ER11 chuck and collet rack

[Canobi]

Hey guys n gals


Thought I'd share a mini build project I did this weekend, which was all done free hand using a cordless drill, hacksaw and a pair of cailpers.

A very nice friend of mine comes round with random bits of metal to see if I want any of it from time to time. His last visit yielded a nice piece of aluminium profile edging of some kind, which I knew would come in handy at some point.


As it happened, I'd been given an ER11 chuck and full set of collets for my birthday this year but had only started using it just recently, so thought I'd cut a length of the edging to make this little rack for them.


It was pretty straightforward, I simply measured the widest point of the waist just below the recess in the collet for the snap ring and subtracted 1mm. I wanted them to stick up a bit as it will reduce the chances of them getting accidentally pushed down so much that they would "snap" into the holes in the rack and get stuck there.

I then marked a centre line and the first collet location along one of the side walls of the edging. To make sure there was a little room between each collet, I added 5mm to the original waist diameter I had measured earlier and used the total to set my distance for every subsequent location mark.

Once all the locations were laid out, I centre punched the marks and then drilled them out in incremental steps. It's a lot easier to bring them back in line if they decide to wander off mark on their way to the target diameter that way.

After they were all drill to size, I cleaned them up and repeated the process for the mounting holes and hung it up with the help of a level.

It wasn't until I was putting the collets on the rack that I realised I hadn't made enough holes, though I can't see needing the smallest ones very often anyway, the ones currently on the rack will get used much more often, so may just leave it at that.

Anyway, it was fun, quick and easy to make and I'm quite pleased with the results for a free hand project.

Until next time folks, stay well, stay safe and keep those chips flyin'