Mounting an electronic edge-finder

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

First, let me say that it's my own fault that I find myself in this position!

I have just received an electronic edge-finder from our friends in the orient and am keen to try it out. Unfortunately, by not appreciating its dimensions from the (clearly-stated) sales blurb, I find myself with a 20mm diameter tool to fit into my mill spindle. I habitually use an ER25 collet chuck to hold my cutters and drills, consequently the maximum size of collet is 16mm!

Can anybody suggest an alternative means of temporarily holding the thing? I guess l'll end up buying an ER32 chuck and collet(s), but in the meantime I want to play with it!

John

[TrevorhParticipant @trevorh]

why not make a simple reducing adaptor one end at 16mm to go into your collet and the other say 25 with a hole at 20 in the end and use a grubscrew to secure/hold it similar to a step down Morse taper adaptor

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Or you can buy a straight shank ER32 collet chuck from here **LINK** and then buy a collet to suit.    From the same place.       Have used them a few times with no problem.

Edited By Robbo on 18/07/2013 14:47:42

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Robbo

How is John going to mount the plain shank of the collet holder as it is also 20mm dia which is the same as the edge finder shank?

Cheers

Martin

PS

John

If this is the same as the other electronic edge finders I have seen then the assembly is rigid, unlike the rotating mechanical ones which are spring centred, and if wound in after initial contact can be strained. Just something that is worth being aware of. Have fun with your new toy . I still use the mechanical edge finders as then I don't need to be that careful in approaching the job, especially if one of my little helpers nudges my elbow at the critical moment.

Edited By Martin W on 18/07/2013 15:16:47

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Thanks for replies, chaps.

Trevorh – a reducing sleeve might just work, except that there is restricted throat distance on my mill which could "reduce" its usefulness. The edge-finder is a pretty meaty bit of kit as it is!

Robbo – I, too have used these suppliers on a number of occasions. In fact the collet set that I use all the time came from there. I feel another vist to their web site coming on!

Martin W – You are quite right, of course and it would just exacerbate the lack of throat distance. I also have one of the spring-loaded edge-finders. Works OK but I like gadgets!

Problem solved, I think – I'll order a chuck and collets from CTC tonight!

John

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

What taper do you have in the spindle? you can get MT3x20mm collets and no excess length issues

I found a 1/2" shank electronic finder which easily fits my ER, MT or even the drill chuck

[Phil PParticipant @philp]

Jason

Where did you get your 1/2" version from, I have been wondering about getting one of those for a while, but my High Speed head collets only go up to 1/2" so I have the same problem.

Phil

[Gone AwayParticipant @goneaway]

Posted by Martin W on 18/07/2013 15:01:53:

If this is the same as the other electronic edge finders I have seen then the assembly is rigid,

Most of the 20mm dia EEF's that I've seen on eBay from China are the "ball in cup" type: the cup gives location to the ball and it's held in by a spring. If you feed in to an edge and go too far (i.e. clobber it) the ball just lifts and no damage is done.

I have one of these (and I use ER32 collets). I also have a 1/2" one that is solid and you do have to be careful with those (I'm on my second at the moment).

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Martin, I blame the heat – getting my diams mixed up

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Mine is a PEC US made one that I got from Greenwood tools about 4 years ago but I don't think they do them now. It has the solid type end 0.200" dia

J&L do a 1/2" shank one , just remember they don't work on plastic so you still need the old type for that.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Jasonb,

Do you know where I could obtain an MT3 collet to suit such as you suggest? I've already spent too long on searching the internet with no luck.

John

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Looks like they are only around in the US, Australia and NZ

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

JasonB,

I followed those links, but it makes more sense to get a chuck and set of ER32 collets for only about twice the price of one MT3 one! Nonetheless, I appreciate your input.

John

Edited By John Hinkley on 18/07/2013 21:09:44

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Sid

Thanks for the update re flexi tip EEFs. I must admit that I have only seen one or two and not used any but those I had seen were solid. That said as I am quite happy with the mechanical version I had not been keeping abreast of what was on the market hence my lack of knowledge !!

Cheers

Martin

[Gone AwayParticipant @goneaway]

"Flexi-tip" is that what they call them. Good name … one I can identify with

[LambtonParticipant @lambton]

Buy a 3 MT blank-end arbor from Arc Eurotrade for £6 and carefully bore the blank end to take the EEF.

Eric

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Hi Sid

Don't quote me on the name 'flexi tip' I just made it up on the spot to differentiate between the solid body EEFs and those having some degree of protection. Any other connotations re the term are, as they say, 'purely in the mind of the beholder/reader' .

Cheers

Martin

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Eric

| "Buy a 3 MT blank-end arbor from Arc Eurotrade for £6 and carefully bore the blank end to take the EEF."

Eminently sensible and cost effective suggestion I think.

Norman

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Lambton beat me to it.

I also have a 20mm edge finder and going to modify a 3MT arbor to accept the edge finder. Much quicker than changing collets every time you want to use it.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

It would be interesting to compare the accuracy you can achieve with these gadgets compared to the old cigarrette paper and spit method.

Russell.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Lambton/NJH,

A variation on the suggestion by TrevorH, thanks, but still has the disadvantage of reducing the distance between the work and the spindle. Remember, this edge-finder is a relatively big old boy – about 150mm overall length, so ideally needs to be nested within a collet as much as possible for stability as much as anything else. By the way, mine has a spring-loaded ball on the business end to prevent damage by all but the most ham-fisted of users! Ordered my ER32 collet chuck and 10 collets from CTC this morning (£66UK inc postage). Should be with me in a week, if previous experience with this supplier is anything to go by.

John

[Gone AwayParticipant @goneaway]

I'd initially thought of using a standard end-mill holder bored out if necessary but that would suffer the height loss problem too.

The morse-taper of the MT3 blank arbor is generally just case hardened afaik, so it might be possible to bore into the taper a way to reduce the overall height.

[Gone AwayParticipant @goneaway]

Posted by Martin W on 19/07/2013 10:02:18:

Any other connotations re the term are, as they say, 'purely in the mind of the beholder/reader' .

In the mind you say …. egad!

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Russell Eberhardt on 19/07/2013 10:45:26:

It would be interesting to compare the accuracy you can achieve with these gadgets compared to the old cigarrette paper and spit method.

Russell.

Depends how thick the spit is ?

[Author]

Posts