# Collet Chuck Recommendation



## Rangertrek (Nov 16, 2008)

I want to get a collet chuck. I am looking at the Beall Chuck ($83) and the Axminster Jr. Chuch ($85 reg. $53 on sale at CSUSA). 

I have also seen a PSI Collet Chuck System ($90) that comes with 5 collets.

It will be use mostly for pen turning, making bushings, sleeves etc.

Any recommendations or comments from users would be appreciated.


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## wdcav1952 (Nov 16, 2008)

John,

I have a Beall Collet Chuck and the PSI one.  For overall ease of use, I prefer the PSI kit.


BTW, if a Bossier City Police Officer with the same last name as mine ever gives you a ticket, tell him his uncle said "Hi."


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## BRobbins629 (Nov 16, 2008)

Look at or email 800Watt on ebay and if you can, get the full 18 piece ER32 collet set.  Definitely the lowest cost and good quality.  I got the 5 originally with a Beall and quickly realized the more collets the better.  Its amazing the number of uses they have and if you only have 5, you will rarely have the one you need, with the exception of holding mandrels.


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## johnnycnc (Nov 16, 2008)

I have the Beall; it is a quality well made tool that is accurate.
As Bruce above mentioned ,the ER-32 collet set from the Ebay seller is a great deal to 
round out the package so you can get the most use from the chuck.
As a side note, IIRC,the Axminster takes a slightly smaller,less popular collet series;
they will cost you more in most places.So if you bought many collets for the Axminster,
you would likely have more $ in the set by the time you are done.
Several members here have also given good reports on the PSI chuck.


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## wdcav1952 (Nov 16, 2008)

John, I find the PSI chuck easy to use to change collets and to adjust the length of the mandrel.  My issue with the Beall is the system for doing this is harder to use than the PSI one.


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## johnnycnc (Nov 16, 2008)

William,
the PSI chuck doesn't even need the wrenches,has knurling doesn't it??
My Beall has to have the spanner wrenches (they come with it) to 
break loose sometimes.
Knurling sounds good,if the PSI chuck has that.:biggrin:

Anyone else besides me ever bust their knuckles on the lathe,
breaking a collet chuck loose with spanner wrenches?? 



wdcav1952 said:


> John, I find the PSI chuck easy to use to change collets and to adjust the length of the mandrel.  My issue with the Beall is the system for doing this is harder to use than the PSI one.


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## VisExp (Nov 16, 2008)

Johnny, I have the PSI collet chuck and you are correct, it has knurling.  It comes with two Tommy Bar type things to loosen and tighten the chuck but it is very rare that I use them.  Most of the time I just loosen and tighten the chuck by hand.


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## Nick (Nov 16, 2008)

Does the PSI chuck take the ER32 collets as well?


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## ldb2000 (Nov 16, 2008)

I have the PSI and love it . The nice thing is that for $90 you get a range of Collets with it , the Beall is just the Collet holder for almost the same price , then you have to buy Collets @ $20 a pop or get the set from 800watt .


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## Rangertrek (Nov 16, 2008)

Thanks for all the replies and information.  You helped make my decision.  I will probably go wiht the PSI set and also check out the ER32 set.

Will Cav, I will definately check on the BC police officer.


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## VisExp (Nov 16, 2008)

Yes it does.



Nick said:


> Does the PSI chuck take the ER32 collets as well?


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## Glass Scratcher (Nov 17, 2008)

I have the PSI set and the full set from 800watt on ebay.  I highly recommend them both.

Of course I have to get my shop helper (nephew) to re-help me find where he moved them to, when he decided my new shop needed to be cleaned up and re-arranged.


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## rherrell (Nov 17, 2008)

John, be sure to check the headstock threads on your lathe. I believe the PSI chuck only comes with an adapter for 1" X 8 tpi headstock spindles. If you have something different you'll need to get the right adapter.


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## wdcav1952 (Nov 17, 2008)

johnnycnc said:


> William,
> the PSI chuck doesn't even need the wrenches,has knurling doesn't it??
> My Beall has to have the spanner wrenches (they come with it) to
> break loose sometimes.
> ...




John, your initial question has been answered.  I got one spanner wrench with my Beall, and wish I had known to get a second one.  I use a piece of steel rod with the spanner, and yes, it breaks loose at times that can cause pain and curses!!

I agree that the supplied bars aren't used often with the PSI set that as asked by some one does use the ER-32 collets.  I use one of the bars with my spanner when I use the Beall.  Why two?  The Beall fits my CarbaTec and the PSI is used on my Jet 1236.


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## VisExp (Nov 17, 2008)

rherrell said:


> John, be sure to check the headstock threads on your lathe. I believe the PSI chuck only comes with an adapter for 1" X 8 tpi headstock spindles. If you have something different you'll need to get the right adapter.


 
Rick, you are correct.  The PSI chuck has 1" x8 tpi threads.  When I got my Jet 1642 I had to get this adaptor for it to work with the 1 1/4" x 8 tpi threads

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KIADBS


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## Glass Scratcher (Nov 17, 2008)

Hrmmm, my PSI set is itself threaded in 1" x 8tpi but came with the 3/4" x16tpi adapter, which was perfect for the little Willy (Wilton 99177) lathe I had, now I can take the adapter off for the new Steel City lathe.


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## will (Nov 18, 2008)

Anyone know the answer to Nick's question?  Does the PSI holder tak ER32 collets?

Bill 
Baltimore


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## sbell111 (Nov 18, 2008)

will said:


> Anyone know the answer to Nick's question?  Does the PSI holder tak ER32 collets?
> 
> Bill
> Baltimore


Cav did, just a few posts up.  Of course, that was after Rick answered it way up on top of the page.


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## Randy_ (Nov 19, 2008)

johnnycnc said:


> .....As a side note, IIRC,the Axminster takes a slightly smaller,less popular collet series.....


 
John is correct. The Axminster Jr. collet chuck takes ER-20 collets and IIRC the max. capacity for that series is only 1/2" while the ER-32 series will take a 3/4" collet.


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## Randy_ (Nov 19, 2008)

wdcav1952 said:


> John, I find the PSI chuck easy to use to change collets and to adjust the length of the mandrel. My issue with the *Beall is the system for doing this is harder to use than the PSI one.*


 
That may not be the case for everyone. The PSI chuck body is knurled as is the collar nut.....the idea being you can loosen and tighten the nut or the body by hand grip without the need for wrenches or tommy bars. I remember seeing a post or two from folks who had to use a wrench with the PSI chuck. If you have a weak grip or maybe suffer from arthritis, the advertised benefit of the knurling may not work for you. 

I have intended to wrap the body and nut of my Beall chuck with some of that rubber electrical tape to see if I could improve the grip enough to eliminate the need for the wrenches. Haven't gotten aroundtoit yet. :wink:


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## Randy_ (Nov 19, 2008)

wdcav1952 said:


> J.....I got one spanner wrench with my Beall, and wish I had known to get a second one......


 
I understand Beall has gotten smart and now supplies 2 spanner wrenches with its chuck.
 
It turns out that the knockout bar on my JET mini fits the holes in the Beall chuck so I can use it like a tommy bar in place of a second spanner wrench.  The hole in the chuck body is drilled a little deeper than the hole in the collar so I only use the knockout bar in the chuck body.  I'm afraid it might slip out of the shallower hole in the collar nut and bugger up the hole.


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## wdcav1952 (Nov 19, 2008)

Randy_ said:


> That may not be the case for everyone. The PSI chuck body is knurled as is the collar nut.....the idea being you can loosen and tighten the nut or the body by hand grip without the need for wrenches or tommy bars. I remember seeing a post or two from folks who had to use a wrench with the PSI chuck. If you have a weak grip or maybe suffer from arthritis, the advertised benefit of the knurling may not work for you.
> 
> I have intended to wrap the body and nut of my Beall chuck with some of that rubber electrical tape to see if I could improve the grip enough to eliminate the need for the wrenches. Haven't gotten aroundtoit yet. :wink:



Good points Randy.  However the PSI comes with two tommy bars with padded handles.  I don't have arthritis in my hands as my knees (well my one remaining original equipment knee ) cornered the market on arthritis.  I find the one spanner wrench that came with my Beall difficult to use, and wish the Beall came with two spanners, which, of course I guess could be ordered.  Regardless, the PSI beats the Beall with regards to ease of use, IMHO.


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## Randy_ (Nov 19, 2008)

Well, this thread gave me the push I needed to get my little experiment under way.  I wrapped my Beall collet chuck with a couple of four turns of rubber splicing tape.  Did the collar nut too.  I can now definitely get a much better grip on the chuck without the wrenches.  I did something else that I should have done a long time ago.....put a light coat of lithium grease on the threads.  
 
The collet definitely comes apart more easily now.  Whether or not I will be able take it apart or remove it from the lathe without wrenches after a spin on the lathe will have to wait until this weekend to be determined.  My expectation is that, when gripping something that is near the upper end of the collet grip range, I will be able to remove the collar nut without the need of the wrenches.  OTOH, when gripping an object that is near the lower end of the collet grip range.....like a "B" mandrel in a 5/16" collet.....there may still be a need for the wrenches.


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## rherrell (Nov 20, 2008)

I don't have a problem unscrewing my Beall. I hold the handwheel and give the wrench a "snap" and I can loosen the collar only or remove the whole chuck. As for tightening, I use the wrench for the collar but only hand tighten the chuck on the headstock.


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## Randy_ (Nov 25, 2008)

Randy_ said:


> Well, this thread gave me the push I needed to get my little experiment under way. I wrapped my Beall collet chuck with a couple of four turns of rubber splicing tape. Did the collar nut too. I can now definitely get a much better grip on the chuck without the wrenches. I did something else that I should have done a long time ago.....put a light coat of lithium grease on the threads.
> 
> The collet definitely comes apart more easily now. Whether or not I will be able take it apart or remove it from the lathe without wrenches after a spin on the lathe will have to wait until this weekend to be determined.


 
Well, that idea did not work. Still had to use the wrench to loosen the collar nut.


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## pipecrafter (Nov 25, 2008)

I recently purchased the Beall collet chuck and couldn't be happier.  I ordered the Beall primarily because they have a version that fits my lathe (1-1/2"-8tpi).  It does come with two spanners, but I hardly ever use them.  I usually just tighten the collar by hand, and it tends to break free easily.  On the off chance that I need to use the spanner to loosen the chuck, I just engage the back gears to lock the spindle, and snap the wrench towards me.  I think I only ever used both spanners once - when I was chucking a *significantly* undersized piece of ebonite.


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