My 18" Whacheon lathe has my standby 8" 6 jaw Buck chuck. But, it will only hold down to about 3/16" diameter.
For time when I want to hold small items, I have chucked up an ER 16 holder and it works OK. But, it only works for relatively short pieces.
For example, I need to thread an 8" long piece of 304SS that is .093 diameter. Way too long to hold in the ER 16.
So....it looks like 5C collets will hold small stuff (down to 3/64") and have an open back so there is no length limit.
I see on Ebay a bunch of (Chinese?) cheaper chucks with a 5C / D1-6 back.
Is the 5C what I should buy or is there some better choice for small diameters?
For time when I want to hold small items, I have chucked up an ER 16 holder and it works OK. But, it only works for relatively short pieces.
For example, I need to thread an 8" long piece of 304SS that is .093 diameter. Way too long to hold in the ER 16.
So....it looks like 5C collets will hold small stuff (down to 3/64") and have an open back so there is no length limit.
I see on Ebay a bunch of (Chinese?) cheaper chucks with a 5C / D1-6 back.
Is the 5C what I should buy or is there some better choice for small diameters?