Looking for collets for a Gorton 3-U

Thank god you found a spindle....

Keep watching Ebay as its been the only place Ive found collets. Check past auctions as well and drop the sellers emails as they may occasionally have an odd one here and there that isnt worth putting on ebay.

On the other hand..if you have an accurate lathe..they are quite simple in style and can be made pretty easily. Crank out a dozen or so blanks, then bore/drill them to the sizes you want, then slit with a slitting saw. You really dont have to harden them unless you are doing a hell of a lot of work, then simple case hardening will work fine.

Im not sure this would have been a job Id have bothered tackling. Pantographs are pretty dirt cheap these days..and a good 3-U runs about a $100 bill or so. Ebay has lots of them come up regularly and if you network, you may wind up with one simply to get it out of the shop as its in the way Thats how I got my 3-Z

Btw..Ive got the full Gorton manual with all the models and when I get the time, Im going to scan the entire thing and put it on CD. The one fellow on Ebay who is doing this charges an insane price.

Gunner

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child - miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

Gunner; Actually, I was given two of the 3-U pantographs. I bought the 3rd (with spindle) for around $100. I've got all parts needed except for a sample collet. I can machine my own once I get my hands on a sample. I anticipate only a day to clean up the machine and about 3 hours for masking and painting. It's not a real big job. It looks worse than it really is. I've done this type of work before with no problems. The finished machine will be as good as new - or at least good enough to earn me money. Jim

Cool! Ive only one collet, but if you would like, I may be able to blueprint it for you.

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child - miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

I've got a collection of gorton collets, but no way of knowing what fits which machine. If you can work me a sketch, I'll compare it with what I have.

Dave

Gunner; Yes, please. I can take it from there ;-) Jim

Follow up to the collet search. I was working with a die grinder today and thought I'd try the 1/4" collet in the Gorton spindle. Well, it almost fit! After some precision grinding on the small end, it fits the spindle just great and will do the job. It's a pretty good fit for a $2 collet. The "wobble" seems to indicate to only be .0005" - not too shabby. I did not know the die grinder was that good. I can easily modify a 1/8" collet and I'm set! Gunner, you might try this for your Gorton. Jim

I will indeed try this. Ill print the one collet I have this coming weekend.

Gunner

"In my humble opinion, the petty carping levied against Bush by the Democrats proves again, it is better to have your eye plucked out by an eagle than to be nibbled to death by ducks." - Norman Liebmann