Another Beall Collet Chuck Question??

[Randy_]

My collets from 800watt on eBay were in the mailbox today......nine days from the end of the auction. The guy has a rep for being a slow shipper; but "9 days" is not too bad. Not lightening fast; but not bad. Anyway, to the question.

I knew about the "trick" of putting the collet in the threaded collar at a bit of an angle and then screwing both onto the body of the chuck and it worked just fine. I tested every collet to make sure each one functioned properly. This is my first experience with using a collet of this type and from reading about them, I expected that the collets would sort of "pop" or "click" into place in the collar. Well, mine don't?? They just sort of settle into place. Don't know if my description is real good; but does this sound like how they are supposed to work?? Thanks.

Now I've got to tough it out until Christmas......no cheating in this family!!

 

[TBone]

Randy, this is my first experience with a collet and chuck also but mine did not click either but worked fine. I did not know about a "trick" to put them in skewed. Is there a reason for this?

 

[its_virgil]

If the collets are correctly "seated" in the threaded ring then when the ring is unscrewed the colled should be released from the chuck. The ring will turn a little then tighten...this tightening is he collet being extrated from the chuck. Other systems don't "self release" and the collet must be knocked out with a bar.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by TBone
<br />Randy, this is my first experience with a collet and chuck also but mine did not click either but worked fine. I did not know about a "trick" to put them in skewed. Is there a reason for this?

 

[Tangboy5000]

No they should not click, if they did it would be a royal pain trying to get them back out.

 

[kenwc]

I simply pushed mine in (and out) with my thumbs.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by TBone
<br />.....I did not know about a "trick" to put them in skewed. Is there a reason for this.....

TBONE: Hope I didn't mislead you with my comment. The "trick" is pretty easy to accomplish and you may even be doing it by accident. If you try to insert the collet into the collar perfectly straight, it will not seat properly. Try it and you will see that the face of the collet is about 3mm shy of being flush with the face of the collar. You can simulate this by putting the collet in the chuck body first and then screwing on the collar. You will see that the collet is not flush with the collar.

OTOH, if you put the collet in the collar first and wiggle it around a little(skew it) the collet will settle into a position where its face is flush(or almost so) with the face of the collar. The collet will still work in the first situation; but the self-extracting feature of the design will not work and you may find the collet sticks in the body of the chuck.

Thanks to everyone for your help. I feel better now.

I see that the first thing I need to do is find/make a better box for the collets. Mine came all jumbled up in a crappy little cardboard box. Would have nice if they charged another buck or two and provided a plastic "egg carton" type box so you wouldn't have to hunt for the proper collet. Anyone out there want to share their solution to this problem? Guess it would be nice to also have a slot in the container for the chuck, itself, when it is not on the lathe. Thanks.

 

[kenwc]

I wonder if I've missed something with this talk of seating the collet. I can push the collet into the ring by hand. It's "almost" flush with the front of the ring at this point. Does it need to go further? Will it?

 

[TBone]

Thanks Randy. The first time I put it in, it wasn't seated correctly and I had to really search for something long enough to push the collet out. Next time I used your tip and it now self extracts and it runs sooooooo smoooooth []

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by kenwc
<br />I wonder if I've missed something with this talk of seating the collet. I can push the collet into the ring by hand. It's "almost" flush with the front of the ring at this point. Does it need to go further? Will it?

Ken: By "almost flush" I mean within about half a mm. If it is not seated properly, there will be about 3mm of offset. Do as I mentioned before and put a collet in the chuck and then screw on the collar. You will see how it is "NOT" supposed to be.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by TBone
<br />Thanks Randy......Next time I used your tip.....

Glad to be of help; but it wasn't "my" tip, just another piece of useful info I learned here at IAP!!![^][^]

 

[its_virgil]

If the collet comes out of the chuck when the ring/collar is unscrewed the you have it correct. If the collet stays in the chuck when the collar is unsecrewed then you're not. That's one of the nicities of the Beall Collet chuck, the collet is self extracting from the chuck when the ring collar is unscrewed.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Don

Originally posted by kenwc
<br />I wonder if I've missed something with this talk of seating the collet. I can push the collet into the ring by hand. It's "almost" flush with the front of the ring at this point. Does it need to go further? Will it?

 

[TBone]

And a great feature it is. If you put it in wrong with the back of the collet open, it can be a bear to find something long enough to punch out the collet.