Quote Originally Posted by Paul Jones View Post
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.

Quote Originally Posted by pfredX1 View Post
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.

Quote Originally Posted by Frank S View Post
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.