Ok chaps, what looks just like a 5C collet but with a 12tpi thread on the outside at the rear? Same size and everything. If you know the answer, do you also know if they are rare/easy to find?
No it's not a gag, but a genuine question.
ta
Charles
I have almost a complete set in 64's made by crawford collets haven't found the ones I'm missing yet mine have 12tpi left hand thread luckily I got a chuck with mine
These are for the key operated 5C chuck. They have to be left hand because of the way they tighten. I bought a chuck of Chris Heapies page some while ago described as a spindle nose chuck. I was expecting a simple adaptor that needed a drawbar and this one appeared. I shopped around for collets but they are rare. Crawfords have them but when I enquired about price they must have got the international dialing code for Tasmania via Botswana mixed up. On examining the chuck there is a thread ring at the rear, located by two dowels that drives the collet. I made a new ring to suit standard 5C, had it hardened, and put up with it tightening the wrong way.
-- Regards,
John Stevenson Nottingham, England.
Thanks chaps - yes I've spotted them now - they are Crawfords Trugrip collets. I too have a chuck but only one collet. Apart from the left hand thread and the change to 12tpi they are identical to 5C so it's 1 out of 10 to Crawfords for designing a pointless one off. However on their website they do say that "a conversion to use 5C collets is available". I'll have a laugh and phone them to see how much they want for the part (it's almost certainly exactly what John made). Bet it's in three figures!
ta
Charles
I've got the 'King size' 7" version of the same chuck, takes a collet a bit bigger than a 16C, will hold up to 2" bar. I can't find the collet on Crawford's website, or in Machinery's handbook, I'm very glad mine came with a pretty full set from 1/16" to 2", plus a few common metric sizes. I bet just one new one from Crawfords would cost somewhere near what I paid for the whole kit!
There are disc collets around for both 5" & 7" versions, I'd be very pleased to pick up some for the 7". I haven't seen any for sale other than with a chuck.
Cheers Tim
Tim Leech Dutton Dry-Dock
Traditional & Modern canal craft repairs
You will have a hard time asking Crawfords anything.The 600 group who own it closed the Oxon facility and transferred it to Pratt Burnerd at Halifax.Unfortunately none of the employees moved and the people in sales seem to have no interest in selling anything.I run multispindles and if I do not have the right collets and feeders for a job I have to buy a new set,six of each.I have a Crawford`s catalogue and have bought from them off and on over the years.Now the clown on the end of the phone tells me "what`s an Acme Gridley?They`re not in our catalogue.I will have to make enquiries and phone you back"They ARE in their catalogue.Of course they don`t phone back to anyone,and thats for a set of collets costing a thousand pounds. The people to buy collets from nowadays is Holmes UK Ltd in Birmingham.They were telling me today that due to the problems at Crawfords they are snowed under with orders and it is unfortunately affecting their leadtimes.But at least you get a price and a delivery date.If anyone wants a collet identified I have dimensions for hundreds of different types. Regards,Mark.
I've just spoken to RDG who apologised for their failure to describe the collet size as an oddity - and offered me my money back (with return postage) - a fair offer. However I'm keeping the chuck and will do a mod to fit 5C collets. As a matter of interest they stock the 12tpi collet version that this chuck was made for at a fiver or so each. However I've no interest in building up a workshop full of different collet sizes - 5C and R8 and plently for me!
c
I did bid on one recently, with L0 fitting. Curses, my disguise has been unmasked Hope I didn't cost you too much by bidding it up! I had guessed it wasn't a true 5C chuck, & some work would have to be done.
Cheers Tim (PS your bits should get in tomorrow's post)
do you have a phone number maybe I can get the couple I short of
I made the mistake of calling at RDG this morning, to collect a big broaching press that I'd won on ebay. I asked if they had another 5" /L0 Trugrip chuck, knowing that quite often they offer stuff on ebay of which they have more than one. The answer was "I think so", but eventually "no", but they did have a
7" trugrip, same as I already have for my big lathe, but with an L0 fitting! Only snag was they only wanted to sell *with* the 27 collets that were with it., I already had what I thought was a pretty good set. We struck a deal anyway, not too bad as they hadn't got round to cleaning it up yet, now I have to decide what to do with the spares! Do I keep them so that the chucks will be worth more separately if they're sold? Sell them on (anyone reading this who needs any, try to tempt me ) Weld bits on the front to make soft disc collets? (anyone tried this?) I'm actually very pleased now I've got them home & checked, as there's almost a full set of 1/16" sizes between 1" & 2", whereas what I had already goes in 1/32" up to 3/8", 1/16" to 1", then in 1/8" to 2". So what I have spare now is almost a full set in 1/8" from 1/8" to 2".Damn! Just realised I forgot to ask if they had a key for the chuck :-(
Cheers Tim
Tim Leech Dutton Dry-Dock
Traditional & Modern canal craft repairs
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