Which collet chuck for a Warco GH1236 lathe

Hi,

I expect you will never get any consensus because the ER and 5C work holding approaches for the lathe have different positives and negatives and it would come down to what you want and can afford.

I get the best of both worlds.. I have a range of 5c mostly purchased second hand. I try and buy quality Crawford or Hardinge round (all second hand good condition and there are some real bargains out there for ex industry 5C) collets but for hex and square Chinese. I also have a 5C to ER40 collet for intermediate sized round bar.

What max size bar are you going to be working with? a D1-4 spindle has a nice spindle bore and it would be a shame to limit yourself if you intend to do larger work.

If your lathe is also sold in the USA there might be an option available for a collet closer as although 5C collets are a 100+ year old design they are very popular in the USA. It is a very nice arrangement.

Steve

Edited By SteveI on 02/11/2017 19:51:23

Something not mentioned yet. In 5C you can get hex and square collets. Soft collets are available so you can machine whatever shape hole you need. step collets and expanding mandrels in 5C

5C collets also fit spin-indexers , indexing fixtures, and other gadgets. To the best of my knowledge none of these things are made for ER.

I think I am pretty open minded about collets and collet chucks. I have both 5C and ER collet equipment plus a Jacobs Rubberflex collet chuck that covers 1/4" to 1 3/8". What I prefer at any given time depends on the job I am doing.

5C collets also fit spin-indexers , indexing fixtures, and other gadgets. To the best of my knowledge none of these things are made for ER.

Knowledge improvement time!

I believe you will find, if you look hard enough, an ER spin indexer available from ArcEuro. Named after the late John Stevenson?

It will accept both 5C and ER32 collets. Look it up, along with the square and hex indexers.

ArcEurotrade sell an ER 32 collet block system. Unless you are doing a lot of precision work and need a quick loading system ER40 will do the job. I will though put in a good word for the Burnerd Super Precsion 3 jaw chuck I have. I often see ~ 1 thou repeatability when loading &unloading the same job, I mark the job and the chuck with a marker pen soI I get it loaded back in the same position. Unfortunately you are unlikely to get that performance out of the stock supplied chuck.

They cheated. It is a 5C indexer with a 5C/ER adapter. Actually, the 5c/ER adapter seems like it would be a great addition to my shop.