5C ER

[Rich L]

Often there is discussion or advice regarding which type of collet system to use on a lathe and there have been statements pro and con for both the ER and 5C complements. I just thought I'd share an example of what I do often in combining the two. The pictures show be boring with an end mill the bottom of a drilled hole so I can get a flat bottom. It's two ops because of the hole depth and I get better chip evacuation with a normal drill first and then clean up the bottom with the end mill.

So the ER25 collet chuck is held by a 1.000 5C collet and the 5C collet is closed with the normal technique and closing pressure. It's closing on a steel shank so pressure is high. The acrylic workpiece is held in with a hand tightened ER collet nut. The RPM is 580 and the operation is quick so I'm not worried about the nut loosening. A quick jab with the end mill and I'm done.

So, why combine the two? Because it's convenient. I'm doing parts with multiple diameters and the ER collet is flexible to whatever variation I have with the collet range which is .031 - much more than a 5C. I could do it with 5C but I'd have to change out the collet. For this setup there's virtually no sacrifice I've made in concentricity or TIR. Anyway, again, it's convenience.

Rail away!

Cheers,
Rich

 

[Curly]

Nothing to rail about since it works well for you. :tongue:

Does the ER chuck come with a 1.000" shaft or is it something you threaded on to the ER?

Is the 5C chuck made by Bison or is it the nice one made by Atlas? Myself I recently bought a Bison with a D5 mount. The Atlas, while really nice with it's hand wheel, was just too much to justify. Maybe someday I'll get an ER too.

Metal machines are just the starting point, the real money is in all the tooling you want. :bulgy-eyes:

 

[Rich L]

Nothing to rail about since it works well for you. :tongue:

Does the ER chuck come with a 1.000" shaft or is it something you threaded on to the ER? The ER collet chuck is RegoFix part number 2625. 12521 if you want to look it up. It is an ER25 size with a 1" cylindrical shank 50mm long. It fits nicely, as it should, in a 1" 5C collet.

Is the 5C chuck made by Bison or is it the nice one made by Atlas? Myself I recently bought a Bison with a D5 mount. The Atlas, while really nice with it's hand wheel, was just too much to justify. Maybe someday I'll get an ER too.
The 5C collet chuck is inherent in the lathe - not an add-on part. There is no Morse taper either as the whole spindle assembly was built with the 5C closer.

The other ER setup I have goes on the old Jet lathe and the chuck is an ER40 with a 4Morse taper shank as there is the corresponding taper in the spindle. The conventional jaw chucks unscrew giving access to the spindle taper. The spindle threads are non-standard and I don't recall what they are but they're roughly 2" x 10TPI

Metal machines are just the starting point, the real money is in all the tooling you want. :bulgy-eyes: I'll drink to that! It never stops.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[Curly]

The 5C collet chuck is inherent in the lathe - not an add-on part. There is no Morse taper either as the whole spindle assembly was built with the 5C closer.

Rich

That sounds like some of Harding lathes I've only seen pictures of. Nice plaything.