ER-11 Collet Rack

[mars-red]

Had this idea for an easy-to-make rack to hold my ER-11 collets. Video is short and doesn't get into details, because I felt it really wasn't necessary. Once you see it, it's pretty self explanatory I think.

EDIT: I made a few attempts to put a plain link to the video here, but the forum software keeps converting it to an embedded video, which is unfortunate because it doesn't seem to allow full screen viewing that way.

[Paul Jones]

mars-red,

I envoy watching everything on your YouTube channel. The collet rack is a very practice design.

I like the carbide insert milling head shown early in the video. Who makes this and what are the insert specs?

Paul Jones

[rossbotics]

Nice job
looks great

[pfredX1]

That's pretty fancy. I just drilled some holes in chunks of plastic to hold my collets. http://i.imgur.com/VSfkEiS.jpg http://i.imgur.com/M7tob2Y.jpg

[Frank S]

When I first saw the video I was thinking that sure is a lot of material removal until I happened to see the collet size
Super clean job nice work my problem is I would somehow manage to place it where it would be knocked over and I'd have little collets going everywhere.

[mars-red]

mars-red,

I envoy watching everything on your YouTube channel. The collet rack is a very practice design.

I like the carbide insert milling head shown early in the video. Who makes this and what are the insert specs?

Paul Jones

Thanks Paul! The carbide insert end mill is one I found in my buddy's stash of stuff when he was selling off his metalworking tools. It was still unused, in the tube. I didn't realize you could even get them that small. I don't like insert tooling enough to pay new prices for tool holders, in this case I got the thing so cheap that I couldn't pass it up. I really like it for mild steel. The inserts aren't the best for aluminum, like in this project, but it was more convenient than using a fly cutter.

Mine is an "Anser Dex", by the Harbor Tool Company. Model HS-050 end mill. They apparently went out of business well over a decade ago. But Cutting Tool Technologies makes an identical model, and suspiciously the model number is even the same - HS-050. You can buy them new, here, for $180: Cutting Tool Technologies: HS-050 End Mill That seems very reasonably priced based on what I've seen, so if you're inclined to buy new insert tooling then it's probably worth a look. The inserts are SPEH-2.522, and reputable ones seem to cost about $20 each. You can find the less-than-reputable ones for just a few bucks each.

That's pretty fancy. I just drilled some holes in chunks of plastic to hold my collets. http://i.imgur.com/VSfkEiS.jpg http://i.imgur.com/M7tob2Y.jpg

Nice! I nearly did the same, but had to follow through with this idea once it popped into my head.

When I first saw the video I was thinking that sure is a lot of material removal until I happened to see the collet size
Super clean job nice work my problem is I would somehow manage to place it where it would be knocked over and I'd have little collets going everywhere.

Haha thanks! If these had been larger collets I would have made the rack from several pieces. The nice thing about this design is if the slots aren't a snug enough fit to keep the collets from going anywhere, it's just as easily mounted on its back so they really won't go anywhere.

[Frank S]

you could always make a 5 or 6° cut to the back and bottom of the rack then no matter if it was sitting on a bench an dgot knocked around or mounted on a wall the collets would have a natural tendency to stay in place

[mars-red]

you could always make a 5 or 6° cut to the back and bottom of the rack then no matter if it was sitting on a bench an dgot knocked around or mounted on a wall the collets would have a natural tendency to stay in place

It's much, much easier just to set the rack down on the other surface, so the collets are held in place vertically. Set it on its "back", if you will. That's likely how I'll end up mounting it once the machine these collets are for has some kind of bench or table made for it.

[Paul Jones]

pfredX1,

I agree. Plastic, metal or anything that cannot retain moisture is better than using wood for the collet rack. I live in an area of the USA where the relative humidity is extremely low and using wood is less of a problem. Along with the extremely low humidity comes the potential for wildfires.

We had one very bad wildfire in November 2008 that totally destroyed about 140 homes in our city and hundreds more damaged. In 2008 our next door neighbor's house ignited due to 50+ MPH winds and a firestorm that was almost unstoppable. Our house is in the background and the destroyed neighbor's house has been rebuilt.



Our house was saved with the fire dept. foaming but it just a matter of time before this happens again. We are better prepared for this 2017 fire season but always subject to a chance ignition no matter how well prepared. I spend about 80 hours per year in brush clearing down into our box canyon each year to be prepared.

Paul Jones

[Ed Weldon]

That's a neat design for a collet rack. I like to make such tool blocks from dense hardwoods and after finishing I soak them with a drying oils to enhance the color and retard moisture absorbtion. In this design I'd still make the top slotted part out of aluminum or brass screwed on to a bottom "L" shaped wood piece. It might be interesting to sink a small cylindrical neodymium-iron into the base under each collet to hold it in place incase of a tip-over. Those magnets are cheap and easy to get in quantity and various sizes from Chinese eBay sellers.