Collets

Along with the Mini Lathe I inherited from my late father are some odd lathe parts not related to the Mini Lathe.

There is a Myford threaded nose cone and a set of collets that mach the nose cone, probly from his ML7. They are MT2 taper. How can I identify wihat collets they are. They look like ER collets but I am not sure what size they are?. The other problem may be that the Mini Lathe headstock is MT3.

I would like to use collets on the Mini Lathe having seen my Father using collets on his Rivet 608 for his clock making.

Do you have a photo of the collets in question to help with identity ?

Phil

David

They sound like Myford collets and with the threaded "nose cone" - called a "nose piece" or collet closer - will only fit Myford machines as the spindle nose thread has to match the Myford thread inside the collet closer.

Myford collets are 2¼" long and 0.58" dia at the thin end. For ease of reference one is shown here

And the instructions for using them here

O f course I may be wrong!   E&O always excepted

Edited By Robbo on 24/03/2017 21:56:40

David,

I was thinking along the same lines as Robbo ... but there is one important caveat

Any resemblance to ER Collets is quite superficial: Yes, both have a groove for the closing ring BUT the Myford ones are fixed size, and do not have the range of an ER.

MichaelG.

Thanks folks. The photos from Robo prove my thoughts that they are Myford only collets. I think starting again with ER 32 and a collet holder for the Mini Lathe is my best choice. My next thoiught being do I go for metric or imperial?.

I was offered an ML10 recently and if it wasnt thirty plus years old and a lot of money I would have found a use for the collets. Sadly my father gave his ML7 away when I was stationed abroad later followed by his Rivet 608 to be replaced by the mini lathe. Sad times but I am getting some use out of the mini lathe.

David,

I have sent you a message

MichaelG.

David,

The good news is that genuine Myford collets command a premium price on ebay and elsewhere, so you can get some money back to pay for your ER collets.

These days, unless you have a stock of Imperial cutters, I would go for Metric. My own ER collets are metric, while my old Clarkson and Myford ones are Imperial (as befits an old fogey).

Edited By Robbo on 25/03/2017 09:00:29

Whatever range of collets you have (imperial in 1/32"s or metric in millimeters) you should be able to grip anything within the range of the collet set you have.

.

Brian,

If you are referring to the Myford collets, then i beg to differ.

... each collet is designed for a specific size +/- a few thou' at most.

ER collets however, are, of course, 'extended range'.

MichaelG.

Hi David,

I think getting an ER 32collet system is a good idea. You ask: "My next thoiught being do I go for metric or imperial?." That depends on the shank diameter of the end mills (or work) you use. I have mostly metric collets with a couple of imperial ones - 1/8" and 1/4" because I occasionally use 1/16" slot drills which have a 1/4" shank.

Thor

You are, of course, quite correct. I failed to mention I was, in fact, referring to the sets of collets I have which are of the ER11 and ER25 series. My apologies for the ambiguity.

Thanks for clarifying that, Brian

MichaelG.

David

If you should be thinking of parting with your Myford collets, I am looking for 3/64", 13/64", 27/64 & 31/64" sizes.

These are not very common sizes, but if you do have any spare I would appreciate a message.

Thanks

Phil

I have a full set of metric ER32 collets for workholding but then a second smaller select mix of metric and imperial collets for end-mills since I have both metric and imperial.

I opted for 16mm, 1/2", 12mm, 10mm and 1/4" as the cheapest combination. It's fairly obvious but with this set none of the collets needs to be closed more than 0.5mm (10mm -> 3/8" worst case) to cover almost all of my end-mills.

HTH

Jon

I don't mean to steal this thread but wonder if anyone can identify these collets I picked up for $5.00?

Hard to see in the photo but they are threaded on the outside of the end and do not have an internal thread.

Peter,

Your slightly fuzzy photo appears to show them marked CD13

... So try here: **LINK**

http://www.miyakawa.com/en/products_e/multiple_head/collet_drill.htm

Nice find at that price !!

MichaelG.

Thanks Michael. I'm sure that's what they are. Now I don't know if I should buy the rest so I can use them or try to make a few $$$ by selling them. Once again, love this site!