ER Collets

This topic has 35 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 21 December 2017 at 18:57 by SteveI.

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3 January 2017 at 12:18 #275361
not done it yet
Participant
@notdoneityet
For those that chose between ER25 and ER32 (ignoring any other sizes), which did you choose, why, and did you regret your choice?

For those with both sets (ER25 and ER32, ignoring any other sizes) – which would you choose now, if you could only have one set, and why?

My limitation is 2MT tooling, so please state if yours are 3MT. I already have sundry odds and ends which will fit my lathe spindle (with an adaptor) and am not interested in accuracy, precision, etc (plenty of threads on that, already!).

TIA.
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3 January 2017 at 12:18 #18346
not done it yet
Participant
@notdoneityet
choices, choices!
3 January 2017 at 12:42 #275369
Ian Parkin
Participant
@ianparkin39383
If you only will ever need to hold up to 16mm then go for ER25 if you need to go up to 20mm then you need ER32 simple really
3 January 2017 at 12:49 #275372
richardandtracy
Participant
@richardandtracy
I use ER32.

Reason: I do pen making and most rod stock, if available in round, is 19mm dia, so the 20mm capacity of ER32 is perfect. The main use is in my MT4 headstock collet chuck, but having got an ER32 it seems daft not to be able to use the collets in the MT3 tailstock, MT3 milling head on the combi lathe or my MT2 rotary table or MT2 drill press. So I've now got three sizes of collet chuck, all bought direct from China and they are remarkable for how little runout there is.

Would I choose to go smaller in the future? No way. May even consider ER40 for sizes larger than 20mm. Currently I have collets from 6 to 20mm.

For smaller than 6mm I have a very cheap ER11 collet chuck with a 10mm parallel shaft. That + an ER11 full set (0.5 to 7mm in 0.5mm steps) from China cost the same as one ER32 collet, so I can now do 0.5mm to 20mm.

Hope this is of use,

Richard
3 January 2017 at 12:53 #275376
Ian Parkin
Participant
@ianparkin39383
I deliberately didn't mention any other sizes/things as your question requested but agree with everything Richard said
3 January 2017 at 12:57 #275377
not done it yet
Participant
@notdoneityet
Ian Parkin,

Which did you choose and why?
3 January 2017 at 13:00 #275378
MW
Participant
@mw27036
If you want to hold up to 26mm, go for ER40.

Michael W
3 January 2017 at 13:06 #275380
Ian Parkin
Participant
@ianparkin39383
Well as requested i kept my replies to the 2 sizes you mentioned but I have all systems and sizes from er11 to er50…having said that in the larger sizes only the large collets.I find the smaller sizes easier to use but as i said there's not much to choose between er25/32 just the max size to be able to hold I cant imagine there's any difference other than a slight cost advantage to er25 but the first time you want to hold 17mm + you will then have to step up to er32
3 January 2017 at 13:23 #275384
Bob Brown 1
Participant
@bobbrown1
If fitting to a lathe I'd go for one that is not on a MT as it allow the material pass through, I have both ER32 and ER40 and tend to use the ER40 the most.

Edited By Bob Brown 1 on 03/01/2017 13:24:58
3 January 2017 at 14:00 #275390
Jon Gibbs
Participant
@jongibbs59756
I went completely down the ER32 route for the simple reasons that I judged that I'll very rarely want to hold items below 2mm and on that basis ER32 will hold everything ER25 can ….and a bit more.

Jon
3 January 2017 at 14:19 #275393
Thor 🇳🇴
Participant
@thor
I have both ER 16 and ER 32 collet chucks, with MT3 shanks. The reason for the old ER 16 is that I intended to use it on a small milling machine. The reason for the ER 32 was that it could hold round stock up to 20mm, the diameter of the hole through the mandrel of my small lathe (I made an ER 32 chuck for the lathe). I use the ER 32 to hold both milling cutters and stock to be turned.

Thor

Edited By Thor on 03/01/2017 14:28:57
3 January 2017 at 14:41 #275398
Brian Oldford
Participant
@brianoldford70365
How can I attach photos from my PC?

Edited By Brian Oldford on 03/01/2017 14:45:00
3 January 2017 at 14:51 #275401
Thor 🇳🇴
Participant
@thor
Brian O,

There is an explanation here, have you read it?

Thor
3 January 2017 at 15:34 #275407
Brian Oldford
Participant
@brianoldford70365
Having acquired a set of ER25 collets for little money I decided to adapt a far eastern MT2 chuck to fit into an modified Myford spindle nose. The two main pieces being a light press fit secured with a few M4 grub screws passing through the join into blind tapped holes. I managed to get it to a TIR of 0.0005".

Edited By Brian Oldford on 03/01/2017 15:41:46
3 January 2017 at 16:16 #275419
Neil Wyatt
Moderator
@neilwyatt
Why ER25? Because I got some cheap used ER25 collets at a show and I wanted them to hold tooling not stock.

I don't regret, I think ER32 would be overkill for my mill, and although ER32 or 40 for the lathe would be nice the cost/benefit doesn't add up.

I might get an ER11 or ER16 set some time for small things.

Main benefit for me is (lets not rehearse the arguments of the whys and wherefores again!) holding tooling and stock and usable in lathe, mill in two home-made chucks, in my grinder with special 12-index work holding spindle I made, and in jigs/fixtures aided by my 'Stephenson blocks'. Nothing else could offer that range of flexibility provided by them being (1) small for their capacity and (2) simple angles and ready availability of quality closing nuts (although I use a plain nut, tightened by hand, for grinding).

Neil
3 January 2017 at 16:39 #275427
mick
Participant
@mick65121
Buy a complete set from Hong Kong they're so inexpensive so it doesn't really matter what sizes you use on a regular basis you'll sure to need the other sizes over the years.
3 January 2017 at 17:24 #275442
Nick Hulme
Participant
@nickhulme30114
I went for ER32 on MT2 because

(1) nothing larger was available on MT2 at the time.

(2) I had some large-ish tooling I wanted to be able to use in the mill and also the lathe tailstock

I recently reverted to MT2 Collets in the mill for anything over 7mm,

– Nick
3 January 2017 at 18:06 #275463
mechman48
Participant
@mechman48
I have a ER25 set with a MT2 holder, simply 'cos my mill has a MT2 taper & if I need to hold anything bigger than 16 mm then the 3 / 4 jaw chucks come in to their own. I also have MT3 & MT4 collet holders which I have used direct in the bore of my WM 250 F-V lathe ( MT4 ) the MT3 was used on my previous machine, CL 500. I also have 'Stephenson Blocks' which make simple indexing a boon.

George.
3 January 2017 at 19:24 #275494
Neil Lickfold
Participant
@neillickfold44316
On 2MT I would go with the smaller ER25, as I assume you are going to use it for holding cutters and not a work piece. #2MT drilled out will only allow about a 13mm through hole if being used in a lathe spindle .The #2MT is shorter than the ER32, and being a smaller machine the short moment is more rigid.

For a lathe, and assuming you have made an adapter, it wont make any difference if you go to ER25 or ER32, as you won't get much more than about 15mm stock through that spindle, although some lathes do have the shorter #2MT and a 16mm spindle bore.

RegoFix collets go to slightly larger than the other makers of the collets, like with ER40, most only go to 26mm, but RegoFix make them to 30mm.

For mine, I went ER40 as I made a spindle assembly that takes the ER40 collets and has a 31mm spindle bore for a specific purpose.

Neil
3 January 2017 at 23:09 #275550
Enough!
Participant
@enough
Much the same as others here. The mill (Grizzly G0704/WM-16-18 lookalike) started life as MT2 and I got an MT2-ER25 holder. Then I got an upgrade kit to convert to R8 and replaced the ER25 with ER32. Which lets me go up to 3/4" or 20mm cutters and also lets me use an electric edge finder with the spring loaded ball (the kind you can crash into an edge without it getting wrecked). Those are 20mm.

By that time I had both ER25 and ER32 collet sets and bought thread-on ER holders in both sizes for the ML7 (like Brian's pics above). The spare MT2 ER25 holder sees a fair bit of use in the lathe tailstock. (I can hold an end-mill in it amongst other things and I've even used it for moving ball-nuts from a ballscrew to a keeper)
3 January 2017 at 23:29 #275552
John Stevenson 1
Participant
@johnstevenson1
One of the biggest differences besides the holding range between the ER25's and 32's in a mill is if the larger nut on the 32's will get in the way.

All depends on the type of work you do.
4 January 2017 at 01:59 #275558
Bill Pudney
Participant
@billpudney37759
I have a Sieg c3, i.e. a mini lathe. I have used ER32 simply because it allows the use of a slightly bigger piece bar through the spindle, compared to ER25. Of course being a modern machine the C3 has a flange mounted chuck, so the collet chuck also has a flange mounting. On the mini mill (Sieg X2) I use a ER32 with a MT3 taper. This allows the use of one set of collets on the lathe and mill.

cheers

Bill
4 January 2017 at 13:31 #275659
not done it yet
Participant
@notdoneityet
I am very much aware of the differences between 25 and 32 ER collet sizes and was not interested in responses off-topic. It was simply a choice between the two sets, nothing else. I would not envisage holding hardened cutters in either a three or four jaw chuck with hardened jaws and my lathe spindle will accommodate round stock of just over 25mm.

So thanks to Jon (importance of size), r&t (would not go smaller), Neil (for being honest), Nick H (for his helpful insight), Nick L (Regofix collets go to 22mm in ER32) and others who made any useful comments.

My main concerns were physical size, capacity and cost differential. I can cope with my old 'sundry' lot for the odd occasions when alternatives are required, or go the horizontal route for wider cuts – so I do have plenty of options. My main reasons for up-grading is to improve gripping on slightly off sized cutters (close metric/imperial sizes) and to have a box with a single type of holder for most of the milling cutter sizes I shall need in the foreseeable future.

I have decided to go the ER32 route. Thanks to all who contributed to the final decision making.
4 January 2017 at 15:25 #275678
Vic
Participant
@vic
It's worth pointing out that there are lots of ER32 fixtures and fittings out there. Including things like collet blocks and a spin indexer.

Edited By Vic on 04/01/2017 15:26:42
4 January 2017 at 16:32 #275701
not done it yet
Participant
@notdoneityet
You are right, but I have decided to purchase ER collets in 'size 32' irrespective of uses, thanks.
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