On Sep 25, 12:42*am, Jon Anderson wrote:
roninchuck wrote:

I've never found significant runout in a Chinese collet but
have heard of it. What I have found are collets that are
sprung small so that it's difficult to get say, .500
material in a 1/2" collet. If you have time, collect your
collets on ebay. I've got nearly a full set now, at less
than 1/4 the price of new, shipping included.

For occasional hobby use though, chinese collets will
probably suffice.

Jon

My collets are a mix of new Enco and used ones of uncertain ancestry.
None of them run true to 0.0001" and IIRC a few show some noticeable
wobble, the hole is slightly angled. The worst one is a Hardinge with
about 0.002" of wear but since it springs open it's good for heavily
anodized aluminum rod from the hardware store that's rarely to size.

For non-commercial hobby work I suggest buying good ones for the sizes
of ground drill rod you use and accumulate others as needed.

You can wedge those tight collets open with three small screwdrivers.