New Toy for the Lathe

[MattTheHat]

MT5 to ER40 collet adapter and a few collets. Largest collet is 1" and it appears that will extend about 4" into the adapter. A 3/4" rod will pass all the way through to the draw bar.

Can't wait to get this sucker bolted up so I can quite smashing my finger into chuck jaws!


-Matt

 

[robutacion]

MT5 to ER40 collet adapter and a few collets. Largest collet is 1" and it appears that will extend about 4" into the adapter. A 3/4" rod will pass all the way through to the draw bar.

Can't wait to get this sucker bolted up so I can quite smashing my finger into chuck jaws!


-Matt

Nice set Matt, how much did it cost...???

Cheers
George

 

[MattTheHat]

The MT5 collet holders are a bit hard to find and quite a bit more expensive than the smaller flavors. I got it on eBay for around $180. The collet sets can be had for around $100.


-Matt

 

[Curly]

What lathe are you using Matt?

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner because I can't reach my desktop!

 

[bluwolf]

Yeah, same question as Curly. I would assume (yes, always dangerous) that it's a 12x36 or something in that vicinity, if it has an MT5 in the headstock.

I had been considering a 5C collet chuck for my 12x36 but the size tolerance for 5C collets is really small. Anyone know what the range is for ER40s? Actually I had been considering an ER40 with an R8 for my mill too. It would make tool changes a lot quicker.

Mike

 

[MattTheHat]

I've got a Precision Matthews 11x27VF-LB. I have a 5C chuck that I could install on it as well as a 5C collet closer arrangement from Jet if I ever get around to it. I find the range on each 5C collet a bit restrictive. Even with a fairly extensive set it seems like either one is too tight or the next size doesn't have enough take-up. I have a MT3-ER32 outfit for my 10x22 and I never seemed to have the limited range problem I did with the 5C. Looks to me like the ER40 collets would have slightly more range yet. My guess is that an ER40 collet has at least twice the range of a 5C, possibly more.

-Matt

 

[PedroDelgado]

Did you mean $18.00? I have the same tray and I only paid $21.00 (I believe it was free shipping).

Here is the link:

Sisan Company

 

[PedroDelgado]

IMHO, if your lathe can take 5C, I would go with that. You'll be able to feed longer pieces into the collet (actually, all the way through). They are less expensive (because the market is saturated with this size).
Cheers

 

[MattTheHat]

No, the tray way indeed about $18. I was referring to the MT5-ER40 adapter running $180.

One advantage the 5C setup has is that I can buy a decent 3-jaw chuck mounted on a 5C shank. My lathe has a non-threaded flange for the chuck mount and changing or removing the chuck is a PITA. I guess I could mount a small 3-jaw chuck on something similar that could slip into the 1" ER40 collet, but the 5C version would definitely be more robust.

My problem with 5C collets is the limited effective range of each size collet. I never ran into a similar problem with my ER32 setup, and I had fewer collets for it than the 5C. Feeding through the spindle is nice, but the 4" or so that I can slide into the adapter is plenty for my use.

Another advantage to the 5C is that square and hex collets are widely available. Not sure if that's the case for the ER40 collets or not, but for the majority of my uses it just doesn't matter.

Long story short, I'm hoping the adapter will keep me from mounting and un-mounting the big 3-jaw chuck so often. The down side is that either way it isn't going to eliminate it entirely. A cam-lock spindle would be really nice. There are folks who have modified their PM1127 into a D1-3 arrangement, but that's beyond my comfort zone.


-Matt

 

[Rich L]

MT5 to ER40 collet adapter and a few collets. Largest collet is 1" and it appears that will extend about 4" into the adapter. A 3/4" rod will pass all the way through to the draw bar.

Can't wait to get this sucker bolted up so I can quite smashing my finger into chuck jaws!


-Matt

Nice set. You can get collets more than an inch to increase your range.

...

I had been considering a 5C collet chuck for my 12x36 but the size tolerance for 5C collets is really small. Anyone know what the range is for ER40s? Actually I had been considering an ER40 with an R8 for my mill too. It would make tool changes a lot quicker.

Mike

Size range for ER40 goes from 2mm to 30mm or if you get an Imperial set - 1/8 to 1 inch with complete overlap whichever set you get but you have to be careful and look closely at manufacturer specs for clamping range. For imperial sets you might have to go to 1/32 inch increments. Usually "on the millimeter" sets overlat or match completely.

The "through" capability on ER's, depending on the collet chuck design, can be more limiting than a 5C setup. 5C collets have limited clamping range and for the purist they do not have complete overlap even at the 1/64th increment level. But, folks have reported clamping them down .020 without a problem. That's why they make 5C "emergency" collets for off-sizes.

When you overclamp too much a 5C you do not get parallel clamping whereas with an ER collet, you do. As far as precision goes, you get what you pay for. You can get .0002 TIR on either side at nominal clamping. For 99% of what's done here, even if you spring a 5C collet, it ain't the end of the world. I have both systems and there are benefits and detriments to each in terms of setup time and flexibility but either will work well on its own. The only reletively significant con I can think of with respect to a 5C adaptation is that the collet nose might hang out further because you have to have a 3 1/2 inch 5C collet buried inside the actuator assembly so right off the bat you're that far out. An ER system should be at least an inch shorter.

Cheers,
Rich