Anorak Bob 5th May 2013, 03:49 PM I have a few 30 taper chucks and I have been storing them on a shelf in one of my too small and too crowded Ikea lockers. Sisan in Los Angeles Sisan Company (http://www.sisanco.com/) make a range of styrene holders that aren't stiffly priced and can be purchased on Ebay. I have been using their collet racks for a while so I thought I'd follow up with their 30 rack. Built in handles facilitate lifting and make you feel like you are carrying a tray of hors d'oeuvres at an engagement party.
I have a growing collection of W20 collets that would benefit from some form of organised storage. I imagine a block of wood perforated with holes will be the answer.
How do you blokes store your chucks and collets?
BT
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BobL 5th May 2013, 04:11 PM Funny, I was in a bottle shop yesterday picking up some cheap red for SWMBO and I walked past a range of the more expensive stuff in wooden boxes and the first thing I thought of was the boxes would be good well for collets etc.
neksmerj 5th May 2013, 04:28 PM BT, had a squize on eBay for the Sisan collet racks, and turned up nothing. Any chance of a link to eBay?
The racks look pretty good and probably cheaper than trying to make some.
Ken
Edit: Found the Sisan collet racks on eBay, the price for a rack is reasonable, however that's spoiled by the $48 postage charge, ouch!
Link ER 32 Collet Tray Rack Holds 32 Collets CNC Milling Turning EDM Tool Holding | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ER-32-COLLET-TRAY-RACK-HOLDS-32-COLLETS-CNC-MILLING-TURNING-EDM-TOOL-HOLDING-/300893228543?pt=BI_Tool_Work_Holding&hash=item460ea24dff)
Anorak Bob 5th May 2013, 04:31 PM Funny, I was in a bottle shop yesterday picking up some cheap red for SWMBO and I walked past a range of the more expensive stuff in wooden boxes and the first thing I thought of was the boxes would be good well for collets etc.
You could buy something like this Bob but you wouldn't derive the same pleasure. :U
ER20 WOODEN COLLET BOX MariTool (http://www.maritool.com/Collets-Collet-Organizing/c21_113/p727/ER25-WOODEN-COLLET-BOX/product_info.html)
neksmerj 5th May 2013, 04:44 PM Hi BT,
The eBay site I found states postage at $48, your link shows free postage, go figure.
Ken
Pete F 5th May 2013, 05:00 PM How do you blokes store your chucks and collets?
BT
At the moment I keep the collets in the plastic bags and/or boxes they came in, and arrange them all in an melamine box that's in a tooling cabinet. I try to keep my stuff within plastic if I can as it further prevents any rust forming. However the cardboard boxes are falling apart and even though I keep the ER32s in order, the MT3s aren't and it takes a while to find the correct one.
The plastic looks good Bob, the only reservation I'd have is how long it would last in the long term. Some plastics don't handle oils very well over longer periods and cause them to go brittle and break. I've been meaning for ages to just take some aluminium sheet, cut it to appropriate size and bore the correct size holes, and then bend the ends over at 90 +90 degrees ie so the first bend forms about 10 mm feet, while the second bend forms a stand-off. With another collet set about to arrive, and another en-route I think it's probably about time to get them better organised, so may plan to do that this week.
Ken I think it's free postage within the US, otherwise as quoted Internationally.
Pete
krisfarm 5th May 2013, 06:20 PM Hi Bob
I store my ER40 and ER30 collets in plastic kitchen storage boxes-strong ones with clip on lids. I find they stay in good shape with a bit of oil on them, keeps all of the dust etc out of them. I did a small project on the mill and drilled all of the holes in some plastic kitchen cutting boards.To hold them off the bottom I just parted off some short lengths of aluminium tubing a bit larger in diameter than the collets and distributed them evenly around the board. Did a similar thing for my parallels. The ER40 chucks and tooling I store in the individual plastic boxes they came in. Do those racks you linked to have covers for them? as I find everything will rust pretty quickly where I like unless it is well oiled and covered.
Bob
nearnexus 5th May 2013, 06:25 PM I have the same problem in that my collets are loose and the little paper boxes are disintegrating.
The collets that came with the Schaublin are in a wooden board with round holes evenly spaced and some risers to let them drop in.
Works pretty well.
I have plenty of thick MDF board and may make something similar for the drawer.
I don't like boxes with lids, they always get in the way.
The plastic holders look good.
Cheers
Rob
Pete F 5th May 2013, 06:43 PM Bob, using the plastic cutting boards is a good idea. I've also seen them used to hold end mills by using a ball nosed mill to cut grooves for them to sit in.
rogerbaker 5th May 2013, 06:58 PM Hi All
Try Hotel Supply places for Cutting boards.
I bought soma a while ago for a job I did. They have them in a variety of sizes and colours and are about 10mm thick.
Prices are reasonable too.
Roger
nearnexus 5th May 2013, 07:05 PM Bob, using the plastic cutting boards is a good idea. I've also seen them used to hold end mills by using a ball nosed mill to cut grooves for them to sit in.
Now THAT is a good idea.
Haven't heard that one before.
I will put that on MY list of projects to do :)
PS sorry Krisfarm, I missed your post on this - great idea.
I store my gear in wooden drawers and don't find rust to be an issue. Metal drawers can promote condensation, and they rattle.
Cheers
Rob
jack620 5th May 2013, 07:23 PM This is what I use to keep mills and reamers from rolling around:
http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/80168000/
A sharp chisel will easily remove a divider for larger items.
Dave J 5th May 2013, 07:53 PM Hi Bob
I store my ER40 and ER30 collets in plastic kitchen storage boxes-strong ones with clip on lids. I find they stay in good shape with a bit of oil on them, keeps all of the dust etc out of them. I did a small project on the mill and drilled all of the holes in some plastic kitchen cutting boards.To hold them off the bottom I just parted off some short lengths of aluminium tubing a bit larger in diameter than the collets and distributed them evenly around the board. Did a similar thing for my parallels. The ER40 chucks and tooling I store in the individual plastic boxes they came in. Do those racks you linked to have covers for them? as I find everything will rust pretty quickly where I like unless it is well oiled and covered.
Bob
Hi Bob
I like that idea and will probably use it myself. When ever i buy plastic containers I look for the ones with a hinge as a lot only have the plastic folded over as a hinge.
I was only just thinking the other day I need to make some sort of tooling trolley because the timber blocks I made will only hold around 10 NT tooling and I have around 30, so it would be nice to have them all on a trolley that can be moved over to the mill, but be able to be closed up when finished.
I have looked around and they are pricey for an open to the air trolley, so a custom one that encloses the tooling from the elements would be nice.
Dave
Pete F 5th May 2013, 08:03 PM Rob all of my cutters were originally purchased new, so I keep them, reamers, and large drill bits in the little plastic box things they come in. However I have a number of loose ones heading my way so I'm sure my wife won't notice if yet another of her cutting boards goes missing and I'll run a bull nose along it. Sooner or later she's going to start wondering where all her cutting boards are going and then my supply lines will be cut off.:oo: Having cutters banging against each other is always a bad idea. I have metal drawers but they have a foam lining and it seems to "grip" the tools in there ok. However I think a lot depends on on the person. I watching a series of Youtube videos a guy from New York had put up. Nice guy and he had some good ideas, but seemed to be incapable of actually placing objects down, and instead would throw everything the final 6" to where he wanted it. Just one of those super annoying things and I felt like screaming when he was doing it to his dial indicators! Likewise some people are just rough with their tools and they're going to get hell in a drawer if not securely bolted down with 3G restraints as they slam the drawer open and closed!!
Another good idea I saw in a store in Hong Kong was some foam strips about 10 mm square with self-adhesive backing on one side. The strips could be cut to length to form dividers to separate larger tools like lathe centres etc from banging against each other. I don't know if it's available in Australia, but will put up a picture of it when I get home if anyone is interested? Anyway it should be self-explanatory if you went to a foam place. It was cheap. If the strips weren't available, cutting foam into strips would work also.
Pete
Ueee 5th May 2013, 08:11 PM All my er40 collets are in one of the grey boxes from h&f. I bought a small set when I got my hm50. I have since purchased all the collets needed to make a full set, and these live in the box. My er25's are like petes, just in there cardboard boxes slowly disintegrating. The 4 nt40 tools I bought from ctc when I got the vernier came in good plastic tubes, so that's were they stay.
As for centers and stuff for the lathe the top 2 drawers under the lathe have old cuttlery trays in them, just the cheap plastic ones, and these work great.
Cheers,
Ew
Michael G 5th May 2013, 09:03 PM Storage? Let's see -
Milling tool holders are in a wheel out trolley that stows behind the mill. The wooden tray is removable but is for short tools. The holes in the metal work at the top are for when working on the mill, where as the wooden tray is for storage (holds 10 + a vertical head draw bar). In the bottom section are the horizontal arbors and draw bars.
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ER collets are on a board with pegs on it (ER25) in a case with a foam fitted liner with holes (ER40). The pegs work ok - the smaller size collets are only to size in the front half, allowing large pegs.
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Morse drills are in a drawer under the drill press. The drawer has two sheets of plywood with holes coresponding to the Morse taper sizes. The two taper sleeves are on pegs.
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Change gears & bushes for the lathe have a little rack I made up. The dividing head gears have something similar.
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Michael
nearnexus 5th May 2013, 09:07 PM Nice guy and he had some good ideas, but seemed to be incapable of actually placing objects down, and instead would throw everything the final 6" to where he wanted it. Just one of those super annoying things and I felt like screaming when he was doing it to his dial indicators!
Pete
Yes, that riles me too. I always put my measuring gear in it's case after using, and treat it kindly.
Cutters are a bit different, but I always put them in a wooden drawer with the tips down onto the base to protect them.
Some people are just plain rough with everything.
Ummm, Michael, you sure are organised. That's about 500% up on my effort. But I'm willing to improve.
Cheers
Rob
steran50 5th May 2013, 09:16 PM HI:),
My Er32 Collets and Chuck are kept in the Plastic Box that they came in. What R8 Collets that I have are kept in two Biscuit Tins (metric/imperial). The R8 are kept in the tins in their plastic sleeves or cardboard boxes.
If I had to make something up I to store the Collets and Chuck. I would use either MDF, Pine, Aluminium or Chopping Boards. I like Michaels Trolley idea for the Collets and Chucks and having it fitted with Lids is a good idea to keep both the Dust and Swarf of them.
Pete F 5th May 2013, 09:19 PM Yeah I like your little change gear rack Michael, I just leave my little stack in a neat little pyramid under the lathe. All it's missing on yours is a little handle on top so you can tote it with you to church on Sundays :U For some reason that reminds me of a milk bottle holder we did at school as a welding project. Back in the days of milkies ... and school welding projects :rolleyes:
RayG 5th May 2013, 09:30 PM Using a plastic cutting board is a nice idea, I bought wooden boxes for ER32 and ER40 from these guys.. Collet Organizing, Collet Boxes, Collet Trays - MariTool (http://www.maritool.com/Collets-Collet-Organizing/c21_113/index.html)
For the ER11 collets, Josh machined up a box out of machinable wax on the small CNC.. But the best I've seen is the collet storage Stuart made from shopping bags.. :) http://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/machinable-wax-er32-collet-box-157684/#post1540529
Regards
Ray
nearnexus 5th May 2013, 09:34 PM But the best I've seen is the collet storage Stuart made from shopping bags.. :) http://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/machinable-wax-er32-collet-box-157684/#post1540529
Regards
Ray
Yes, that was good.
Rob
Anorak Bob 5th May 2013, 10:58 PM Do those racks you linked to have covers for them? as I find everything will rust pretty quickly where I like unless it is well oiled and covered.
Bob
Lidless Bob.
When I was using my little Hercus mill I had a couple of chucks on the go and stored then in a Fischer plastic box along with the collet tray. I too suffer from the same corrosion problem.
Bob.
ps. I just looked at Michael's pegboard and I reckon I've found the answer for my W20 storage. Thanks Michael.
krisfarm 5th May 2013, 11:06 PM Pete F,
The cutting boards for end mills sounds good as it would always hold a little oil in the groove, up here I find that if I don't have the tools oiled and sealed off they soon start to rust. My end mills are currently still stored in the original individual plastic cases they come in but they will not last forever.I have found that having tooling in wooden boxes is not always enough as the wood absorbs the oil, one of my sets of Swiss verniers started to develop light rust in its original wooden felt lined box.
Dave J,
Your plan sounds just like my set up Dave, I brought one of those Calibre 9 drawer tool boxes that Super Cheap Auto sell and have all of my mill tooling in it and it is just behind my mill so it is nice and handy.Some good ideas have come out from everyone.
Bob
Anorak Bob 5th May 2013, 11:11 PM .... one of my sets of Swiss verniers started to develop light rust in its original wooden felt lined box.
Bob
Mine is Swiss and in a wooden box :o
Michael G 6th May 2013, 07:51 AM Yeah I like your little change gear rack Michael, I just leave my little stack in a neat little pyramid under the lathe. All it's missing on yours is a little handle on top so you can tote it with you to church on Sundays :U
Come on Pete - every one knows that baptismal fonts use 18DP change gears and those are 32DP! :no:
Michael
krisfarm 6th May 2013, 09:01 AM Bob,
"Mine is Swiss and in a wooden box "
It looks like we both have similar verniers.Mine developed some corrosion on the jaws where they rest on the felt lined ledge in the box, it looked and felt like the felt
was compressed and had gone hard and dry. I always used to wipe them dry with a clean cloth after use,since finding this problem I apply a thin film of oil to them and added a sheet of the anti corrosion paper.
Your collet storage is very similar to mine it ensures clean rust free collets.
Bob
Greg Q 6th May 2013, 09:48 AM I live in fear of later is year moving my shop to 25 metres from salt water. I reckon I should get an aquarium full of oil and a dip net.
krisfarm 6th May 2013, 10:17 AM Greg,
I live right on the water's edge, my backyard is the Richmond River at Ballina. I have found it best to wrap/store all tooling in oiled plastic containers and leave a film of oil on all machined surfaces on my machines and then nothing rusts. Trying my luck fishing.
Bob
Anorak Bob 6th May 2013, 11:26 AM Bob,
"Mine is Swiss and in a wooden box "
It looks like we both have similar verniers.Mine developed some corrosion on the jaws where they rest on the felt lined ledge in the box, it looked and felt like the felt
was compressed and had gone hard and dry. I always used to wipe them dry with a clean cloth after use,since finding this problem I apply a thin film of oil to them and added a sheet of the anti corrosion paper.
Your collet storage is very similar to mine it ensures clean rust free collets.
Bob
Hey Bob,
You got the deluxe box, mine is the austere unlined version. I annoint all gear with either 3 in 1 oil , Hoppe's Gun Grease or whatever's soaked into my current piece of Costco (courtesy GQ) blue towel. Etalon made their verniers from stainless. Sadly even Swiss stainless can rust.
I looked at another Etalon vernier recently on Ebay and saw those same two holes in the rear of the slide. I thought some Philistine had been at work with his drill press. What do you reckon they are for?
I live a couple of hundred metres from the Swan. Where I am there's more chance of catching malaria than a fish.
Bob.
Pete F 6th May 2013, 12:02 PM Come on Pete - every one knows that baptismal fonts use 18DP change gears and those are 32DP! :no:
Michael
Oh good grief! I'm so sorry I completely missed that! Me being the heathen that I am, worshipping the God of Module!
Greg let's face it, I think the only hope you have is to set up an impact rotor type sprinkler system spraying pure anti-corrosion oil over the workshop, as you time your machining operations between sequential sweeps of the sprinkler blasts!
Dave J 6th May 2013, 01:21 PM Greg,
I live right on the water's edge, my backyard is the Richmond River at Ballina. I have found it best to wrap/store all tooling in oiled plastic containers and leave a film of oil on all machined surfaces on my machines and then nothing rusts. Trying my luck fishing.
Bob
Is the ladder to get the big ones up :D
Nice spot you have there.
Dave
PDW 6th May 2013, 03:35 PM Greg,
I live right on the water's edge, my backyard is the Richmond River at Ballina. I have found it best to wrap/store all tooling in oiled plastic containers and leave a film of oil on all machined surfaces on my machines and then nothing rusts. Trying my luck fishing.
Bob
I live on the water's edge in Tasmania and nothing rusts. Prevailing winds are SW through to NW and go over the top of my place. Steel ground back to bare shiny metal is still shiny 2 years later.
Coming from Sydney where *everything* used to rust all the time, I love it.
As for storage, I work on the coefficient of friction vs gravity storage principle.
PDW
TKO 6th May 2013, 05:43 PM I just cut some poly pipe to size,and glued them in the box and they seem to be the answer, if you dont want to make some thing elaborate when the lid is closed, they are safe from dirt and the dreaded rust,cheap and easy.
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff365/aussieddie/001-1.jpg
Eddie
krisfarm 6th May 2013, 09:56 PM Bob,
I have no idea what the two holes are for, does your collection of catalogues give any clues? I have two other Starrett verniers a 12" and 14" and they do not have holes.
Dave,
The ladder is for easy entry into my fishing boat -tinnie which is just out of shot to the right in that photo on a ramp. I made the ladder so that I could just slot it into position along the front of the deck and can remove it when not in use as the river gets lots of trees etc in it after a good lot of rain. It is a great spot when the weather is good so far this year that has not been too often.
TKO,
That is a neat idea for your storage, nice and easy to get at and dust swarf proof. If you were to add a small container with an oil soaked cloth in it the fumes from it with the lid closed would ensure that the collett's stay rust free.
Bob
Anorak Bob 7th May 2013, 08:49 AM Bob,
I have no idea what the two holes are for, does your collection of catalogues give any clues? I have two other Starrett verniers a 12" and 14" and they do not have holes.
Bob
Hello Bob,
I had a look in the '56 Etalon catalogue and whilst there are no illustrations of the rear of the verniers there is also no comment about additional holes. I checked my watched and ended items and the current Ebay listings but couldn't find the other perforated vernier.
Bob.
krisfarm 7th May 2013, 04:48 PM Hi Bob,
The only thing I could think it could be and it is a bit of a long shot is to be able to readily identify if the verniers are imperial or metric. I think mine are imperial as you have to add .300" on when taking internal measurements or add 7.62mm. I would think metric sets would have a whole number sized metric jaws to save the matermatical gymnastics .What do you think and are yours metric?
Bob
Michael G 7th May 2013, 06:41 PM With regard to the holes in the back of the calipers, I'm wondering whether they could be tooling holes. For those unfamilar with this term, tooling holes are put in (mass produced) metal parts so that they can be located in jigs & fixtures easily for subsequent operations. In this case, a couple of dowels on a jig and a swing clamp and the part should locate very accurately so that (for example) measuring marks can be scribed on or perhaps so the jaw can be ground accurately.
Far more common for sheet metal parts (cars and white goods) but I can see that if you were making 1000's of calipers it may be something to consider.
Michael
krisfarm 7th May 2013, 09:57 PM Michael G,
The search for the unexplained holes- continues.
If the holes are tooling holes-they maybe, but why are they only in some sets and not all. BT Bob has seen other sets of the same makers vernier including his own that do not have the holes.
Bob
Anorak Bob 7th May 2013, 11:27 PM Michael G,
The search for the unexplained holes- continues.
If the holes are tooling holes-they maybe, but why are they only in some sets and not all. BT Bob has seen other sets of the same makers vernier including his own that do not have the holes.
Bob
I had forgotten about the holes in this Roch :doh: Even more puzzlement.
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/unusually-configured-vernier-138040/#post1345563
Bob.
MikeThePom 4th April 2015, 11:47 PM Dear all,
I thought I would share this axa toolholder rack I completed today:
It was made from some 9.4mm diameter bright steel bar recently repurposed from a canon printer, some 4mm stainless bar (rod), and one of the last pieces of reject flooring from Studley all those years ago.
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The first step was to make a jig using 30mm hex stock (so that it can be held in the drill press vice) to ensure that the 4.5mm cross holes are all 6mm from the end. The rod was pushed to the end and then drilled using the drill press. The lathe was used to cut the standoff to 32mm using another jig; the jig was cut and faced to be 32mm long and the rod was pushed to the end of the jig and a plastic gear (that was originally a tight fit on the rod in the printer) pushed up to the end of the jig. The standoff was put into an ER32 10mm collet so that the plastic gear butted up to the 2mm cutoff tool and then parted.
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The second spacer cut to 16mm together with a 2mm washer (as I forgot to add the 2mm width of the cutoff tool) was used to set the plastic gear against the cutoff tool again and the diameter was reduced to 5.5mm to act as thread relief. The bottom section of the standoff was now turned to 6mm and threaded using a tailstock threading attachment. The standoffs at either end were drilled and had a 3mm grub screw to lock the stainless rod in place.
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The floorboard was resawn to 12mm using the bandsaw and then planned and sanded before finishing with 2 coats of a poly/tung oil blend.
Apologies for the c#*p photographs (the light was not good in the shed as it was late in the day) and the general mess in the shed (I tell people that I have been burgled!).
Regards
Mike
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