Collet chuck

A collet /ˈkɒlɪt/ is a subtype of chuck that forms a collar around an object to be held and

exerts a strong clamping force on the object when it is tightened, usually by means of
a tapered outer collar. It may be used to hold a workpiece or a tool.
An external collet is a sleeve with a (normally) cylindrical inner surface and a conical outer
surface. The collet can be squeezed against a matching taper such that its inner surface contracts to
a slightly smaller diameter, squeezing the tool or workpiece to hold it securely. Most often this is
achieved with a spring collet, made of spring steel, with one or more kerf cuts along its length to
allow it to expand and contract. An alternative collet design is one that has several tapered steel
blocks (essentially tapered gauge blocks) held in circular position (like the points of a star, or indeed
the jaws of a jawed chuck) by a flexible binding medium (typically synthetic or naturalrubber).
Regardless of the collet design, the operating principle is the same: squeeze the collet against the
tool or workpiece to be held, resulting in high static frictionand accurate alignment.
An internal collet can be used to lock two telescoping tubes together. In this case the collet is
in the form of a truncated cone drilled and threaded down the centreline. The collet diameter
matches the bore of the inner tube, having the larger end slightly greater than the bore while the
smaller diameter is slightly less than the bore. A threaded stud, anchored at its other end to the tube,
is then used to pull the collet into the tube. The increasing diameter of the collet forces the inner tube
to expand and be pushed against the inner wall of the outer tube thus locking the two tubes together.
The inner tube is often slotted to facilitate this expansion.

Generally, a collet chuck, considered as a unit, consists of a tapered receiving sleeve

(sometimes integral with the machine spindle), the collet proper (usually made of spring steel) which
is inserted into the receiving sleeve, and (often) a cap that screws over the collet, clamping it via
another taper.
Usually in shop-floor terminology, the terms collet and chuck are used in contradistinction; users
speak of holding a workpiece or tool with either a collet or a chuck. In this context "chuck" means
any type of chuck other than a collet chuck (scroll chuck, independent-jaw chuck, etc.).

There are many types of collet used in the metalworking industry. Common industry-
standard designs are R8[1] (internally threaded for mills) and 5C[2] (usually externally threaded
for lathes). There are also proprietary designs which only fit one manufacturer's equipment. Collets
can range in holding capacity from zero to several inches in diameter. The most common type of
collet grips a round bar or tool, but there are collets for square, hexagonal, and other shapes. In
addition to the outside-holding collets, there are collets used for holding a part on its inside surface
so that it can be machined on the outside surface (similar to an expanding mandrel). Furthermore, it
is not uncommon for machinists to make a custom collet to hold any unusual size or shape of part.
These are often called emergency collets (e-collets) or soft collets(from the fact that they are
bought in a soft (unhardened) state and machined as needed). Yet another type of collet is a step
collet which steps up to a larger diameter from the spindle and allows holding of larger workpieces.
In use, the part to be held is inserted into the collet and then the collet is pressed (using a threaded
nose cap) or drawn (using a threaded drawbar) into the body which has a conjugate taper form. The
taper geometry serves to translate a portion of the axial drawing force into a radial clamping force.
When properly tightened, enough force is applied to securely clamp the workpiece or tool. The cap
or drawbar threads act as a screw lever, and this leverage is compounded by the taper, such that a
modest torque on the screw produces an enormous clamping force.
The precise, symmetric form and rigid material of the collet provide precise, repeatable radial
centering and axial concentricity. The basic mechanism fixes four of the six degrees of kinematic
freedom, two locations and two angles. Collets may also be fitted to precisely align parts in the axial
direction (a fifth degree of freedom) with an adjustable internal stop or by a shoulder stop machined
into the internal form. The remaining sixth degree of freedom, namely the rotation of the part in the
collet, may be fixed by using square, hexagonal, or other non-circular part geometry.
ER collets[edit]
The "ER" collet system, developed and patented by Rego-Fix in 1973, and standardized as DIN
6499, is the most widely used clamping system in the world and today available from many
producers worldwide.[3][4] The standard series are: ER-8, ER-11, ER-16, ER-20, ER-25, ER-32, ER-
40, and ER-50. The "ER" name came from an existing "E" collet (which were a letter series of
names) which Rego-Fix modified and appended "R" for "Rego-Fix". The series number is the
opening diameter of the tapered receptacle, in millimetres. ER collets collapse to hold parts up to
1mm smaller than the nominal collet internal size in most of the series (up to 2mm smaller in ER-50,
and 0.5mm in smaller sizes) and are available in 1mm or 0.5mm steps. Thus a given collet holds any
diameter ranging from its nominal size to its 1mm-smaller collapsed size, and a full set of ER collets
in nominal 1mm steps fits any possible cylindrical diameter within the capacity of the series. With an
ER fixture chuck, ER collets may also serve as workholding fixtures for small parts, in addition to
their usual application as toolholders with spindle chucks.[5] Although a metric standard, ER collets
with internal inch sizes are widely available for convenient use of imperial sized tooling. The spring
geometry of the ER collet is well-suited only to cylindrical parts, and not typically applied to square or
hexagonal forms like 5C collets.
Autolock collets[edit]
"Autolock" collet chucks (Osbourn "Pozi-Lock" is a similar system) were designed to provide secure
clamping of milling cutters with only hand tightening. They were developed in the 1940s by a now
defunct UK company, Clarkson (Engineers) Limited, and are commonly known as Clarkson chucks.
Autolock collets require cutters with threaded shank ends to screw into the collet itself. Any rotation
of the cutter forces the collet against the collet cap taper which tightly clamps the cutter, the screw
fitting also prevents any tendency of the cutter to pull out. Collets are only available in fixed sizes,
imperial or metric, and the cutter shank must be an exact match. [6]
The tightening sequence of Autolock collets is widely misunderstood. The chuck cap itself does not
tighten the collet at all, with the cap tight and no tool inserted the collet is loose in the chuck. Only
when a cutter is inserted will the collet be pressed against the cap taper. The back of the cutter
engages with a centering pin and further turning drives the collet against the chuck cap, tightening
around the cutter shank, hence "Autolock".
The correct installation sequence as per the original specification is:

1. Insert the collet and hand tighten the chuck cap (collet free to float)
2. Insert the tool and hand tighten (tool engaged with rear pin and collet engaging cap taper)
As the tool is used further rotation tightens the collet and the centering pin ensures that tool
extension and alignment remain unchanged. A spanner is only required to release the locked collet. [7]
While threaded shank "Autolock" tools may be gripped by plain collets, such as ER, plain shank
tools should never be used in an "Autolock" collet as they will not be properly clamped or aligned.
R8 collets[edit]
R8 collets were developed by Bridgeport Machines, Inc. for use in milling machines. Unusually, R8
collets fit into the machine taper itself (i.e. there is no separate chuck) and tools with integral R8
taper can also be directly fitted. R8 was developed to allow rapid tool changes and requires an exact
match between collet and tool shank diameter.
R8 collets have a keyway to prevent rotation when fitting or removing, but it is the compressed taper
and not the keyway that provides the driving force. Collets are compressed by a drawbar from
behind, they are self releasing and tool changes can be automated.
5C collets[edit]
Unlike most other machine collet systems, 5C collets were developed primarily for work holding.
Superficially similar to R8 collets, 5C collets have an external thread at the rear for drawing the collet
closed and so work pieces may pass right through the collet and chuck (5C collets often also have
an internal thread for workpiece locating). Collets are also available to hold square and hex stock.
5C collets have a limited closing range, and so shank and collet diameters must be a close match. A
number of other C-series collets (1C, 3C, 4C, 5C, 16C, 20C & 25C) with different holding ranges
also exist.
A collet system with capabilities similar to the 5C (originally a proprietary system of Hardinge) is the
2J (originally a proprietary system of Sjogren, a competitor of Hardinge, and which Hardinge later
assimilated).
355E Collets[edit]
The SO Deckel tool grinders use these. Sometimes called U2 collets.
DIN 6343 dead length collets[edit]
These collets are common especially on production machines, particularly European lathes with
lever or automated closers. Unlike draw-in collets, they do not pull back to close, but are generally
pushed forward, with the face remaining in place.
Multi-size collets[edit]
Collets allowing a wider range of workholding by means of springs or elastic spacers between jaws;
such collets were developed by Jacobs (Rubberflex), Crawford (Multibore), and Pratt Burnerd, and
are in some cases compatible with certain spring collet chucks.
Morse taper collets[edit]
Although Morse tapers are intended to hold tools or tool holders (chucks & arbors), collets are also
available. These can be used to hold tools with better accuracy (less run-out) than a chuck.

Craft hobbies[edit]
Many users (hobbyists, graphic artists, architects, students, and others) may be familiar with collets
as the part of an X-Acto or equivalent knife that holds the blade. Another common example is the
collet that holds the bits of a Dremel or equivalent rotary file.

Semiconductor work[edit]
In semiconductor industry, a die collet is used for picking a die up from a wafer after die cutting
process has finished, and bonding it into a package. Some of them are made with rubber, and use
vacuum for picking.
Internal combustion engines[edit]

Valve, spring, retainer and split collet

Most internal combustion engines use a split collet to hold both the inlet and exhaust valves under
constant valve spring pressure which returns the valves to their closed position when the camshaft
lobes are not in contact with the top of the valves. The two collet halves have an internal raised rib
which locate into a circular groove near the top of each valve stem, the outer side of the collet halves
are a taper fit into the spring retainer (also known as a collar), this taper locks the retainer in place
and the raised rib that sits in the circular groove on the valve stem also locks the collet halves in
place to the valve stem. To remove the valves from a cylinder head a 'valve spring compressor' is
used to compress the valve springs by exerting force on the spring retainer which allows the collets
to be removed, when the compressor is removed, the retainer, spring and valve can then be
removed from the cylinder head. It may be realized that the retainer does not budge when the valve
spring compressor is used, this is due to a buildup of carbon which over time has locked the retainer
and collets slightly. A slight sharp tap on the backside of the valve spring compressor above the
valve stem should free the retainer allowing the springs to be compressed whilst retrieving the split
collet. On reassembly it is difficult to keep the split collets in place whilst the compressor is released,
by applying a small amount of grease to the internal side of the split collets will keep them in place
on the valve stem whilst releasing the compressor, then as the spring retainer rises it locks the
tapered split collets in place.