Can anyone identify this collet holder?

I very recently acquired a small, used vertical mill having a spindle bored out for Morse Taper 3.

Amongst the tooling which came with the mill is what I take to be a collet holder. Unfortunately, the holder came without any collets and I do not know which collet system (or size) it uses. I am thinking that this holder might be for ER-16 collets, but as I am new to metal milling and cannot be absolutely certain of same I am hesitant to order such collets on mere suspicion alone.

I am wondering is if any of you might be able to assist me in identifying this collet holder and the type of collets it uses. To this end I have attached a number of photographs of same.

I can tell you the following:

• The holder is labeled “3 x 16 - 1492” in the groove on the side of the MT3 shank.
• The holder is retained in the mill spindle by an M-12 threaded drawbar.
• The absolute diameter of the opening in the nose piece of the collet holder at the front end is 12mm, but in reality the shank of a standard 12mm drill will not quite fit through this hole.
• It might be difficult to see from my photograph, but the nose piece does have a retaining clip within.
• I cannot get my vernier caliper down into the nose piece directly, but by using a piece of measured paper I estimate the taper in the nose piece to be 16mm at its widest opening.
• In the rear section of the holder (connected to the MT3 shank), the maximum diameter of the taper (at the widest portion to the front) is 16mm.
• The nose piece, itself, does not rotate, but is pulled down tight by turning the captive threaded ring on the main portion of the holder. This action would appear to apply a straight compression effect without twist.

Edited By JasonB on 14/11/2015 16:38:21

Ignatz Fellinato:

A beautiful tool but unlike any ER holder I have seen (I am no expert and generally make my own).

In the absence of a public profile I have no idea where you are but there may be someone who will lend you an ER16 collet. Failing that, the cheap ones are very cheap to buy (!) and if bought on amazon, for example, can be sent back if unsuitable.

ER collet caps have a distinctive flange for extracting the collet after use which I don't see on yours.

There is a flange inside (a clip, really), but I agree that the nose piece doesn't seem to resemble the photos of ER collet holders I've seen advertised for sale online. In general, the nose opening on ER collet holders appears to be wider. But, again, I just don't know.

I've done a little bit of nosing about online, but there appear to be so many sorts of collets (some current, some no longer produced) which are in many ways similar, but just enough different to not be interchangeable, which is why I don't feel comfortable plunking down hard cash for some sort of collet which might not fit.

Can you post a better picture of the makers emblem just before the 3x16 looks like something followed by R

Not convinced, Jason.

I think the balls and slots are simply to prevent the male threaded closer from turning when you tighten the collet. You will still need to spin the external nut 4 or 5 turns.

Don't understand the internal groove though...

Pity there is no collet to complete the picture.

Edited By Muzzer on 14/11/2015 18:53:10

Ah, but of course if I HAD any of the collets to go with the holder I wouldn't be so confused

Here is the best image I can make of the little logo stamped into the side of the tool. It looks to me like a wrench within a square with rounded corners.

See this https://katalog.mav.cz/detail.php?id=14128 the exact tool

Good find Old School, and a link to the collets

Thanks, Old School & JasonB. At least now I know what this thing takes.

Also (after nosing around on the net), I see that almost nobody else sells these things, (=limited price competition). And I'm also sort of thinking that this might be a deprecated collet style.

I managed to find one photo of the holder with the collets posted on the net ( **LINK** ) and from what I can see in that photo it also looks like this particular kind of collet might not even grip the tool shank from end to end as tightly as the newer ER series. (?)

It might be more worthwhile for me to just step up to something like an ER20 or ER25 system in order to also be able to grip larger end mills (12mm, 16mm).

Ignatz Fellinato:

I'm glad you got your answer and my apologies for missing that you had already dealt with the flange in cap/nut point in your OP.

A big 'thank you' to everyone who commented and assisted me in figuring this out.