Collet Chucks for Kitless Pens

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wizard

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I have a PSI Collet chuck and am trying to use it to hold a round blank for a kitless pen. The problem is that my collet chuck doesn't seem to run perfectly true and it is going to be hard working with nib section and threading with tight tolerances on thickness. I use a collet insert that fits tight around the blank. I've tried 3 or 4 different round blanks with the same result. What am I doing incorrectly that would cause this? Is it the collet chuck? Is the Beall chuck more precise with regards to this?....any help or advice would be appreciated. Doc:)
 
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PenMan1

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Doc:
Try putting the er32 collet into the front retaining ring instead of the chuck body. Then, mount blank, collet and front ring into the chuck body.

I know this sounds silly, BUT, the collet must be perfectly aligned with the front retaining ring to "run true".

I hope this helps.
 

Texatdurango

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So many things could be the problem. I've PM'ed you my phone number. Give ma a call.

I agree, just because you can fit a blank into the collet doesn't mean that the loaded collet will then fit into the collet chuck. An easy way around this problem is to buy a larger set of collets rather than the 3, 4, or 5 that usually come with the popular sets OR... turn your blank down just a hair in diameter.
 

Fred

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Wizard, excellent advice from both of these members. Try the procedure from PenMan1 and see if the problem persists. Then call Monty and talk with him if you need further advice. While you are talking with Monty be sure and order his CA glue as he is the man when it comes to CA supplies. Good luck with the collet fix!
 

Timebandit

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Doc, feel free to PM me on this. I have the same collet chuck as you and like others have said you have to make sure that the collet is seated all the way in the screw on portion with the blank installed in it before you screw it onto the rest of the chuck. This is the most important factor to getting you collet to run true. If that doesnt help, there are other problems to asses. Just work your way down the list.

Justin
 

soligen

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Make sure everything is clean - no saw dust anywhere in the chuck or on the spindle, and you want the blank to be a slip fit into the collet.

If all that is good, then your blank is probably not a perfect cylinder - which is very hard to achieve by hand anyway.

When I want really good accuracy, what I do is not even try for a perfent cylinder. I leave 2 areas on the blank a little fatter than everywhere else - one near where the front of the collet will grip and one near the back. I then use my calipers on each high spot to get them to withing .001 of each other in diameter. Since the collet will grip on these 2 high areas, it should chuck accurately.

Its much easier to do this with plastics than wood. Wood will compress unevenly, throwing off alignment - especially soft wood.
 
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I have this same problem. Sometimes it is perfect but most of the time it is not. I turn the blank a little and see if it turns true. Several times sometimes and usually find a spot where it will turn true. If you take the blank out though, you have lost the spot where it was true.
 

Lenny

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Searsport, Maine
Doc, I too had some difficulty initial with my collet chuck (ME :redface:) until I saw John's video (which he re-posted above). I thought I had gotten a bad chuck! :biggrin: Now that I know to properly seat the collet before inserting the work my results have been much better!:)

I like soligen's advice about making sure the area that is held by the collet is exact (and not worrying so much about the entire length of the blank).

George gave me advice on which additional collets to get and they have served me very well .... 13/16", metric 20-19, 18 and 11/16" in addition to the sizes that came with the chuck, will do almost everything I need to do.:)
 

Dan_F

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If all that is good, then your blank is probably not a perfect cylinder - which is very hard to achieve by hand anyway.

When I want really good accuracy, what I do is not even try for a perfent cylinder. I leave 2 areas on the blank a little fatter than everywhere else - one near where the front of the collet will grip and one near the back. I then use my calipers on each high spot to get them to withing .001 of each other in diameter. Since the collet will grip on these 2 high areas, it should chuck accurately.

I think this covers much of the difficulties with collet chucks once the collet is correctly placed. I have use a file or sandpaper block to even out a cylinder, but this technique looks easier to accomplish. Thanks.
 

Geppetto

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+1 what Penman said...

Doc:
Try putting the er32 collet into the front retaining ring instead of the chuck body. Then, mount blank, collet and front ring into the chuck body.

I know this sounds silly, BUT, the collet must be perfectly aligned with the front retaining ring to "run true".

I hope this helps.


Sometimes the collet doesn't want to stay where I put it while I'm tightening it down. I use a small dowel through the tailstock to push it forward and flush with the ring.
 

Russianwolf

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Jul 13, 2007
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One other thing that can through it off.

If you are using a plastic ring to keep the chuck from getting stuck to the spindle, check to make sure it is uniform in thickness and hasn't broken. If it has broken or has been compressed on one side, then the chuck will not seat correctly and you will have some run out.

John and I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out why my Beal wasn't running right and discovered this problem.
 
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