread: collet style tool handles

I have the Woodcut collet handle - blooming marvellous as the host of Gardening Australia would say. Only downside is that they only come with two collets. However they are a standard ER16 collet so are easily obtainable if you require another size collet. You can even fit some skews into the collet handle if you take an aris off the corners of the tool tang.

I actually made my own collet handles with collet chucks I bought on eBay. You can get straight shank collet chucks in ER25 for around $30 (I think...I know it wasn't much more than this) and then make you're own timber handle for it. They are heavier than the handles you buy but if you know someone with a metal lathe you can machine them down to reduce weight.
They make sharpening so much easier!

My travel set comprises 3 handles I made myself and ~40 chisels. The small handle has an ER11 collet with a 7mm collet, the medium handle with ER20 and 12mm collet, and the large beast ER32 with 16mm collet. Each chisel has a brass sleeve or turned down to suit the collet.

I love them the only issue is being lazy and not tightening the collets properly and the chisel moving.

If its not too much trouble is there any chance of some pics of the home made versions?...they sound great....
Regardless - thanks very much for the replies. much appreciated.

IMG_1960.jpgIMG_1959.jpg
These are an ER20 and an ER25. I have machined them down to make them shorter though...let me know if you have any questions (I can't write more as I have to work lol)

Here's mine

travel chisel handles.jpg

Are these the collets used?

ER25 ER11A ER32 Collet Chuck Holder CNC Milling Extension ROD Straight Shank BO | eBay

Originally Posted by Hors

Are these the collets used?

ER25 ER11A ER32 Collet Chuck Holder CNC Milling Extension ROD Straight Shank BO | eBay

Yes something like that. But make sure you get the straight shaft, not a MT, plus threaded hole at end. The threaded hole is used to extend the handle when the shaft size is too big to be used as a tenon.

Just so i'm understanding....so its the straight shaft that josh machined down t o reduce weight..just the end to make shorter length? If not machined down i assume it would be too heavy?

IMG_1545.jpg
This is the collets before I machined them down. I took down the shoulder under the thread to be the same diameter as the shank and I drilled out the hole through the bore. I had to drill out the ER25 because the hole through the bore was only 14mm and wouldn't take my 16mm tools. Then I cut the shanks down because they all had 100mm shanks and I didn't need them to be that long for the way I was making them.
In my current version I made the ferrules out of Bakelite blocks so I could shape the ferrule to be part of the handle shape

Push come to shove I prefer the quick action handles from VicMarc.

Vicmarc - Woodturning Lathes, Chucks, Jaws and Accessories -
They a much better idea, simple to operate and very quick

C25 ER32 150L Collet Chuck Straight Shank Extension ROD Wrench SET CNC Cutter | eBay

C20 ER20A 100L 13mm Collet Chuck Holder CNC Milling Extension ROD Straight Shank | eBay

C25-ER25-100L 25mm Shank ER25 Straight Collet Chuck Holder Silver Tone

These are the collets chucks I bought. You need to by the collets separately.

Originally Posted by hughie

Push come to shove I prefer the quick action handles from VicMarc.

Vicmarc - Woodturning Lathes, Chucks, Jaws and Accessories -
They a much better idea, simple to operate and very quick

I found the vicmarc ones too short, and no quicker than a collet chuck. Plus you have to buy adaptors for different sized tools. They are easier to tighten though.... If they were cheaper I was going to buy the unhandled ones to make them the way I wanted but the collet chucks were a cheap option to see how it worked out.

Hello Faulko,
I agree with Hughie. I use Vicmarc handles and have a series of
colletts. Have a look at Jim Carroll's website, Timberbits and GPW (Gary Pye Woodturning) Qld.
I think they are the bees knees. Around $77-80 plus colletts and freight.
Actually Timberbits is the cheapest and at the moment they have 15% off until Fathers' day
so that gives you pretty much free freight. Hope that helps. Drillit.