ER32 collet use.

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Posted by Simon Collier 1 on 26/05/2015 07:20:53:

You can hold a short length if you put a length of bar of the same diameter of the workpiece in the collet first. I did exactly that an hour ago.

Simon

I've managed to grip quite short lengths using this trick.

Steve

[IanTParticipant @iant]

That's a great tip Simon – it will get used today in fact as I have some short 'ends' that are the only ones from the scrap box that are the right size for the job in hand!

Something I found useful recently – relating to ER32 collets (well collet blocks actually) – that may be worth sharing (sorry if it's a "sucking eggs" thing to some here)

I was cutting a M12 thread on some bronze (using a solid die) and had got it started true in the chuck but was struggling to put the cut on (work slipped and it was hard to grip things tightly in situ – a touch of arthritis doesn't help.

It occurred to me to move the work to my ER32 collet (square) block – the collet held the work very firmly and I was able to hold the block itself in the vice – applying the necessary torque with both hands then became much easier.

I have tended to think of the collet blocks as tools to aid my machining (e.g. flats/squares/hex on the ends of bars etc) but I think I will be using mine a lot more in future to hold round work for hand work – they are much more secure than just using a vice…

Regards,

IanT

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