Collets in the lathe?

[kartwood]

Hello, folks!

I aquired a set of MT3 collets, 1/8 - 3/4". They are threaded to take a drawbar.

Are these meant for use in a milling machine or can I use them for holding work in the lathe? My lathe spindle accepts MT3.

I've seen references to collet chucks for turning and I'm wondering if that's what I have here.

Thanks!

Kevin

 

[tel]

I use 'em for both Kevin, I have a set of MT2 for the lathe, and a set of MT3 for the mill. Fine for workholding but you are, of course, restricted on what length you can hold

 

[Mainer]

A "collet chuck" would be something different, probably something like the Jacobs Rubberflex collet chuck or a chuck that uses ER-series collets.

Morse collets would typically be used in a milling machine, but as tel says, there is no reason not to use them in the lathe if the headstock taper matches. You'll need to make a drawbar (of course) and you can't pass stock through them, but they ought to work fine.

As you probably know, Morse collets have restricted size range as to what they can hold, preferably +/- no more than a few thou from the collet's nominal size. That's an advantage of the rubberflex or ER collets -- they can each hold a range of diameters so in a set of collets there are no "holes" in the size range of stock that can be held.

 

[Tin Falcon]

good answers . I will attempt to add without repeating.
Lathes typical use 3-c or 5-c collets depending on the MT size of the head stock. So the common hobby lathe, Having a 3mt head stock would use a 3-c collet. This collet system consists of a draw bar/draw tube/ collet closer an 3mt to 3-c adapter a spindle nose protector and last but not least collets.
The advantage here is these collets are hollow so one can put a 12" long piece of stock in the lathe. make a small part, say a barbed air fitting or a oil cup .Part it off then pull a little more stock out and keep going .
Yes you can use you collets.
A full set of collets would cover all sizes from 1/16 to 1/2 inch.
Collets are typical sold in smaller sub sets, yes also called sets
One set for the 8ths one for the 16ths one for the 32nds and one for the 64ths.
the 8ths and 16ths being the most used and most common but the other sizes are handy for second operations. For the newbies an example of "Second operation "would be turning an oil cup around after parting and machining the inside.

Tin

 

[kvom]

The lathe I used at school has a 5C Sjrogen chuck. At home I have the Jacobs Rubberflex system. I also have 5C collets for use with collet blocks on the mill. I can also chuck the hex collet block in the regular chuck in a pinch, since the lathe chuck won't clamp anything smaller than 1/4" or so.

 

[Stan]

A long time back I posted a picture of a Nut I made to compress a MT3 collet into a lathe spindle. It is not a difficult turning operation and it will allow longer material to held.