Shaft Collets

conetip said:
Buy some plastic rod and you will find what ever size you need.
Neil
Click to expand...

I can't agree more with this. If you can't bore a hole, turn an OD, and put a slot in a piece of plastic...

I'm saying this from the position of someone who made the mistake of buying a set a few years ago(I won't mention the name of the now retired builder). Out of that set none of the shaft collets were the correct size, so I had to make my own anyway.

Make this your first little project and buy different sizes of Delrin. It comes in handy ALL the time. This way, if you lose a collet or need a custom size, one can be made in less than ten minutes. Try not to be at the mercy of others for things you should be able to accomplish easily yourself. Save yourself money and time.
 
One plastic place in town and they had not heard of Delrin. They did have access to a product called Nylatron which is probably close to Delrin.

I did buy a couple of UHMW rods. Cheap, easy to machine and very flexible.

You should be able to zip off a collet in very little time.

Its actually fun and great practice, drill, bore, measure.

As I have said a million times here, I can always admire someone who can invent and manufacture your own jigs and doo dads when needed.

Give it a try because once you find out how easy it is, you will realize why the EBay collets are way too pricey.
 
shaft collets

Pescadoman are you saying the set you bought a few years ago that where not the correct size, came from atlas or some other cue builder ???????
 
JT's cuerepair said:
Pescadoman are you saying the set you bought a few years ago that where not the correct size, came from atlas or some other cue builder ???????
Click to expand...

Not from Atlas, from Brianna(one of several things that broke or proved useless-Lee promised to make good and never did....that issue is closed). My point is I shouldn't have been lazy. I needed to learn the very simple skills anyway and to pay someone else for such things was foolish.

Accurate drilling, boring, measuring, and facing are all required on the lathe. Delrin/Acetal is not only easy to work with, but pretty cheap as well.
 
pescadoman said:
I can't agree more with this. If you can't bore a hole, turn an OD, and put a slot in a piece of plastic...

I'm saying this from the position of someone who made the mistake of buying a set a few years ago(I won't mention the name of the now retired builder). Out of that set none of the shaft collets were the correct size, so I had to make my own anyway.

Make this your first little project and buy different sizes of Delrin. It comes in handy ALL the time. This way, if you lose a collet or need a custom size, one can be made in less than ten minutes. Try not to be at the mercy of others for things you should be able to accomplish easily yourself. Save yourself money and time.
Click to expand...


I turn Mine out of a deluxe headstock, but they start out too large to even fit in that, so I turn them between centers until they fit in the jaw, and Make My collet from the part sticking out. I turn the OD and bore at the same time, then cut it off. That way I know both bore and Od are running true to each other.

I agree with the recommendation to turn your own if possible, even if They have been purchased as well. I have both purchased collets and collets that I made Myself, and I still occasionally run across the need for a size that's in between what I have, so it nice to be able to custom make one on site for any given situation that may come up.
 
I'm sure there are cheaper sources but if you are having trouble finding it locally you can get 1.5" diameter delrin (acetyl round rod) from amazon for like 10 bucks a foot.
 
kunin35 said:
I'll tell making your own collets ( which can be very gratifying)for the price of the material, time, etc. . I'd rather pay the 67.15 plus tax and S&H for the 17 piece set. I can find a lot do with the 3+ hrs it would take me to make this set. JMHO:thumbup:
Click to expand...

I don't know about your setup, but 10 collets with the same od and varying id can be made in about 30 to 35 mins. A little longer if the id's are tapered or of different taper rates.
 
conetip said:
I don't know about your setup, but 10 collets with the same od and varying id can be made in about 30 to 35 mins. A little longer if the id's are tapered or of different taper rates.
Click to expand...
I tend to agree if you have the right setup. However when a guy asks about where to buy collets, I was thinking he doesn't have the equipment to make the collets in such a quick fashion. I know it's not good to assume :). I was merely trying to look at it from his perspective.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top