ER-32 collet system

[ksouers]

The spindle on my Powermatic-Burke mill has an R8 taper. The problem is at some point in it's life it lost the pin that keeps the collet from spinning. This can make changing collets rather awkward at times.

I'm considering the ER-32 collet chuck sold by LMS to help overcome this problem.

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2888&category=-421559299


Does anyone have any experience with this product sold by LMS? Is it worth it?
Do you recommend a different product?
Should I just forget it and stick to the R8?


I don't really want to add yet another collet system to my shop (this would make 4), but I've been intrigued by the ER system for years.
I know the ER-32 system is more tolerant of off sizes and has a larger gripping surface.
I was more curious about the accuracy and quality of the product.

Thanks.

 

[Cedge]

Kevin
You might want to check on Ebay. A quick search showed R8 ER32 collet sets for considerably less than LMS. (Seller Discount Tool offered a set that was only about $100.00) I purchased an R8 ER 40 system from 800watt and use it constantly. Not all sizes get used, but they are there if needed. Note that one ER 40 collet was non-concentric when it arrived, so these kits might be seconds, accounting for the price difference. I replaced the offending collet rather than complain.

Plenty of grip..... haven't had a tool sucked out yet.

As for LMS.... great people who've always delivered a quality product. Never had them question things if an order wasn't quite as expected..... their fault or mine. Chris makes personal trips to China to make sure he's getting the best bang for his buck.

Steve

 

[Philjoe5]

Kevin,
My mill/drill also had spindle issues but not like yours. Some R8 tooling does not quite fit in the spindle. So I had a perfectly good set of R8 collets I couldn't use. I took a chance and bought the ER-32 collet system and I believe it was from LMS. The reason I picked them is Chris Wood said if the shank doesn't fit just send it back for a refund. Well it did fit and it makes for a great collet system. I've been using the ER-32 collet system for a few years and I've had the same satisfying experience as Steve.

Cheers,
Phil

 

[rake60]

I bought mine from the eBay vendor 800watt as a complete set some time ago.
That was an open auction at the the time and I got the set for $80.
I have no complaints on that set.

Rick

 

[Blogwitch]

Kevin,

Why not just repair the locating pin.

I did mine last week and took no more than 15 minutes.

The pin on mine is a 6mm dog nosed grub screw. It is screwed into the side of the spindle and adjusted until the tightest slotted fitting you have slides nicely in, then another grub screw is wacked on top to lock it into position. You could just turn the dog nose onto the end of a grub screw, that is what I did, I made it 4mm diameter (to fit the slot in the tooling) and 4mm long, with about 4mm of thread left.

On my machine, the bottom cap is a left hand thread, and once the retaining screw was slackened in the side of the quill, the base just screwed off and allowed access to the damaged pin.

If ever you get fittings that won't go up the spout or very tight when trying to assemble, it is most probably the pin has slipped and just needs screwing back half a turn.

I have shown a pic at the bottom to try to explain it.

It just might save you a load of cash, one grub screw or a collet set.


Blogs

 

[1hand]

Nice blogs, putting that little piece of info in the mental storage for when I need to replace mine.

 

[shred]

Which pin is missing on your Millrite? The one inside the spindle or the exterior one that stops the pulley spinning?

I have an ETM R8 ER-16 in my Millrite most of the time. Plenty accurate and as I already had a bunch of collets, it was the easy choice, though it only goes up to 3/8" or 10mm. The advantage is ER16 goes small enough to hold tiny drills, which some of the larger ER's don't. FWIW the previous owner of that millrite used an ER-40 adapter and seemed happy with it as well.

I'd still fix the pin though-- too often you'll want to get out a boring head or drill chuck or face mill or whatever.

 

[ksouers]

Thanks everyone for all the responses.

Steve, Phil,
I don't really trust ebay that much. However, I've had lots of good service from LMS which is why I chose them as the vendor. I don't mind paying the premium for excellent service.

Thanks Rick. I know you've touted 800watt before. I'll give them a look, as they have two trusted votes now.

John,
Thanks, that was my first thought but I don't believe the quill cap exposes enough of the spindle to get to the pin. I'll have another look, but the cap is only about 1/4-3/8 inch thick. I don't think I can even get past the taper without disassembling the whole spindle. I thought I'd just wait till bearing replacement to fix the pin.

Shred,
The one inside the spindle, natch. Have you ever had the bottom cap off the quill? I was thinking the ER32 because it seems to be the most common, but the 40 is also doable if I can find a reputable vendor. I can always arbor it down to ER16 or even 11 if needed.


The pin was missing when I bought the mill but obviously that wasn't a deal breaker (silly reason, anyway), the rest of the mill was in quite good shape. At the time I was just going to order the ER chuck and collets but never got "a round tuit". The cold weather lately made me get off my duff so I didn't have to fiddle so much just to change a collet.

Besides, I could then put the same collet, either 32 or 40, on the lathe and trade away two collets (MT3 and R8) for one.

Thanks again for all the help, guys.

 

[shred]

Shred,
The one inside the spindle, natch. Have you ever had the bottom cap off the quill? I was thinking the ER32 because it seems to be the most common, but the 40 is also doable if I can find a reputable vendor. I can always arbor it down to ER16 or even 11 if needed.

I've not had it apart, but the previous owner did a full spindle rebuild on it. A lot of it should be posted on the yahoo BurkeMills group, but I can ask if you have any particular questions.

 

[ksouers]

Thanks Shred. Nothing at the moment.


Update:
I ordered the ER40 set from 800watt today, R8 chuck and wrench with 25 collets. I went with the ER40 so I can also use them on the lathe. I'll have to build a chuck for the lathe, so I'll be using your post as reference John.

Took a quick look at the bottom of the quill last night. Today is going to be a maintenance day so I'll take the cover off and see if I can get at the pin. If so, I'll knock a new one in.

 

[BobWarfield]

FWIW, I lot of people prefer that pin be left out, including myself. It sure makes tool changes faster without out it if you use endmill holders, collet chucks, and other solid R8 shank tooling. Add a little Harbor Freight butterfly impact wrench and you can swap tools real fast. The solid holders are very repeatable for the CNC crowd in Z too. I've always preferred the approach and seldom use my R8 collets.

But, there definitely do seem to be two camps on that front, so to each their own.

Cheers,

BW