Q-Tech Collet Chuck

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

My new benchtop mill was supplied with a Q-tech R8-ER32 collect chuck

Having used it for the first time, I find that I can't hold the body of the chuck while I use the C-spanner to loosen the nut. I just don't have a sufficiently strong grip in my arthritic fingers.

There are flats on the body of the chuck so I guess that one needs a spanner to hold the body.

Can anybody who owns one of these Collet chucks kindly tell me what size spanner is required, please?

Further, any suggestions as to where I might obtain one, please?

Very many thanks for your help

MC Black

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

With the chuck in the spindle you can also lock the spindle or put a tommy bar into it and then use the collet nut spanner in the other hand, that's what I do with my two R8 machines

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

I’m not surprised, if the collet chuck is tightened to the proper torque! Likely tighter than your car wheel nuts should be.

Measure the distance across the spanner flats – that will be the spanner size required. For items closer to the minimum diameter for the collet, I have some handy blocks of wood, of various thickness, to support the end mill/ whatever while tightening and undoing – to avoid the item falling.

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Measuring across the flats gives 46.3mm.

The chuck uses a 7/16 UNF drawbar with a 11/16 nut on the top.

So I suspect that the spanner may be 1.7/8 or 1.1/8 Whitworth

Since I have nothing approaching any of these sizes (even in adjustable or waterpump spanners) I thought it would be useful to know is anybody among the intelligent and helpful readership has previously solved the problem.

I have NOT discovered any way of locking the spindle and I'm sure I would have spotted a hole for a Tommy Bar.

But I'll go and look at the Mill in the morning and search for Tommy Bar apertures and spindle locks.

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

About the first job I did on my mill was to make a spanner to fit the ER32 flats. I do own a huge adjustable spanner (which weighs a silly amount) since i have some farm machinery and that was used to tighten the endmill for making my spanner from a wide bar of 8mm mild steel i bummed off the local agri engineers. i cut a wide slot to fit the flats and thinned down the rest of the bar as a handle. It is crude but functional and one day I;ll get around to making a nicer one but I've been sayng that for years….

Hacksaw and drill work could fashion a temporary one or even as simple as drill holes and bolts on some narrower bar bits to create a U with a handle.

pgk

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I slightly enlarged an old bicycle headset spanner with the intention of making a proper one but that was some 10years ago.

What mill do you have?

[Ron LadenParticipant @ronladen17547]

You can buy a single open ended 46mm spanner for a tenner and if its tight on your 46.3mm just mill a tad off each side.

Ron

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

As PGK said, a little work with a hacksaw and file would soon produce a useable spanner.

I have made several such for odd jobs over the years where the cost of a "Proper" spanner could not be justified.

They may be crude but they still work years later.

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

Posted by JasonB on 19/07/2020 06:53:47:

What mill do you have?

It's a SP 9512-B from SPG Tools with R8 Spindle

It came with a Jacobs (type) Drill chuck but I needed a way of holding milling cutters; so it was supplied with a Q-tech R8-ER32 collet chuck as an "extra".

The Drawbar has a 11/16 AF nut; finding a spanner for that wasn't easy and I've now bought a suitable ring spanner from Ebay.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Please forgive the digression, but I was intrigued by that 46.3mm dimension

46.3 ÷ 25.4 = 1.82283464566929 [which doesn’t look very encouraging]

and [using the converter on ‘calculator soup’] the fractional value is

1.8228346456692 = 1 + 2057086614173 / 2500000000000

[and rounding-up doesn’t seem to improve things]

Google search for 46.3mm finds a Trend router cutter of that diameter, but little else of interest

Eureka !

Somehow, I managed to stumble into: **LINK**

http://www.convertaz.com/convert-cable-length-(international)-to-kilofoot/

Which reveals that:

3 cable lengths (International) = 1.8228346457 kilofeet

.

Now, can someone [probably Dave S.O.D.] please explain the connection between that little gem and the A/F dimension that MCB measured ?

MichaelG.

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

Posted by Ron Laden on 19/07/2020 07:39:36:

You can buy a single open ended 46mm spanner for a tenner and if its tight on your 46.3mm just mill a tad off each side.

Ron

Very many thanks for the pointer.

I've pondered getting an adjustable spanner – cost is higher but offers versatility of other uses.

I have also remembered that I have a (slightly rusty) 24" Stilson wrench inherited from my late father. But I can't lift it one handed (in fact, I have trouble lifting it with both hands!).

With best wishes and thanks again.

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

'Superwide' adjustable spanners like this one could fit without the hassle and ungainliness of 24" stilsons, but would cost you about £20 at least. I don't use mine on a mill but nearly everywhere else!

[Gary WoodingParticipant @garywooding25363]

**THIS** will almost certainly do the job for you, and cheap too.

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

Posted by Gary Wooding on 19/07/2020 09:47:13:

**THIS** will almost certainly do the job for you, and cheap too.

That looks like good value. Thank you

Have you actually used one?

I bought a cheap adjustable spanner a few years ago and the jaw wobbled – waste of money (which I put down to experience!)

Hence my question.

Thank you again for taking the time to respond.

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 19/07/2020 08:51:48:

Please forgive the digression, but I was intrigued by that 46.3mm dimension

46.3 ÷ 25.4 = 1.82283464566929 [which doesn’t look very encouraging]

and [using the converter on ‘calculator soup’] the fractional value is

1.8228346456692 = 1 + 2057086614173 / 2500000000000

[and rounding-up doesn’t seem to improve things]

Google search for 46.3mm finds a Trend router cutter of that diameter, but little else of interest

Eureka !

Somehow, I managed to stumble into: **LINK**

http://www.convertaz.com/convert-cable-length-(international)-to-kilofoot/

Which reveals that:

3 cable lengths (International) = 1.8228346457 kilofeet

.

Now, can someone [probably Dave S.O.D.] please explain the connection between that little gem and the A/F dimension that MCB measured ?

MichaelG.

I think it could be 1.7/8 inch or 1.1/8 Whitworth

I shall measure across the flats more carefully.

Please stand by

[Norman BillinghamParticipant @normanbillingham91454]

My VMC mill doesn't have a spindle lock and the ER collet chuck doesn't have spanner flats, so I had difficulty tightening collets especially at the smaller end of their range. The answer was to swap the closer nut for a ball-bearing version (I got mine from Arc Euro). Reduces the tightening torque dramatically and I can get things more than tight enough just by holding the quill pulley with one hand and the c-spanner with the other. I had planned to grind flats on the chuck but there's no need now.

[Roger ClarkParticipant @rogerclark]

Posted by MC Black 2 on 19/07/2020 08:28:23:

Posted by JasonB on 19/07/2020 06:53:47:

What mill do you have?

It's a SP 9512-B from SPG Tools with R8 Spindle

It came with a Jacobs (type) Drill chuck but I needed a way of holding milling cutters; so it was supplied with a Q-tech R8-ER32 collet chuck as an "extra".

I have the identical mill to you, came from same dealer. I have the belt conversion on it. It has a spindle lock near the top of the head, little black knob, push it in and spin the spindle until it drops into the hole.

Regards

Roger

Edited By Rockingdodge on 19/07/2020 11:12:02

[Gary WoodingParticipant @garywooding25363]

Posted by MC Black 2 on 19/07/2020 10:09:23:

Have you actually used one?

I bought a cheap adjustable spanner a few years ago and the jaw wobbled – waste of money (which I put down to experience!)

Hence my question.

Sorry, no, I haven't used one. I found it when looking for one similar to the Eclipse version that I purchased a few years ago, which works very well and cost only about £12, but it's maximum opening turned out to be 33mm.

For the sole purpose of tightening an ER30 nut I would think it would be quite adequate.

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

Posted by Rockingdodge on 19/07/2020 11:11:26:

Posted by MC Black 2 on 19/07/2020 08:28:23:

Posted by JasonB on 19/07/2020 06:53:47:

What mill do you have?

It's a SP 9512-B from SPG Tools with R8 Spindle

It came with a Jacobs (type) Drill chuck but I needed a way of holding milling cutters; so it was supplied with a Q-tech R8-ER32 collet chuck as an "extra".

I have the identical mill to you, came from same dealer. I have the belt conversion on it. It has a spindle lock near the top of the head, little black knob, push it in and spin the spindle until it drops into the hole.

Regards

Roger

Edited By Rockingdodge on 19/07/2020 11:12:02

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

That is VERY useful information

It's a pity that there's wasn't anything equally useful in the Instruction Manual !!

In fact, there's very little useful information in the manual – which is for the gear rather than belt version.

It would be better if it had been written by a native English speaker! I suspect it was translated by a computer.

Very many thanks again

MC

[Roger ClarkParticipant @rogerclark]

Glad I could help, yes the 'manual' is a bit useless and I'm afraid I found SPG difficult to get hold of, no replies to emails or messages left so I accepted I was on my own.

I had a problem where the lower ballrace 'lost' a couple of balls( basically it disintegrated) so I put a set of tapered roller bearings in by machining a mm off each seat and it works fine now.

I found I could source most of the spares I required from Arc Eurotrade, the basic machine is/was the same as their offerings.

Regards

Roger

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 19/07/2020 08:51:48:

Please forgive the digression, but I was intrigued by that 46.3mm dimension

46.3 ÷ 25.4 = 1.82283464566929 [which doesn’t look very encouraging]

and [using the converter on ‘calculator soup’] the fractional value is

1.8228346456692 = 1 + 2057086614173 / 2500000000000

[and rounding-up doesn’t seem to improve things]

Google search for 46.3mm finds a Trend router cutter of that diameter, but little else of interest

Eureka !

Somehow, I managed to stumble into: **LINK**

http://www.convertaz.com/convert-cable-length-(international)-to-kilofoot/

Which reveals that:

3 cable lengths (International) = 1.8228346457 kilofeet

.

Now, can someone [probably Dave S.O.D.] please explain the connection between that little gem and the A/F dimension that MCB measured ?

MichaelG.

I'm baffled.

A cable is 1/10th of a Nautical Mile, defined as 1 minute ( ie 1/60th a degree) of latitude along any line of longitude, which are approx 40000km in circumference. And the nautical mile is derived from the 1791 metre, which is one ten millionth of 90° of latitude along any line of longitude, ie approx 10000km. So a nautical mile is 1852 metres, making 3 cables 617⅓ metres, or 1822.8346457 feet

Never heard of a kilofoot before, but its real (304.8m).

Reckon I'm completely bamboozled by numbers matching randomly as necessary to draw Ley Lines and the answer is nothing to do with units. Is it that kilofeet are used to measure telecommunication cables, as in “When arranged in this way, the cable exhibits a nominal resistance of 0.067 ohms per kilofoot of phase.” and that cables are often run over floors in houses, offices and flats? (Across Flats, geddit!)

I was going to suggest MC's 46.3mm measurement is actually 1 53/64" or 1.8203125" But 1 53/64" isn't a standard spanner size. Maybe chuck flats aren't standard? Those on my ER32 chuck are 35.15mm, which is also weird. I made a spanner to fit and labelled it 36 though its actually 35.85mm

The spanner doesn't need to be strong. This one has a mild steel head bolted into an aluminium handle with an M6 Allen Bolt – junk box metal and rough craftsmanship.

Dave

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 19/07/2020 08:51:48:

Please forgive the digression, but I was intrigued by that 46.3mm dimension

I should think a spanner intended for M30 hex would fit quite cosily as the spanners are usually a tad over the AF size of 46mm in this case, spanners tolerance seems to be 46.1 to 46.7mm

1 1/8" UNC spanner would be another good bet and as the US market for most of the far eastern tooling is far greater than the metric world would make use of a standard UNC size sensible.

 

Edited By JasonB on 19/07/2020 15:36:19

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by JasonB on 19/07/2020 15:01:12:

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 19/07/2020 08:51:48:

Please forgive the digression, but I was intrigued by that 46.3mm dimension

I should think a spanner intended for M30 hex would fit quite cosily […]

.

Sorry, Jason, but you miss my point … The digression was what interested me

i.e. the fact that the strange dimension that was measured is actually relevant in a system of units to which I was previously oblivious.

The mere task of buying or making a spanner to fit the existing flats is of little interest compared with that.

MichaelG.

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

Posted by JasonB on 19/07/2020 15:01:12:

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 19/07/2020 08:51:48:

Please forgive the digression, but I was intrigued by that 46.3mm dimension

I should think a spanner intended for M30 hex would fit quite cosily as the spanners are usually a tad over the AF size of 46mm in this case, spanners tolerance seems to be 46.1 to 46.7mm

1 1/8" UNC spanner would be another good bet and as the US market for most of the far eastern tooling is far greater than the metric world would make use of a standard UNC size sensible.

Edited By JasonB on 19/07/2020 15:36:19

I think it may be 1.7/8 AF or 1.1/8 Whit

I guess Whit spanners are NOT common in the Untied States?

But the information about the Spindle lock and the Ball Bearing Collet Nut may both be very helpful.

With best wishes and thanks again.

[Author]

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