OK, ended up learning more about this stuff than I ever expected…
Just bought the ER-16 1.2KW VFD (110volt, air-coold). Nice.
It comes with 3 collets, but only 1 collet nut. I like having my ER collets in nuts, even though I do check/clean them frequently it’s still more convenient. However, the setup Carbide 3D has appears to be the most non-standard, or at least the least typical.
There are two variables one needs to deal with, besides the ER-16 designation, for collet nuts. For collets, just ER-16 is good enough, but for the collet nuts you need:
The spindle thread. The C3D VFD uses M19 threads (1.0 pitch). More typical is M22 threads (1.5 pitch).
The nut type. There are ER-16A and ER-16M nuts. The ER-16A nut (singular) shipped with the C3D spindle is a hexagonal nut that takes a 22mm wrench. The ER-16M nut is circular, with notches for a special collet wrench.
Unfortunately, it appears the standard for ER-16A nuts is the M22 thread while the ER-16M nuts are split between M22 and M19 threads. In essence, the least common nut is the one shipped by C3D: ER-16A with M19 threads.
I have found a couple available - but they appear to be from low-quality companies and the nuts don’t appear to be dynamically balanced (you can usually tell since those nuts have holes drilled in the side for balancing). The C3D nut is balanced, but C3D doesn’t sell the nuts separately.
Anyone have a source for quality ER-16A M19 collet nuts? Otherwise, I’ll buy some additional collets+nuts from C3D and stock pile the collets for when mine eventually wear.
I’ve used that one before, it’s a good piece of kit.
Just be aware that the full crown style of nut/wrench can be annoying when you’re trying to use a large surfacing bit like the McFly. You get interference between the bottom of the wrench and top of your cutter.
Might want to pick up one of the less convenient spanner type wrenches as well if you do much surfacing.
Usual preface, I’m with PreciseBits so while I try to only post general information take everything I say with the understanding that I have a bias.
Don’t know if this will even help honestly. But in the hopes that it does…
So… ER collets were originally designed by Regofix. It’s actually what the “R” in “ER” stands for. The original design was for a hex headed nut that had the part numbers end in “UM” and the “standard thread”. After that mostly for things like toolholders a new type of nut was made with a finer thread. They are called “Mini” nuts. The mini’s used what is called a slotted or castle style nut.
From what I’ve been able to piece together, other manufacturer’s later came out with the “A” designation that meant the original coarser thread and a hex. They then use the “M” for the mini. That turned into what was probably 90% of the nut designations (e.g. ER16A, ER16M).
I should also note that for some there’s also an “E/slotted” type that is the standard thread with slots. Along with this there are specialty types for VERY high balancing or bearing nuts. In fact as far as I’m aware Regofix doesn’t even make anything with a hex style anymore.
Much more recently there have been these hybrid versions using a mini thread with a hex head. It greatly confuses the market in my opinion.
I haven’t been able to find any quality supplier for the “hybrid” nuts. In my personal opinion it would be better just to switch all of them out to the minis if you have the mini thread.
Regardless, one important thing to take away from this is that ANY nut that is using the mini spec’ed thread has a MUCH lower max torque rating before you start to damage things (bore size dependent). e.g. for a ER16, 1/4" bore, MAX torque:
Everything I’ve used from precise bits has been top notch. I’m biased but only based on the years of experience I’ve got from using their products and the wealth of knowledge they share. (Appreciate you @TDA)
That said, I’ve only used their ER11 products so I can’t speak to their ER16 products from personal experience. I’ve got no reason to believe they wouldn’t be as good as the rest of their products though
And to prove that I’m not just a shill, here is a selection of tooling I could quickly photograph without much trouble. All purchased at retail, no kickbacks or special deals.
(Disclaimer: I did inquire about their awesome bamboo q-tips on my last order…so they threw in a pack of 100 q-tips free of charge. That’s the only handout I’ve gotten though )
Highly recommend them for anything you might need and feel free to shoot them an email if you aren’t sure about something. They’re usually pretty reasonable with response times.
PreciseBits only carries the ER-16M (castle/slotted) nut, not the hexagonal nut. I don’t want to keep two different kinds of collet wrenches around, so I would have to transition completely over to this style and buy the special collet nut wrench.
Good info on precise Bits, long story short if I start having issues with the ER11 nuts I get from MariTool I will go Precise bits to continue to use the spindle I currently have. I bought several nuts so I have one for each size collet.
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I will have to see when it gets here.