ER20 Spindles need to know if theres any interest ...

[ktjwilliams]

Need to know if there is any interest ... A friend of mine is retiring, he owns and operates a NHRA racing shop. He is selling the contents of the shop.. So I asked if he had any ER20 collet holders in the sizes I used in the past to convert for the CW machine.. He has 10-15 and offered them to me for $ 30 each if I take em all .. So I thought I would get some if folks were interested and machine em on my metal lathe.. To make things easy for folks I would use his press and press on the big bottom bearing so you won't have to do that task and swapping spindles would be easy... Also I would have to purchase the wrenches for the Mini Nut to include with the spindles... The ER20 can handle bits from 1/16 upto 1/2 inch. Me, I just purchased 1/4, 3/16 and 1/2 collets.. I got my collets from SHARS.COM but cheaper ones are available on EBAY.. Never used the cheaper ebay ones so can't say how they function.. The shars ones are American and only run bout $6 last I bought em ... I figure by the time I do to machining, get the bearings and wrenches... The selling price would be in the $ 75 range... Just post here if interested so I can see how much interest there might be.. Cause like I said, I would have to buy em all and don't want couple hundred dollars of spindles sitting in my shop ...

[ktjwilliams]

For those who don't know what I'm talking bout ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3KgI...-rw4BOaXd1aZMg

[lawrence]

just making sure I understand things... is this is a chuck replacement similar to the carvetight/rock? If so, it seems to be a cheaper price than either of those and several folks may be interested.

Lawrence

[ktjwilliams]

Hey Lawrence,, It's a spindle replacement... and you would just need to reuse your top bearing, so if you choose to swap out back and forth it's simple... But I never had a need to put back any of my other three spindles.. The ER20 can handle any sized bit from 1/16 to 1/2 shaft.. Added bonus of the ER is I can run projects on the best setting instead of Optimal and get very similar results with a big time saving...

[skeeterman]

My question is will it work for version c machine. I have version c with a rock chuck and the 1/8th cutoff bit has to be at a set length to us or get z axis stall ( very little leeway) and i canot use my 3/16 carving bit at all because of how long it is in the rock. have no prob with rock im my 2 A machines
steve

[bergerud]

The CT is only 1 inch long. That is, the bottom of the chuck is 1 inch below the bearing. This is almost 1/2" higher that the QC, Rock, and the ERs Kevin and I have been making. Any longer chuck, I presume, would have the same problem as the Rock does on the C machines if you use the CW bits with the CT adapters. With the ERs, however, you do not need the CT adapters and so can make the bits any length you want.

I have been looking into whether I could make an ER20M with the same "geometry" as the CT. I am really sold on the ER11M adapter idea and want to hold them with an ER20M. (It will not be easy. The ER20 collets themselves are over an inch long.)

[ktjwilliams]

What I did is put some shrink tubing on the shanks of my bits at the point I need them to be.. This keeps each bit at the exact same height every time I use it.. Also makes it easy when doin multi bit projects, the bits get set the exact same way for carving as they were for homing ...

[skeeterman]

I just hate that my c machine has limitations unlike my a machines, my 3/16 carving bit is in a pressed on sleeve so you are saying i can press 3/16 out of sleeve and use it with the ER spindle and i can adjust it to work with my c machine
steve

[bergerud]

I just hate that my c machine has limitations unlike my a machines, my 3/16 carving bit is in a pressed on sleeve so you are saying i can press 3/16 out of sleeve and use it with the ER spindle and i can adjust it to work with my c machine
steve

Yes, that is true. Without the pressed on adapter, you can adjust the bit to any length you wish.

Why do you not use a 3/16 or 1/4 shank 3/16 ball nose bit with a Rock sleeve?

[skeeterman]

With the c version the 3/16 bit sticks down to low with the pressed on sleeve