My collet chuck is less accurate than my pen chuck

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MedWoodWorx

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This could be the title of my summer ordeal. As a said before under the description of my olive wood litless fp @hooked drilled a few ebonite sleeves for me. I bought the corresponding mandrels from beaufort ink and tried to turn the barrels, caps and sections. The sections so far have been a mess: it seems that the mandrel doesn't turn true and the nib side of the section is not round ( the hole is not concentric). I ve double checked everything and also put my collet chuck aside because its really inaccurate. The problem persists, anyone has any ideas why? Cheers
 
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Can you explain what you mean by "the hole is not concentric"? I assume you are using the M10x1 threaded side of the mandrel that connects at the tenon, not the side that screws into the nib housing threads?

I believe I tested all the sections to ensure they fit the nib, and I didn't notice any concentric issues with the sections.
 
When folks tell me stuff is not concentric, or things are 'not quite round', my advice is always stop, do some cleaning and setup, then check again. Headstock and tailstock mis-alignment is usually a biggy - if they are not dead on, bad things happen. A dirty morse taper will also throw things off, as well as a dirty seat on the back of the headstock drive threads. Penturning is not like most turnings done on a lathe, as we are dealing with fractions of fraction of an inch so everything has to be dead on the money.

If you have the ability to measure alignment and runout of the headstock/tailstock connection as well as the mandrel and collet chuck, I'd start there and work to get everything clean and aligned. Nothing will work correctly unless it's setup right.

Kevin
 
Are you properly snapping the collet into the collet nut? I dont know if this has been addressed prior to this thread. The collet has to be hooked on one side of the collet nut and then snapped up and in seating it into the collet nut. They dont just push straight in.
 
hooked said:
Can you explain what you mean by "the hole is not concentric"? I assume you are using the M10x1 threaded side of the mandrel that connects at the tenon, not the side that screws into the nib housing threads?

I believe I tested all the sections to ensure they fit the nib, and I didn't notice any concentric issues with the sections.
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I ll upload some pictures tomorrow to see what i mean, its probably my fault i just can't find out what exactly i am doing wrong. Thank you all for your advice, cheers.
 
Sorry for the delay but it was impossible to find shop time sooner. So i watched @rherrell video a dozen times and did everything by the book. I think that it might be a headstock thing after all, the collet chuck seems to have a similar accuracy with the pen chuck. Thank you all for any advice, cheers.


P.S. i also include a picture of the dial
 

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How is the collet chuck attached? If it is using the taper, there may be debris inside the taper. That taper must be very clean. Check for any galling, raised divots on the matting faces of the two tapers. If it threads on, the face of the nose may have debris. Debris can be anything from over spray finish to saw dust.
There is a specific "load" order to the collet chuck Snap the collet into the nut, the groove in the collet should snap into the ring inside the nut. The collet and nut thread onto the chuck nut. Then put the rod into the chuck and tighten.

Hope this helps.
 
randyrls said:
How is the collet chuck attached? If it is using the taper, there may be debris inside the taper. That taper must be very clean. Check for any galling, raised divots on the matting faces of the two tapers. If it threads on, the face of the nose may have debris. Debris can be anything from over spray finish to saw dust.
There is a specific "load" order to the collet chuck Snap the collet into the nut, the groove in the collet should snap into the ring inside the nut. The collet and nut thread onto the chuck nut. Then put the rod into the chuck and tighten.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
I cannot upload the full video, i believe i am doing it the right way
 
I found that when I use the plastic rings to help keep your chuck from binding on the headstock I get a fair amount of runout. I think it is because the milled surface of the headstock and the chuck have to mate through the plastic ring and they are anything but dead flat. I stopped using the anti-bind rings and got rid of my runout issue. Have to occassionally work hard to get the chuck off, but......lol

Kevin
 
randyrls said:
How is the collet chuck attached? If it is using the taper, there may be debris inside the taper. That taper must be very clean. Check for any galling, raised divots on the matting faces of the two tapers. If it threads on, the face of the nose may have debris. Debris can be anything from over spray finish to saw dust.
There is a specific "load" order to the collet chuck Snap the collet into the nut, the groove in the collet should snap into the ring inside the nut. The collet and nut thread onto the chuck nut. Then put the rod into the chuck and tighten.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Yes it is threaded on the taper which is rather clean i dont think thats an issue
 
NJturner said:
I found that when I use the plastic rings to help keep your chuck from binding on the headstock I get a fair amount of runout. I think it is because the milled surface of the headstock and the chuck have to mate through the plastic ring and they are anything but dead flat. I stopped using the anti-bind rings and got rid of my runout issue. Have to occassionally work hard to get the chuck off, but......lol

Kevin
Click to expand...
No i dont use a washer of any kind just the chuck
 
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