Is my collet head machined incorrectly?

[Drogo]

Hello all.

I recently picked up the Penn State collet chuck, and when it arrived, I thought the head that screws on to the chuck was machined incorrectly. I could see that the lip that holds the collet in was off center. So I exchanged it. The second one to come back was made the same way, and that made me think maybe that's the design. (oops :tongue

I started messing around with it for a few minutes and noticed that the offset lip allows you to set the collet in place without having to compress it to get past the lip. Is that intentional? (I've never used a collet chuck before.) It seems that it would be easier to use that way. Are other collets made the same way?

(Sorry about the pictures. They're fuzzy when blown up. Quickly taken with the phone.)

Thanks!

 

[mredburn]

Yes the collet nuts have an off center lip that you snap the collets into. Then when you loosen the nut it pulls the collet free of the chuck so it doesnt stick in the chuck.

 

[Dick Mahany]

They are purposely made that way. The ER collet systems work by inserting the collet into the nut first. When you do this, you will feel the collet snap into the nut. That odd looking machining is intentional and helps the collet seat properly into the retaining nut. Then the nut/collet is threaded onto the body. Nothing wrong with it so go have some fun !

 

[Drogo]

Excellent!!! Thanks!

Guess I'll be making a couple of pens this weekend after all. I'm planning to switch over to turning between centers and getting away from the bushings.

 

[joefyffe]

Excellent!!! Thanks!

Guess I'll be making a couple of pens this weekend after all. I'm planning to switch over to turning between centers and getting away from the bushings.

Good Choice!

 

[its_virgil]

What a great library we have here! Look what I found!
http://content.penturners.org/library/tools_and_jigs/colletchuckusage.pdf

Do a good turn daily!
Don