Looking for reasonable quality 5C collets

I can't afford Hardinge or Royal but wanted to stay away from the chinese cheapo ones so I bought a set of Lyndex 5C collets, thinking the quality would be somewhere in the middle. Unfortunately, the Lyndex collets thread too tightly on my collet closer (a Royal brand one) while every other collet I have (Hardinge, South Bend) threads on fine, so the problem is the collets, not the closer. Snooping around the web I've found others having problems with the Lyndex collets having oversize threads. On top of that, the 1" Lyndex collet showed 0.0017" runout, while the Hardinge one showed

0.0005". So the Lyndex collets are being returned. Does anyone know of "mid" priced 5C collets that are good quality, or at least a source for import sets that aren't too bad?

Are the Enco brand ones they sell ok or junk?

I've heard good comments about Bison collets but I don't see them sold by any of the tool discounters, does anyone know where the Bison collets can be purchased for reasonable prices?

Thanks,

Paul T.

Reply to
Paul T.
Loading thread data ...

I bought a set about 2 years ago. I assume that they are Chinese though I don't know that for a fact. The problem that I have had with them is that they tend to bust very easily.

Runout does not seem to be a problem nor is there any problem with the thread as you describe with the Lyndex collets.

With the Enco collets, so long as you don't mind replacing one every two or three months they are pretty cheap.

BTW, I've never-ever had a Hardinge collet bust on me.

George.

Reply to
George

How does one break a collet? I'm not asking to be a smartass. I'm new to this and I don't know.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Grey

A collet by its nature is designed to flex, and to compress against a piece of material in a flexed and dynamic pull fashion.

Not only does it bend inwards to hold the work, but its pulled longitudinally as its pulled into the spindle nose by the draw bar.

Poor heat treating and poor material will cause them to snap off a finger with some regularity.

The Hardinge chucks are the Standard besides which all others are judged.

Gunner

" ..The world has gone crazy. Guess I'm showing my age... I think it dates from when we started looking at virtues as funny. It's embarrassing to speak of honor, integrity, bravery, patriotism, 'doing the right thing', charity, fairness. You have Seinfeld making cowardice an acceptable choice; our politicians changing positions of honor with every poll; we laugh at servicemen and patriotic fervor; we accept corruption in our police and bias in our judges; we kill our children, and wonder why they have no respect for Life. We deny children their childhood and innocence- and then we denigrate being a Man, as opposed to a 'person'. We *assume* that anyone with a weapon will use it against his fellowman- if only he has the chance. Nah; in our agitation to keep the State out of the church business, we've destroyed our value system and replaced it with *nothing*. Turns my stomach- " Chas , rec.knives

Reply to
Gunner

A friend of mine bought an entire set of Enco collets, checked them all over for runout & sent back the bad ones, which they replaced. It took a while, but he ended up with a decent set. This was a long time ago, and I doubt they are the same manufacturer. He never had a problem with them breaking. As a matter of fact, I've NEVER heard of anyone breaking a 5C collet before.

I didn't buy Enco collets, because they don't have the internal thread for a stop. I don't know if that is still the case. I have a very mixed collection, built up over the years. Many are Lyndex, and they are fine. I also have a lot of Fowlers, and they are also good. The Hardinge definitely seem to be the best.

Doug White

Reply to
Doug White

For the price Enco collets seem like a fair deal. I bought a set when they shut down the retail store near Dallas four or five years ago. I have checked some for runout and they were a thou or less.

Use them all the time.

Gary Repesh

Reply to
GJRepesh

I had a few collets at work without the stop threads, so I turned a flanged aluminum round to slip inside them from the rear, with an angled setscrew to cinch them in place against the inner wall. A threaded rod and locknut is used for the stop bolt. A very slight tensioning of the setscrew works well, and has not caused problems.

RJ

Reply to
Backlash

Interesting. I've never seen that happpen - but then I've populated my collet drawers with old, and semi-new hardinge stuff. I forget what sobel sells them for, but one is allowed to dig though and pick out the nicer ones, which might be a little more expensive.

Jim

================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ==================================================

Reply to
jim rozen

Which reminds me..anyone heard of the CWC brand of collets? Ive a few. They all seem to be accurate but older. I was told they were made in California years ago.

A quick google search found another similar question with their collets being marked Allison and CWC

Gunner

" ..The world has gone crazy. Guess I'm showing my age... I think it dates from when we started looking at virtues as funny. It's embarrassing to speak of honor, integrity, bravery, patriotism, 'doing the right thing', charity, fairness. You have Seinfeld making cowardice an acceptable choice; our politicians changing positions of honor with every poll; we laugh at servicemen and patriotic fervor; we accept corruption in our police and bias in our judges; we kill our children, and wonder why they have no respect for Life. We deny children their childhood and innocence- and then we denigrate being a Man, as opposed to a 'person'. We *assume* that anyone with a weapon will use it against his fellowman- if only he has the chance. Nah; in our agitation to keep the State out of the church business, we've destroyed our value system and replaced it with *nothing*. Turns my stomach- " Chas , rec.knives

Reply to
Gunner

The Hardinge chucks are the Standard besides which all others are judged.

True. But Rivett collets are pretty good, too.

Reply to
Peter H.
  1. Note of caution. When buying cheaper collets (e.g., Lindex and other Chinese makes) check each collet with a drill, drill blank, or similar -- had to send back a whole bunch that were mislabelled and/or totally inaccurate -- several years ago -- don't know about now. But good to check on bargain collets.

  1. I once also got some bargain collets that I though were undersized, but close examination showed that they just had a burr that hadn't been removed. A manual swipe with a countersink did the trick.

Boris

Reply to
Boris Beizer

I got some Lyndex (made in Japan) collets back in the 80's and was impressed with the quality, can't comment on the current crop. Why don't you consider what I did when I started out. I got a Royal set in 1/16" sizes. Since these are the most commonly used sizes, they get the most use. I then filled in the rest of my collet rack over time depending on need and whatever deal I came across.

Tony

Reply to
Tony

I bought a few Taiwanese expansion collets that are a real PITA to get into my 5C indexer.

Reply to
ATP

I also have Lyndex 5C collets of late 80s vintage and they are fine. Maybe things have changed, don't know. Have since aquired an assortment including Royal, Hardinge, Neal Skokie (Germany), and a couple that say Fowler and Willis Toledo. Both made in Germany and a logo stamped into them that looks like an upper case P with 2 heads. A left/right mirror image. I would like all of them to be Hardinge or perhaps the German made ones, but they are all good or better quality.

mj

Reply to
michael

I'm look for collets to, but since I have a bunch of used collets I'm not looking to hard, yet. Does any one have experience with Bison collets that New England Brass and Tool sells?

When I was researching collets several years ago, I compared the stated accuracy's between collets. I for get the exact numbers, but Lyndex was quoting the accuracy at nose of the collet, and Hardinge was at 1" from the nose of the collet.

I have not looked at the Hardinge web site in a while, but it use to have good info on collets. I believe it said that there collets would be only accurate for 1000 cycles. This makes me wonder if used Hardinge's collets (or any collets) are no better then imports.

V>I got some Lyndex (made in Japan) collets back in the 80's and was impressed

Reply to
Vince Iorio

Even if you don't buy the Hardinge collets, download and read their workholding manuals, lot of useful tutorial information I have not seen elsewhere.

Bob

Reply to
Toolbert

looking to hard, yet. Does any one have experience Ywith Bison collets that New England Brass and Tool sells?

I've dealt with New England Brass and Tool many times. They are nice folk to deal with and will certainly stand behind the products they sell. I've bought several Bison chucks from New England and have been delighted with the value.

I got some Lyndex (made in Japan) collets back in the 80's and was impressed with the quality, can't comment on the current crop. I don't think that the current Lyndex are Japanese. I was burned two years ago on some (what I thought were) Lyndex collets. Had to send a bunch back. It could be that these were Lyndex knock-offs -- the outfit that sold these have long since folded their tents. Just took a look at them--the collets just say "TAIWAN" -- but I'm sure that the boxes said "Lyndex" - maybe it was "lindex? Lindecks? or Windex?"

t>oo tightly on my collet closer (a Royal brand one) while every other collet I >have (Hardinge, South Bend) threads on fine, so the problem is the

One of the problems I had with my (supposedly) Lyndex collets was that the key slot was undersized and/or had a bur on it. At first I thought that it was oversized threads, but it was the slot. That was easy to fix.

Boris

Reply to
Boris Beizer

I've seen that bison makes an equivelent to the Buck six jaw, adjust true chuck. There's one guy who sells them new on ebay, with back plate, for about 560 for a six inch chuck.

I also know that Buck has been bought out by Forkhard so maybe there stuff is no longer as good as it was??? Anyway the buck version would be over $1K according to MSC.

Anyone here purchased and used one of the bison adjust true six jaws, and how did it work out over the long run?

Thanks - Jim

================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ==================================================

Reply to
jim rozen

Beizer

I bought one for my Feeler "HLV-H" on sale from Enco for around $360, without backplate. Enco's regular price is $440. I have a comparable pre-Forkhardt 3-jaw Buck ajust- tru and a Hardinge branded Buck 4-jaw. Though I haven't had the chuck long enough to predict how it'll be in the long term, I can't see any obvious difference in quality between the Bison and the Bucks.

Ned Simmons

Reply to
Ned Simmons

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.