I apologize if this is a redundant post but here goes.I just sold a few un-used tools and as an early Christmas present from the wife I am about to purchase a BEALL Collet Chuck for use in my Jet 920N metal.I have read many of the posts here regarding pros & cons of different collet sets particularly metric Vs standard fractional sets. I have located a seller that is a few miles from my house here in Vancouver Wa. that only has fractional ER-32 sets on hand but he can get ER-32 metric sets. The fractional 18 pc ER-32 set he has on hand is just under $100.00, I would save shipping since I can pick them up at his location.I couldn't find anything at present from 800watt on E-bay.My questions are:1. Would I be better off waiting for the metric set or will the fractional work just as well?2. Are any of you guys familiar with this seller? (see link bellow)3. Is this a good buy?
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So a few things to consider, I have both an ER32 and ER40 set in imperial, plus a number of metric ER collets.1. What are you going to use the collets for, to hold endmills or to hold stock? If just endmills, you would do just fine with a 1/8" higher quality set in the specific measurement system you predominately use, I assume imperial. Most endmills come in fixed shank sizes, so you end up only using a few collets 99% of the time. My own experience is that although the collets have a wide clamping range, clamping ability and accuracy (TIR) suffers. This also depends on the quality of the holder and if you use a bearing nut. If you are going to us the ER collets for work holding, then I recommend a 1/32" (0.0312" increment) set which offers a better clamping range then a 1mm (0.0394" increment) set, and is in the more common increment for stock/tooling you will use. Even with this, I have edge finders that have 10mm and 12mm shaft diameters, and the accuracy is improved using a high quality metric collet for each. Manufactures sell 1/32 ER sets, but for some stupid reason they omit a few sizes that they think are not commonly needed. So you may need to back fill several collets.2. Most manufactures state the maximum TIR of the collets, better ones are usually 0.0002" and the worse usually state 0.005mm (0.0003"), but beyond this is the way the collets is designed and the finish of the collet which can effect the way it seats and the collapsibility of the collet. Higher quality collets are significantly better in this respect at least from my observation. A good bearing or high quality clamping nut can make a significant difference in both TIR and angular skew. We are talking a big difference measured at say 3-4" out. from the collet.3. I do not believe that collet manufactures have an A and B sorting based on tolerances, they make them to meet different tolerance and fit/finish specs, and maybe the level of QC as to 100% vs say 10%. On ER collets, they tend to be a bit more consistent in TIR then say 5C collets.4. Brands that I have used, recommend. No name generic, well the QC is often minimal and the collet design may be that when used at it's +/- clamping extremes you will see more distortion. I have seen and others have mentioned this when using metric sets for imperial sizes. I can say that the Iscar ETM (my ER32 set) and Rego Fix (my metric) are super and they all measure under 0.0001" TIR with super finish. I have a few Teckniks (made in Taiwan), that would be my next choice, and 3rd would be a close tolerance or precision set of Chinese manufacture that is guaranteed to meet spec. I have the Z-Live 1/32 ER40 collet set and they are well made and measure well. In order of recommendation below, ETM Iscar (or similar quality), Tekniks, Z-Live (and Shar's), T-Pac or similar. The ETM below may seem expensive, but it includes an R8 holder and you could offer something like$250 and have a super set, or keep a lookout for a set of ETMs, Rego Fix or similar set. On ER holders, it does pay to get good ER holder (and nut), so something like ETM, Lyndex, Glacern (nickle plated), Shar's (higher end models that are nickle plated), etc that usually have a TIR of 0.0001" or better.5. This all may be moot, in the sense that it the worse set guarantees say 0.0004" TIR and you are machining to 0.001" tolerance, well it is unlikely to make any difference. If just for milling, then better to get a better quality 1/8" increment set in my opinion.6. No doubt China does turn out very high quality machinery and products, but usually not at the lower price points. Having lived in Japan in the 60's when we use to be a joke about the Japanese quality, the limitation was not the intent willingness to do high quality work, but not having the technology/training and understanding to do so. In contrast to lower end Chinese (and tooling from say India) products, which from my experience there is neither the intent, training nor willingness to do so, nor have any process improvement/QC. Since we gobble their stuff up, I guess there is no incetive to do so. On the high end products produced in China they can meet or exceed products produced in other countries. Just my opinion.
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