ER40 collet chuck

[Dave Harding 1Participant @daveharding1]

Hi I'm considering buying a ER40 collet chuck from Arc euro any one used one what is your opinion of the chuck. Are they worth the outlay.

[Dave Harding 1Participant @daveharding1]

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Gear from Arc is without doubt quality stuff….no connection etc…..

Just bear in mind collet chucks are for round stock….

I have ER32 collet chuck on my Sieg lathe…dont use much else on it….If I need to machine hex or square I use one of my other machines…unless they have a collet chuck on ….

[BrevaParticipant @breva]

Dave ,

One advantage you might find with the ER40 is that you can often pick up cutters etc with thicker shafts from industry that are too big for people with smaller machinery. As a result there is less competition for them at auction.

I use one on my mill. Got my from Amadeal and have had no problems at all. I would suggest you get the ballbearing losing nut as opposed to the standard one. It is much easier to bring up the required tightness. They need more pressure than you might think.

John

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Posted by Breva on 09/09/2015 22:

I would suggest you get the ballbearing losing nut as opposed to the standard one. It is much easier to bring up the required tightness. They need more pressure than you might think.

John

Well I have to disagree…I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and as such have less strength than most folk…I find using an 8 inch shifter and a collet spanner sufficient to tighten without causing cutter slip….in fact I find Jacobs style chucks less able to grip in some instances.

I guess it comes down to quality of collets etc…

(3p supplied…inflation…you know..)

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

.

I have an ER32 collet chuck from ARC mounted on a D1-3 plate and I use it quite a bit. Very close runout and I consider it to be a very good value for money item. The collets are very good at not leaving 'witness marks' on work already turned like a normal chuck does unless you use thin aluminium strips between the jaws and work.

I also have a morse taper collet chuck from them that takes a screw in tang that they also supply. I use that in the lathe tailstock increasingly. It seems 'truer' and more secure than a normal tailstock chuck.

Nick

Edited By Nick_G on 10/09/2015 00:43:24

[LambtonParticipant @lambton]

I use ball bearing nuts for ER25 and ER30 collet chucks. They require less effort to get the proper grip on the work piece than a plain nut. The ones fro Arc are very good and only about £1.50 more than standard ones.

John, I suggest you try one as I am sure it would be of help to you.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I use a collet spanner with a 4" bar, and that's probably the difference of using a ball-bearing nut.

Having gone to the bother of making and ER25 closing nut (complete with release collar – I had to grind four special HSS bits for 1/8" HSS!) the ball bearing ones are so cheap and so much better.

Neil

[VicParticipant @vic]

ER32 is more popular than ER40 so consider that unless you really need the capacity of the ER40. You'll then be able to use the various ER32 fittings without having to buy another set of collets.

I have an ER32 "system" that includes Lathe and Milling machine chucks, various collet blocks and a Spin Indexer.

[Ketan SwaliParticipant @ketanswali79440]

The standard nut is fine for most applications. The ball bearing nut is better, requiring less force to tighten, when dealing with ER collets which hold smaller diameter of stock, or when dealing with stock held in a collet at the lower end of the collets capacity.

So, for example, an ER collet with capacity 5mm to 4mm, will be less elastic 'springy' then an ER collet with capacity 10mm to 9mm, because the smaller capacity collet has 'more metal' to force to close than the larger capacity collet.

Similarly, if a material diameter 9.2mm is held in a collet 10mm to 9mm, more force may be required to close the collet down to 9.2mm, as opposed to holding 9.8mm diameter stock in such a collet.

In both such cases, a nut with ball bearing seems to work better with less force applied. At least, this is the simple way I understand it.

Ketan at ARC.

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

I entirely agree with Ketan, the ball bearing nuts are a joy to use, especially when you are opening a collet at its lower diameter range.

[CrocadillopigParticipant @crocadillopig]

I recently bought 10 x ER40 collets (17 to 26mm) and matching lathe chuck from ARC to augment my ER25 set (goes down to 0.5mm) and use them in both my mill for cutter and drill holding, and in my lathe for barstock holding. I wouldn't be without them. I use a ball bearing nut for the ER25's and would endorse Ketan's Comments.

Russ

[jim’Participant @jim11037]

The bearing type nut is excellent. **LINK**

I have not had to resort to using the spanner yet, even on 1 1/2" stainless bar.

So much better than three jaw

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

When the penny finally dropped in my brain and I realised that i could shove my mills ER32 MT3 collet holder into the 5-3MT adapter and shove that in my crusader lathe I've been using it quite a bit.

The only downside to the MT holder system is limited insertion distance.

I didn't know ER40 went as big as 1 and 1/2 inches? Can i also ask which collet chuck you sourced to fit the crusader?

[jim’Participant @jim11037]

Posted by pgk pgk on 10/09/2015 18:33:53:

When the penny finally dropped in my brain and I realised that i could shove my mills ER32 MT3 collet holder into the 5-3MT adapter and shove that in my crusader lathe I've been using it quite a bit.

The only downside to the MT holder system is limited insertion distance.

I didn't know ER40 went as big as 1 and 1/2 inches? Can i also ask which collet chuck you sourced to fit the crusader?

1 1/2" is a bit big!!

The job was some 30mm 304 stainless.

I think i got the chuck from Gloster tooling on ebay.

[Dave Harding 1Participant @daveharding1]

I ordered one from Chester tools unfortunately they sent me the wrong size so it needs to go back.

[Dave Harding 1Participant @daveharding1]

Its cost me £7.50 to return it to them so a expensive chuck I have crossed them off my list. wont be using them again.

[Dave Harding 1Participant @daveharding1]

In the mean time I have ordered some ER40 collets from ARC so when my chuck arrives I'm ready to go.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

I have 2 ball bearing closing nuts for my ER25 collet set, one for my MT2 holder in the mill & one that fits my other 2 holders, MT3/4, much easier to tighten / undo than the standard nut… a couple of my better buys.

[Raymond AndersonParticipant @raymondanderson34407]

Dave, I have an ER 40 one from Arc on the smaller of me 2 lathes and It is without doubt a super piece of kit. In a earlier post I gave details of the run out I got and am very,very, impressed. even with standard collets. Also Er 40 will grip up to 30mm dia bar.

[Dave Harding 1Participant @daveharding1]

I can't wait to get my hands on it as soon as it arrives I'll get it fitted. I have a few projects I'm keen get started on.

[Dave Harding 1Participant @daveharding1]

Just a update on the Chester machine tools ER40 collet chuck saga. It seems they don't have in stock the ER40 100mm by 72mm chuck or they don't stock that size because once again they sent me a 125mm x 95mm chuck. I phoned them and after a bit of discussion they offered a solution. They sent me free of charge a back plate so I could fit the 125mm chuck to my 100mm spindle.

So a result I have a working ER40 collet chuck thanks to the people at Chester tools.

[Dave Harding 1Participant @daveharding1]

Unfortunately the run out on the chuck once I got it installed is terrible. I have had to remove it and refit the three jaw. I will stick with my three jaw for now until I decide what my next move is.

[Neil LickfoldParticipant @neillickfold44316]

0.01 to 0.02mm at the collet face is normal for regular tolerance collets, and about 0.03 to 0.04 at 50mm in front of the collet. I buy the RegoFix Precision series of collets. They are made so much better. The only people making a more accurate ER40 collet is the Big company from Japan.

What is often over looked in setting up an ER40 collet chuck is the run out of the outer thread for the nut. The thread must be concentric to the spindle, and then if the inside is not true, just recut the 8 deg per side inner taper untill it just cleans up. Regofix make up to 30mm collet for ER40 . I also like their high torque nut that has a special coating that allows the nut to be tightened without too much excessive force. I made my own ER40 spindle for a cue making lathe. With a ground test piece, my spindle is within 0.01mm tir. I also have made my own collets out of delrin to not mark the wood parts.

Neil

[Dave Harding 1Participant @daveharding1]

Unfortunately my skill level does not run to that sort of remedial action. I'm going to take it in to work to morrow and let the machinists/toolmakers have a look at it but Ill probably just give up on the project and sell the chuck Ill probably include the back plate for free. Some one with more know how can probably sort it out.

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