Beall Collett Chuck

[Gary]

I've seen reference here to the Beall Collet Chuck system being demonstrably better than the Morse Taper for holding the pen mandrel. Could sombody please clarify why this would be the case?

With the Morse Taper, the mandrel is threaded into a piece of steel and held securely. With the Beall system is simply held securely by the collet. It would seem to me that any "whip" would be the same since that is a function of that part of the mandrel that extends beyond the point of hold. What am I missing?

 

[low_48]

I'd say the mandrel threaded into the morse taper is the place for improvement. There is always some clearance in the thread and will not center that accurately. It is then bottomed out in the thread to hold it. The cheapest arbor uses the thread system, the next step up uses a collet to hold the arbor. It's basically the same as the Beall system. I use a Beall system to hold my pen mill. The outside of the mill is 1/2" diameter. I ground down the set screws a little and put it in the Beall. I use it on the variable speed Jet mini.

Rich

 

[daledut]

Gary,
One main advantage to the Collet chuck is that it makes your madrel adjustable. To reduce whip, ideally you want the madrel rod as short as possible to do the job. With a standard length mandrel rod in a morse taper you have to add spacer bushings to take up the extra length. With a collet chuck you simply slide the rod further into the chuck and tighten it at the appropriate length. This reduces the whip to a minimum.
The other advantage I find is the ability to hold different (and sometimes small) items securely turning other items like finials and center bands etc.

 

[wayneis]

Another advantage is that the Beall collet mounts on to the lathe just like a chuck, it screws onto the outside of the lathe shaft just like a Talon Chuck or Axeminster or any of those do. A MT slides inside the Lathe shaft and if you get and dirt, specks of saw dust or grime in any way the MT will be off centered. It also takes the place of a drill chuck without the small jaws sticking out, its pretty easy to slide a turning gouge into the jaws accidently. The face of the collet chuck is flat thus far less chance of nicking your nice sharp gouge. I started out using the Morse Taper and then went to the collett chuck and like they say, I'll never go back.

Wayne

 

[its_virgil]

Dale,
You told me once but I've lost the email. Where did you pruchase your collett chuck. It was cheaper than the Beall system as I remember. I'm getting ready to purchase one and would appreciate the link. thanks.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by daledut
<br />Gary,
One main advantage to the Collet chuck is that it makes your madrel adjustable. To reduce whip, ideally you want the madrel rod as short as possible to do the job. With a standard length mandrel rod in a morse taper you have to add spacer bushings to take up the extra length. With a collet chuck you simply slide the rod further into the chuck and tighten it at the appropriate length. This reduces the whip to a minimum.
The other advantage I find is the ability to hold different (and sometimes small) items securely turning other items like finials and center bands etc.

 

[dougle40]

For those of you that are using a #1 morse taper , Lee Valley has a special tool for cleaning the taper out . It can be found at the link below .
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?SID=&ccurrency=1&page=49252&category=1,330,49236

 

[wayneis]

Doug, From what I've been told that your little finger will work just as good as that tool will and is doesn't cost anything.

Wayne

 

[wayneis]

Enco has the best deal I've found on the collets but I don't see the chucks in their catalog. You need the ER-32 collet. Beall does sell the Chuck seperatly, the chuck for a lathe using a 1"-8 spindle is $79.00 and the collets are $19.00 each. Enco has the collets at $15.99 each. If you use both the A and B size mandrel shaft then you will need the 1/4" and the 5/16" collets and the 5/16" does not come in the set that Beall sells. Then after that it just depends on what else if anything you turn.

Hope this is of help,

Wayne

 

[wayneis]

Also watch Enco for sales, I only paid $11.99 for the last two collets that I bought from them. They have sales going on all of the time.

Go to www.use-enco.com

Wayne

 

[daledut]

Don,
I got mine from Beall. It was from a batch that was threaded with too tight a tolerance and will not fit all lathes that have 1" x 8tpi threads. It was half price and they told me I could send it back if it did not fit.
I got it quite a while ago so you might call and see if they have any left.