"Bill Schwab" wrote in message
ink.net...
snip-----

Is
there anything stopping me from holding drill bits (that fit) in collets
vs. a chuck? If not, I might be able to buy a few collets of interest,
say to hold bits associated with few hole sizes I care to tap (again,
it's good to be the guy making the printg) and buy some time for my
wallet to heal before thinking about the collet chuck set.

Thanks again. You guys are great!

Bill

Nothing prevents holding drills in a collet, but drill shanks tend to be
undersized by a thou or two (by design---twist drills are not straight, they
taper towards the shank so they don't bind in the hole) and you'd be
seriously restricted as to the number of drills you could hold because of
the limited sizes available in R8 collets, which I assume you have.
Collets shouldn't be used much beyond a thou or two past nominal for
starters, and many of the tap drill sizes are not fractional----so you'd
find not many of the sizes you'd desire can be so held. The other problem,
albeit it a minor one, is that drill shanks are often quite badly badgered
from slipping---which could complicate getting them in a collet. I
highly recommend a good hand tightening drill chuck (something like an
Albrecht), half inch capacity. They're fast and precise. If you think
you'd want to change drills on the fly, you could even entertain buying a
Wahlstrom. Big bucks, and sort of dangerous in the half inch size, though.
The 3/8" capacity Wahlstrom is a sweet dream.

Harold