Identifying collets

[daxliniere]

Hey gang,
So, I picked up a very old metal lathe. No idea who made it, as it has no badges or plates, but though it's simple, it's really nicely built. The cast iron base weighs a tonne.

My first question relates to the one million collets I got with the lathe for the tailstock. Doing some googling, they seem to be W-type/Schaublin collets, but I can't be sure. Nor can I find an MT2 chuck for them (as I would like to be able to use them with my Meddings MT4 pillar drill.

Just ordered some Evaporust to clean them up, as it seems like the best option to avoid removing any of the steel and degrading the surface even more.

 

[Johnnybravo]

Chuck them in diesel for a couple of weeks,that rust will fall right off.
They look a bit like the Hardinge collets used on the early Alexander toolcutter grinder

 

[frank horton]

the only time I ever use collets in the tail stock is to hold stuff like taps........
now collets in the headstock chuck is a whole dif ball game.....
But I use the er collet system, it's bit/lot more useful...
personally I'd move em on and get the er collet n chuck set...
plenty on the web from China more than good enough
or buy from a UK stockist just in case it's a bad one...but never seen it....
the er chucks have many dif fittings,
they can go direct into ur headstock chuck, face plate mounted, etc
or if u have a taper fitted h/s chuck it can go straight into the main shaft...

lastley, a, I had a ton of those collets when I cleared out some tooling, I just gave em away....
'' '' b, It's the lathe tools that cost the money, often cost more than the lathe itself....
good luck...

 

[Brad93]

is the thread a buttress thread?
Have to collets for a slot down their length?

That's the sort the Alexander and Deckel collets use.

To be honest they look too long.

 

[Pete.]

Those collets are the exact same length as the ones that fit my milling machine. Look about the same diameter too. Are they 23mm shank?

 

[JMS1972]

Hey gang,
So, I picked up a very old metal lathe. No idea who made it, as it has no badges or plates, but though it's simple, it's really nicely built. The cast iron base weighs a tonne.

My first question relates to the one million collets I got with the lathe for the tailstock. Doing some googling, they seem to be W-type/Schaublin collets, but I can't be sure. Nor can I find an MT2 chuck for them (as I would like to be able to use them with my Meddings MT4 pillar drill.

Just ordered some Evaporust to clean them up, as it seems like the best option to avoid removing any of the steel and degrading the surface even more.

View attachment 349542 View attachment 349560 View attachment 349561 View attachment 349562

That looks very similar to a Lorch lathe I used to own. The collets are pretty rare so lucky to get a load of them.

Lorch lathes

German-manufactured Lorch precision lathes. Plain-turning, micro precision, backgeared and screwcutting<br>High-quality german machine tools

www.lathes.co.uk

 

[Pete.]

BTW you have some morse taper stuff there, it's those that should fit the tailstock not the collets. They might fit the headstock though.

 

[Pete.]

That looks very similar to a Lorch lathe I used to own. The collets are pretty rare so lucky to get a load of them.

Sizes here:

Lorch Collets

German-manufactured Lorch precision lathes. Plain-turning, micro precision, backgeared and screwcutting<br>High-quality german machine tools

www.lathes.co.uk

 

[Agroshield]

Have to collets for a slot down their length?

There are 34 collets in the lower photo. None of them show any signs of a keyway.

That might be a good pointer to identify them as well as the generous length you pointed out.

 

[daxliniere]

None of them show any signs of a keyway.

I'd have to check the rest of them, but I know that the dead centre has a small keyway.

 

[daxliniere]

That looks very similar to a Lorch lathe I used to own.

Lorch lathes

German-manufactured Lorch precision lathes. Plain-turning, micro precision, backgeared and screwcutting<br>High-quality german machine tools

www.lathes.co.uk

Wow, okay. So in that case it looks like I actually got really lucky with this lathe! Thanks JMS!

I assumed (clearly incorrectly) that because of the rudimentary nature of the lathe that it was just a hobbyist piece, not a German-made precision lathe.

Frank and Pete, yes, that makes more sense that the collets go into the headstock. Though I've used a lathe plenty of times, I will freely admit that I am at the very beginning of 'my lathe journey' and this is the first I've ever owned.
Speaking of such, I wonder if there's anyone in proximity to north London (Tottenham) who I might bribe with beers or CNC favours with experience 'tuning' lathe on first installation? I'm sure I won't have it cleaned and oiled for a couple weeks.

 

[daxliniere]

If anyone has any lingering interest in this lathe, I've started a rebuild thread here:

REBUILD: Lorch plain-turning lathe

Hey everyone! Thanks to the kind members of this forum, my new lathe and its collets have been identified, so a new thread for the rebuild is in order. The entire process has been lots of fun, from restoring the original wooden doors to stripping and reassembling the crossslides. First thing's...

www.mig-welding.co.uk