In article ,
Eric R Snow wrote:
On 8 Jul 2005 21:40:11 -0400, (DoN. Nichols)
wrote:

In article ,
Eric R Snow wrote:

[ ... ]

Thanks for the reply DoN. I know a guy with a Unimat. I used it and it
was pretty flexible. As to collets, the collets for my Levin are not
the same as the ones the Taig watchmakers spindle uses.

They should be -- WW series collets. I think that the Levin
ones may have slightly different thread form for the drawbar, but the
rest is the same. I've got some old Levin collets in addition to the
ones which I got for my Unimat SL-1000 watchmaker's spindle, and those
work well in the Taig watchmaker's spindle.

[ ... ]

It may also be that the watchmaker's collet spindle is no longer
offered.

We've now heard that they are still available.

The collets for the Levin are "D" collets. I'll look up the specs if I
can find them and see if they have the same taper. I don't think they
do though.

Oh -- those are 10mm collets, not the 8mm that the WW series
are. Levin also made 8mm (WW) collets as well, and that is what I
thought that we were talking about. The watchmaker's spindle for both
the Taig and for the Unimat SL-1000 are for the "WW" (8mm) collets.

The "D" collets only go up to 5/16" (8mm). Don't the WW
collets have a larger capacity?

Nope -- smaller. The WW collets (8mm OD) have only a 1/4"
capacity. The 'D' series collets ('D' for Derbyshire, I think) have an
OD of 10mm. I've got a set of those, too. I've been planning on making
a drawbar and closer for those for my Compact-5/CNC.

No chance of them working directly in the same spindle, though I
could imagine an adaptor to allow a "WW" (8mm) collet to be used in a
'D' (10mm) spindle. I just can't imagine why anyone would make one,
unless they could not get the 10mm collets at all.

Enjoy,
DoN.
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