Boring Soft Jaws The following is an article that was published by Modern Machine Shop, and written by Mike Lynch Founder and President, CNC Concepts Inc. I liked it, so I thought I would share. “For external clamping, subtract the amount of material you’ll be removing from the jaw from the diameter just determined. […]
From time to time, we get requests to make special Chuck Jaws (to fit a customer’s specifications). An example would be an application that requires a jaw that is larger than what we sell off the shelf. We can create custom make jaws up to 9” tall out of steel or aluminum for those applications
Special Chuck Jaws Read More »
How do you know what is the correct Tool Holder Bushing to use on your Lathe Turret? Being that we are a provider of Tool Holder Bushings, I get a number of inquiries about this topic. In my opinion, there isn’t one correct answer. Picking the correct bushing has a lot to do with the
Picking The Right Tool Holder Bushing Read More »
Every year I get a few calls where a customer needs to grab the ID of a part, but they don’t have a collet chuck or just can’t justify the cost of a complete Expanding Collet Assembly for the one job they’re working on. I usually will suggest that they use a set of Aluminum
Using Full Circle Jaws to hold The ID of a Part Read More »
Every so often I am asked if we offer our expanding collets with a rubber seal that fits into the slots. The purpose for this would be to eliminate chips from getting into the slots. Metal chips, in some instances, can get stuck in the slots of the expanding collet. This can possibly prevent the
Sealing Expanding Collets Read More »
I get a few phone calls from customers every year regarding breakage issues with our Expanding Collets or the collet growing to the point that you can no longer get the part on the collet. Read on for a couple of simple solutions to these two problems. Let’s begin with the breaking problem: 99.9% of
When to use a Heat Treated Expanding Collet Read More »
My customer, Michael, called the other day regarding an issue with runout of a collet on a lathe. He explained to me that he was using an expanding collet on a pullback style collet chuck, but was unable to get the collet to run true. After going over all the steps on how to properly
Is your Collet Chuck Worn Out? Read More »
There are several different methods to use when machining collets to your desired size. Please note that it’s very important to seat a collet into the spindle prior to machining. Expand the collet between .003”-.005” depending on how much the inside diameter of the part varies. Listed below are a few options to choose from:
How to Machine an Expanding Collet on a CNC Lathe Read More »
Here’s the advantages of a 5C Collet Chuck vs. a 16C or a 3J: The through hole capacity of a 5C collet chuck is 1-1/16”, whereas a 16C is 1-5/8” and a 3J is 1-3/4”. Now, this may sound like the 16C and 3J may be a better choice due to the larger through hole,
5C Collet Chuck vs. a 16C or a 3J Collet Chuck Read More »
I received a call today from my customer, John, who needs a stop to locate in his drawtube of his lathe to position a 16” long part on his z-axis. John informed me that this is the first operation of this part and he has a 16C Pullback Style collet chuck. I recommended the following:
Why use a Spindle Work Stop Read More »
For those really big jobs, we have a line of Heavy Duty Expanding Collets that provide greater strength and rigidity. This collet system is designed to work with machines that have either a 16C or 3J spindle. This system works off the same principle as that of the Rovi 5C system. It still includes the
Rovi Heavy Duty Expanding Collets Read More »
The style-S master collet, although originally designed for multi-spindle automatic screw machines, has been adapted for CNC lathes. This style collet chuck uses collet pads. These pads can be changed much quicker than a standard collet, the cost is lower, and the pads require much less storage space. Standard S-pads from Hardinge are hardened and ground
S-Style Collet chucks Read More »
