Which er32 chuck

[AndyNC]

Hi All,

I would like to purchase an ER32 collet chuck with an MT2 fitting but I'm a bit unsure about quality/price.

Has anyone had experience with the RDG and ARCEuro trade ones or any experience with their products.

I've heard good and bad but these were 6 year old posts.

I'd prefer to buy sub £50 but if that means I'm buy poor quality I'll have to re-think this one.

It's to fit an ML7.

Many thanks

Andy

 

[porker]

I've heard good things about CTC Tools. They are based in Hong Kong and although the postage is quite high, the total price is very reasonable. I have also heard that the quality is pretty much the same as Arc and RDG sell. I can believe this as I guess they source from the same places in Asia. The runouts quoted are pretty good too.
Having said that, I've bought from both RDG and Arc and for the money their stuff is pretty good.
Don't forget to get the correct drawbar thread as this comes in metric and imperial and I guess you know this needs a drawbar. HTH
Matt

 

[AndyNC]

Many thanks Matt,

I did not know it needed a draw bar, just that it could be fitted.
If I get metric draw bar most threaded rod sizes are available in Srewfix or similar.

I'm a little inexperienced in this. Could explain why it needs draw bar. I can imagine it being needed if I'm chucking large eccentric work piece but I'm doing light work is it required.

Having said that it's not difficult to make one up.

The other option is to have am er32 chuck mounted on the spindle thread. It seems again that there are mixed review on these. In one thread Soba get good and bad reviews.

Any thoughts on these?

Cheers

Andy

Edit: just looked at the CTC one. At £13 + £9 postage it's probably work a try

 

[porker]

I have a Myford S7 and made a drawbar from some 7/16" threaded rod and turned a bush to fit in the other end of the mandrel. You will find it more common to have an imperial thread on most stuff in UK.

Anything which presents a sideways thrust needs to be secured in the taper by a drawbar. So when you drill with a chuck in the tailstock you are OK because the forces are not sideways (i.e. they are axial). A drawbar does not need to be super tight just nipped up. You might get away with it once or twice but it will come loose.

One thing you can do with this chuck is mill in the lathe (with a vertical slide). I tried this without a drawbar when I was starting and it pulled the cutter straight out, snapped the cutter and ruined the work piece.

Having a chuck that screws on the spindle thread allows you to pass rod through the lathe mandrel. You can't do this with a chuck held in the MT. That's the main difference. Someone may know other advantages / disadvantages.

Soba stuff is OK. I have quite a bit. I think they source from other suppliers. I have a parting tool of theirs and it is OK. Some of their dickson toolholders were a bit rough but OK.

 

[AndyNC]

Many thanks for that Porker.

I'd better not use a drill chuck in the headstock then (no draw bar).

I was considering the MT2 version because I can use it on my Myford and wood lathe. BUT having found an adapter from Myford to my CCL perform wood lathe spindle last night, I can use a spindle mounted one on both lathes. Great news.

This is a voyage of discovery because I've picked up (metaphorically speaking) my Dads ML7 and 4 boxes of additional kit including a vertical slide and I haven't used a lathe since the first 6-months of my apprenticeship, but that was a long time ago.

Many thanks

Andy

 

[Myfordman]

Andy,

I bought the flat plate chuck from ArcEuro and then modified an ML7 catch plate to take it. this enable the chuck to be clocked in spot on and the bolts tightened. Collets from CTC have been very good. The only part that came from RDG was a carry case for the collets.

MM

 

[Spindle]

Hi

I bought my ER 25 chuck and collet set from CTC - with postage and import it came in at about 50% of the ARC price and they are exactly the same items. Took about ten days to arrive.

Metric draw bar is easily made from stock studding and hardware available everywhere - don't bother sourcing from CTC.

Very satisfied customer

Regards Mick

 

[AndyNC]

Thanks again for all your help.

Myfordman: I dug around in one of the boxes and behold, out came a catch plate. At least now I know what it is and there are a variety of drive dogs as well. There's no drive pin on the plate but that's not a problem and easily fabricated if needed in the future.

Which chuck did you buy and did you have to modify the backplate/catch plate other than drilling mounting holes?

As this will fit both lathes with an adapter it looks like the way to go.

Many thanks

Andy

 

[porker]

If you're feeling adventurous you could have a go at making, the the collet chuck. If you go on youtube and look for Doubleboost he has a whole series of videos where he makes one for his Boxford.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

The spindle nose mounted one is definitely a better option than a taper mount - it's far stiffer, and it allows you to make use of the spindle bore for long stock.

I made mine (machining a good fit for the spindle nose is quite a job, however - you need to fit the screwthreads, and more particularly the register, very accurately by measurement alone, or make a pair of gauges first - not easy). Quicker to buy a backplate.

I think Arc Euro Trade supply backplate-mounting ER chucks, and their collets are pretty good quality without being fabulously expensive.

 

[Myfordman]

Thanks again for all your help.

Myfordman: I dug around in one of the boxes and behold, out came a catch plate. At least now I know what it is and there are a variety of drive dogs as well. There's no drive pin on the plate but that's not a problem and easily fabricated if needed in the future.

Which chuck did you buy and did you have to modify the backplate/catch plate other than drilling mounting holes?

As this will fit both lathes with an adapter it looks like the way to go.

Many thanks

Andy

My collet chuck has a 95mm diameter plate. part no 050-110-32600) It has a register in the back of the plate and I machined the catch plate to match and used three cap screws to bolt one to the other.
Don't forget to order a spanner as it is not included with the chuck. Although I bought CTC collets, I understand the Arc Euro ones are good too.

Good Luck

MM

 

[AndyNC]

Hi,

So I've now ordered a chuck and spanner. I though I'd buy a new back plate as well. I bought the same chuck as you, Myfordman.

When it's all up and going I'll let you know.

Many thanks

Andy

 

[AndyNC]

So I've got it all together now.

I've drilled the back plate and mounted the chuck, put it on the ML7 and, using a dial gauge and a hide mallet, tapped it to within 0.05mm TIR. Could do better do I hear! Yes but I was getting tired so I'll improve on that later.

I put it on the my Axi perform but it was relatively miles out, I traced this to the spindle nose although the inside of the taper was much better.
I need to check whether the run out on the wood work lathe is good enough or I'll have to re-adjust every time I swap machines.

Cheers

Andy

 

[Myfordman]

Do you really need collet accuracy on a wood lathe? I'd have thought you could pick up an old ml7 chuck on ebay or similar that would be more than adequate for wood turning.

MM

 

[AndyNC]

MM: probably don't need it that accurate but I was a bit disappointed. I'm going to make some pens and to get the body to fit smoothly to the metal fitments the alignment has to be quite good. But I will say that I haven't started on a pen yet so I may be wanting better accuracy than I need. Only the experience of making some pens will tell me.

At the moment I'm trying to make all the bushes/mandrel but I'm having problems getting a good fit. I've started another thread regarding that.

Cheers

Andy

 

[Myfordman]

Apologies Andy, Not being a wood turner, I'd not really thought about small precision work such as pens.

Sorry for being a bit dismissive.

MM

 

[AndyNC]

No Probs.

I may not need it to be more accurate than it is, I haven't got that far. Either way having the chuck on a backplate will always make accuracy possible.

I've only been into round things since I got the wood working lathe at Easter and I've only had the Myford for about 4-weeks and trying to get things together.

Cheers

Andy