Collet chucks for the wood & metal lathes?

[Mike D]

Later in the week I'll be picking up a Jet metal lathe and I have a question for those that are familiar with the collet chucks for both metal & wood lathes.

Later I'll be buying a Beall collet chuck (minus the collets) that fits my Jet mini wood lathe. The lathe has a 1 X 8 TPI on the head stock. I also plan on buying the metric ER 32 collets from an online source.

The metal lathe that has 1-1/2 X 8 TPI threads on the head stock.
My questions are:

Beall sells a collet chuck that fits the 1-1/2 X 8 TPI, Can I buy 1 set of metric ER32 collets and use them in both of my lathes with the Beall collet chuck or will I have to buy two different sets of collets?

Is there an easier or better solution?

 

[Ed McDonnell]

An er32 collet will fit in an er32 chuck. It doesn't matter what the mount is.

As long as you don't need to use the same size collet on both lathes at the same time, you should only need one set of collets.

Ed

 

[Mike D]

Thanks Ed that's what I thought but I wasn't sure.

 

[Haynie]

Thank you for asking this question Mike. I was wondering the same thing.

 

[KenV]

Mike --

Remember that collets are a consumable item, and will need to be replaced from time to time. In general, the precision requirements on the work done in the metal lathe will be more exacting than on the wood lathe. Collets that will not meet specs on the metal lathe, will in many cases still function well for the wood lathe. One that gets trashed, is just trashed.

Going from wood lathe to metal lathe will usually require a good cleaning.

May be worth making it a one way travel from the metal lathe to the wood lathe. Having both lathes, you will probably find you are using a few collet sizes most of the time on the wood lathe, and may want to double up on those sizes. One complete set is a good place to start.