I'm looking to purchase a collet chuck set and have read reviews on Woodcraft for the wood river model as well as the set offered by PSI. I saw the set at Craft USA but they don't give the sizes of collets supplied with the Beall Collet system. What collet chucks do you use and are you happy with the tool? Pros & Cons would be helpful. Thanks!

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

Mike,

I don't have a set but here is a link to making your own.

http://www.davidreedsmith.com/articles/allwoodcolletchuck/allwoodcolletchuck.htm

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

Thanks for the link Lewis I'll check it out.

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

I have the Craft Supply set and the Wood River set.  There are a couple problems with the Wood River set.  First and foremost it does not accept ER32 collets.  ER32 is one of the industry standards and additional collets can be found everywhere.  The collets with the Wood River are not standard and are almost impossible to find.  The Wood River uses a Morse taper to mount to the lathe.  It requires a draw bar to safely use.  Because of the Morse taper, It limits how far you can insert your work piece int to the collet.  It also only goes to 5/8".  If you are using 3/4" round pen blanks you are out of luck.

I bought the Craft Supply because of the issues I had with the Wood River.  It is very similar to the PSI set.  It comes with ER32 collets. It attaches to the head stock with 1-1/4 threads.  It comes with a 1" insert that allows me to use it on my midi lathe also.  The PSI set is tapped for 1" and and comes with a 3/4" insert.  If you are using it on a larger lathe it might not fit. 

From the reviews I have read, The Beall system is the best for wood turners.  However, the price had me looking elsewhere.  I just wish I had bought the Craft Supply/ PSI first.  I could have bought the Beall for the price I paid for both.

Here is the Craft Supply set.

I don't have either and am interested in knowing a bit more about them. Greg what do you use them for most and what are the advantages and disadvantage of the collets?

Thanks for you review of these two.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

Thanks Greg for the information. It's most helpful. In my search for reviews I've found the Wood river version is the least desirable due to the morse taper which cuts down it's capacity in length and the fact that it does not use ER32 collets which limits the versatility of the chuck. As far as the PSI and Apprentice collet chuck from CUSA have a knurled knob that can be an issue if you get in close to your work as I do sometimes, while allowing you to hand tighten, it can cause scraped knuckles. The other thing I'm finding out is the differences between the PSI / CUSA  systems Vs the Beall system is the run out. From what I've found is (when I can find reviewers that have used all three) is the Beall is the most accurate of which I would expect given the cost although not always the case but it appears the Beall does deliver. With all that said if your lathe isn't accurate for runout or your tailstock and headstock aren't accurate then this becomes a moot point. 

As far as cost the Beall is a bit expensive, but if I go that way I plan on getting just the Beall chuck with no collets and purchase the metric collets on line and that will give me a more complete system.

This purchase will be down the road but just trying to get my research done so I'm not rushed into buying something I'll regret later. My main purpose is for kit-less pen turning and an added benefit is closed end pens. Also I'll be able to take advantage of round pen blanks and be able to drill on my lathe more accurately which is one cause for less than perfect pens when mating pen barrels to kit components especially when your selling pens for high dollar.

Thanks again Greg for the valuable info!

Greg Coleman said:

I have the Craft Supply set and the Wood River set.  There are a couple problems with the Wood River set.  First and foremost it does not accept ER32 collets.  ER32 is one of the industry standards and additional collets can be found everywhere.  The collets with the Wood River are not standard and are almost impossible to find.  The Wood River uses a Morse taper to mount to the lathe.  It requires a draw bar to safely use.  Because of the Morse taper, It limits how far you can insert your work piece int to the collet.  It also only goes to 5/8".  If you are using 3/4" round pen blanks you are out of luck.

I bought the Craft Supply because of the issues I had with the Wood River.  It is very similar to the PSI set.  It comes with ER32 collets. It attaches to the head stock with 1-1/4 threads.  It comes with a 1" insert that allows me to use it on my midi lathe also.  The PSI set is tapped for 1" and and comes with a 3/4" insert.  If you are using it on a larger lathe it might not fit. 

From the reviews I have read, The Beall system is the best for wood turners.  However, the price had me looking elsewhere.  I just wish I had bought the Craft Supply/ PSI first.  I could have bought the Beall for the price I paid for both.

Here is the Craft Supply set.

John,

I use the collets mostly for drilling pen blanks on the lathe.  I turn any square blanks to just a tad under 3/4" then mount them int the collet.  Tightening the collet holds the blank securely while I advance the tail stock to drill.  It makes it easy to get a dead center hole in a blank.  

I also use a collet to hold a home made pin chuck when turning duck calls.  The pin chuck is nothing more than 5/8" rod with a flat filed on it.  I use a finish nail as my pin.  I slide a bored out blank on the chuck and give it a slight twist.  The pin locks the blank on to the chuck.  I can slide the blank off the end slightly to finish the ends. 

I even used a collet chuck today to hold my pen mandrel  I mostly turn between center now, but I still turn a few kits that I don't have TBC bushings for. 

Mike,

It never crossed my mind that I might scrap my knuckles on the knurled nut on the Apprentice chuck.  You just wait, I'll have a duct tape and paper towel bandage shortly. lol.  It really hasn't been a problem for me.  Granted I have not attempted a kitless or closed end pen yet.

From what I have read the metric ER32 set and the Beall holder is the most versatile.  Mine are all standard, and a limited number at that.  If you intend to do kitless you will need that versatility.  For closed end you might get by with a ER32 holder and a few select inserts.  There was a guy on ebay that got pretty good reviews from the IAP site for his collet insert sets.  800watt comes to mind.  I did here he was still on ebay but had changed his name.  If you search on IAP I am pretty sure you can identify him. 

Mike Dillen said:

Thanks Greg for the information. It's most helpful. In my search for reviews I've found the Wood river version is the least desirable due to the morse taper which cuts down it's capacity in length and the fact that it does not use ER32 collets which limits the versatility of the chuck. As far as the PSI and Apprentice collet chuck from CUSA have a knurled knob that can be an issue if you get in close to your work as I do sometimes, while allowing you to hand tighten, it can cause scraped knuckles. The other thing I'm finding out is the differences between the PSI / CUSA  systems Vs the Beall system is the run out. From what I've found is (when I can find reviewers that have used all three) is the Beall is the most accurate of which I would expect given the cost although not always the case but it appears the Beall does deliver. With all that said if your lathe isn't accurate for runout or your tailstock and headstock aren't accurate then this becomes a moot point. 

As far as cost the Beall is a bit expensive, but if I go that way I plan on getting just the Beall chuck with no collets and purchase the metric collets on line and that will give me a more complete system.

This purchase will be down the road but just trying to get my research done so I'm not rushed into buying something I'll regret later. My main purpose is for kit-less pen turning and an added benefit is closed end pens. Also I'll be able to take advantage of round pen blanks and be able to drill on my lathe more accurately which is one cause for less than perfect pens when mating pen barrels to kit components especially when your selling pens for high dollar.

Thanks again Greg for the valuable info!

Greg Coleman said:

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

Thanks Greg. I got to look into that more. Thanks Mike for the question that started the thread.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

Any thing to help the cause and stimulate some discussion around here. I have some pen sales coming up soon and several days of overtime so hopefully around the first of the year I'll be getting the Beall chuck and the ER32 metric collets.

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops