Tag Archives: collet

Chucks

Collet Chuck Revisited

I find collet chucks convenient for holding small work. For bottle stoppers, bird calls, etc.


The screw on Apprentice and Beall Collet Chucks are getting pretty pricey. I recently found a cheaper alternative in the metal working world. You can purchase a “Straight Shank ER32 Collet Holder” for around $25 on Amazon. If you already have a set of ER32 collets. Then you are ready to go. Otherwise you also need to purchase a basic set of ER32 collets for around $30 on Amazon. All prices on 5/6/2020.
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Chucks, Great Ideas, Tools

Shopmade Collet Chuck

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Here is a pointer to my “Shopmade Collet Chuck” article that appeared on page 18 of the AAW August 2018 “American Woodturner” Journal.

Recently, I needed some extra collet chucks to turn bottle stoppers at a Nutmeg Woodturners’ Learn-and-Turn meeting. I own only two of the commercially available collet chucks and quickly decided that purchasing more was out of the question due to cost. Plus, I don’t like turning something like a bottle stopper right up tight against the metal collets in a commercial collet chuck; visions of my turning tool running into that metal collet are not pleasant. I decided to make my own custom collet chucks out of ultra high molecular weight (UHMW) polyethylene plastic.

To read more see my “Shopmade Collet Chuck” magazine article on page 18 of “American Woodturner, The Journal of the American Association of Woodturners, August 2018, Vol. 33, No. 4”. Or Click Here (PDF)

Updated: 6/5/2020. Also check out my Collet Chuck Revisited blog entry and my Collet Chucks blog entry.

Chucks, Tools

Collet Chucks

Updated: 6/5/2020. All check out my “Collet Chuck Revisited” blog entry and my “Shopmade Collet Chuck” blog entry.

I find collet chucks convenient for holding small work.  

Collets typically come in standard dowel sizes 1/4″, 3/8″, 1/2″, 5/8″, or 3/4″.   So it is very easy to mount a chunk of dowel as a turning blank.  Or you can mount a turning blank between centers and turn a tenon.  I like to use 3/4″ diameter tenons when possible.

I own both the “Beall Collet Chuck” and the “Apprentice Collet Chuck”.   The Apprentice Collet Chuck is sold under a number of different names by different retailers.

Apprentice Collet Chuck

I really like the Apprentice Collet Chuck better than the Beall Collet Chuck.   Because the knurled rings on the Apprentice allow you to tighten and loosen it with out wrenches most of the time!

Avalilable from Craft Supplies USA, Penn State, Etc.

Beall Collet Chuck

The Beall Collet Chuck does not have any knurled rings.   The smooth body on the Beall chuck makes it difficult to hand tighten and almost impossible to loosen with out wrenches.   Using the wrenches on the Beall chuck is a pain!

The Apprentice chuck is cheaper and you can use wrenches on it if hand tighen/loosen is not adequate.

The Beall chuck is available from Packard, Craft Supplies USA, etc.

ER32 Collets

The Apprentice and Beall chucks use the same “standard” ER32 spring collets developed for the metal working industry.  If you need more sizes of collets you can easily find them on Ebay, Mcmaster, MSC, Enco, etc. 

There are lots of different ways to mount ER32 collets in metal lathes.   I recommend you avoid these solutions.   The Apprentice and Beall chucks are cheaper and easier.  Just screw them on.  No drawbar required, etc.