Collet or Not ?

[Brian Rutter]

I am a little confused, it's easily done and I am a complete beginner please forgive me.

I am looking to get some basic tools and equipment ready for the big day.

Looking at a mandrel, there are many adverts selling mandrells with a variety of collets , MT1 MT2 and "straight" for people like me who will only have a chuck and no facility to fit a MT.

So I need to put a "straight" into the chuck and then put the mandrel into the collet. Why cannot I put the mandrel directly into the chuck and not use the collet saving myself 10 or 12 pounds in the process?

If the answer is obvious then please tell me.

 

[Phil Dart]

If your chuck jaws will close down to about 6mm, there's no reason why you can't do that. Brace yourself for a slew of answers telling you to turn between centres and not bother with a mandrel at all, but if you do want to use one and you have the right jaws to handle it, then your solution is perfectly sound in my opinion. I think you'll find that the reason you're being enticed to put a straight arbor collet in a lathe chuck is because it would be unusual to find wood lathe jaws that close down narrow enough. You would need engineering jaws for that I think.

 

[flexi]

Surely [MENTION=735]Phil Dart[/MENTION] you mean a "Skew" of answers we are all turners

 

[alpha1]

What size is your tailstock if its M2 just buy a mandrel holder and a straight mandrel? Stick the mandrel in your chuck and the mandrel holder in your tailstock buy a set of bushings the whole thing should be about £30 after that you just need to buy bushings for the kits.
I have two lathes an Engineer's lathe and a wood lathe. The only thing I use the wood lathe for is drilling my blanks using a set of pen jaws. Everything else is done on the Engineer's lathe. I only turn pens I have no idea how to turn anything else. Most of my lathe work is in metal.

 

[Penpal]

I had a big lathe that had a countershaft that had a solid shaft. Identical to a lathe Richard Raffan used for many years professionally,so everything had to be screwed onto the main head stock shaft. From here on you can easil visualise the possibilities. I do recommend collets, grip in so many jaws,are usually quite accurate, they come in so many configurations. Price concious you will only get what you pay for .I use a so called Mandrel Saver I may be able in a day or so post a pic of how to make one,not rocket science and cheap to make,they hold a mandrel if you so go this way and enable shortening of the mandrel by slipping it in or out for length.Have fun I did and do still D I Yourself is a golden rule I live by.

Peter.

 

[Brian Rutter]

My chuck arrived last night, I am really pleased with it.

It's a 50mm Bluefox variety from India (£42), I thought I was ordering one from China but I must have clicked the wrong link.

I am pleased that I did, it only took 4 days to arrive, I ordered three items from the UK on the same day and the chuck from India arrived first. Delivered by FedEx I still do not know how "free" delivery works.

I am convince that this little beauty will do all that I need, it will easily grip a 1.5mm drill bit so a mandrel should be well in its scope.

I will not be ordereing a collet in the near future time will tell.

Thanks for the responses