Tool TTS R8 Holders

[jcdammeyer]

I ordered this set of tool holders back on September 3rd.


Total price for me was about $90. The R8 Chuck is garbage with an unloaded ID of 0.7400". The holders require pressure to insert and leave marks on the TTS tool holders.

Compared to the one I bought many years ago from The Little Machine Shop which has an ID of 0.7505" (Marked 19.05mm) and the holders slip and can be removed easily. The one on the left in the photo is a standard R8 3/4" collet and measures unloaded at 0.7480". It's a bit tight but still way better than the one I received.

 

[kstrauss]

What runout (measured on the ER taper) are the actual TTS holders? I need another dozen or so TTS holders -- ideally ER11 or ER16.

 

[jcdammeyer]

What runout (measured on the ER taper) are the actual TTS holders? I need another dozen or so TTS holders -- ideally ER11 or ER16.

I'll see what I can set up to measure that. Might make couple of videos. I plan on using some 3mm cutters held in ER20 holders turning my max speed of 3000 RPM into aluminum. I can't afford too much runout.

Of course what an ER20 TTS does compared to an ER16 may not be comparable. I guess it depends on who in China makes them. Because I can now do power tapping and have collets that have the back end square to keep the tap from twisting I used up a bunch of my TTS holders for those. Hence buying 5 more. Getting the extra R8 was just (theoretically) a bonus.

Also none of these TTS holders have a bevel on the 3/4" end so that will have to be ground into each one since I suspect the material is hardened. WIthout the bevel a tool changer might have trouble inserting the TTS holder.

 

[kstrauss]

In my experience the Chinese TTS holders aren't particularly hard. Just chuck a long 3/8-inch dowel pin in your chuck, grip the end of the dowel pin in an ER20 collet held in the TTS holder and bevel with carbide lathe tool. It only takes a few seconds.

I like a bevel for my manual tool changer (me). Those TTS holders don't appear to have the ATC groove so working in an automatic tool changer is irrelevant.

I keep my often used drill bits in TTS holders. I have recently been doing some metric stuff so I need another selection of ready-to-use drills hence more holders. For drilling runout isn't a huge problem unlike your usage for small cutters.

BTW, who was your supplier?

 

[jcdammeyer]

In my experience the Chinese TTS holders aren't particularly hard. Just chuck a long 3/8-inch dowel pin in your chuck, grip the end of the dowel pin in an ER20 collet held in the TTS holder and bevel with carbide lathe tool. It only takes a few seconds.

I'll give that a try.

I like a bevel for my manual tool changer (me). Those TTS holders don't appear to have the ATC groove so working in an automatic tool changer is irrelevant.

Not if you are building an AR3 Robot Arm.

I keep my often used drill bits in TTS holders. I have recently been doing some metric stuff so I need another selection of ready-to-use drills hence more holders. For drilling runout isn't a huge problem unlike your usage for small cutters.

BTW, who was your supplier?

My first set were bought from Little Machine Ship and although have the wider flange but no tool changer slot. That's also where the 19.03mm (0.75") R8 collet came from.
Back in 2021 I ordered and received 6 from AliExpress COMES Discount store.
This summer I tried again for 6 more and they screwed up and delayed and delayed and I finally cancelled and received the refund.
So now again AliExpress but from Shop912627031 Store and only 5 plus the undersize R8 holder.

When buying all this I take into account that my House of Tools Mill (like the Grizzly G3616) isn't the highest quality or most accurate in the world. But then brand new I only paid about $3K for it when the closest Bridgeport clone was almost triple that.

It's also true that the machine is only as good as the weakest link. But in my case that's me.

 

[CWret]

Background- when i got my RF45 clone mill from Modern Tool it came with a set of R8 collets. They have served me well.

I’ve been wanting to also get a set of ER collets. About a month ago I got a set of ER40s (from Amazon and suppled by Inpanols) for less than $200 taxes in. (Equivalent from Accusize is $319 +taxman)
They looked pretty good but I measured the TIR at 0.001” which was a bit too far off of their advertised TIR of less than 0.0004. So i took advantage of Amazon’s free return system and sent them back.
I then reconsider which ER size was more appropriate for me. When holding the ER40’s in my hand I realized how big they are.
So i decided to get a set ER32s plus a 7/8” and 1” EM holder.
I bit the bullet and sprung for Accusize ER32s. When considering those EM holders, I couldn’t find the TIR for Accusize’s 7/8” and 1” EM holder. So i sent them an email to find this info. At the same time as all this was happening, I discovered that my 7/8” R8 collet (the one that came with my mill) had defective threads. I called Accusize and talked to a nice guy there - I asked him about my email and also what would he do about my R8 collet. His solution to both questions was to send me an ER40 collet chuck plus a 7/8” and a 1” ER40 collet. WOW - great deal and of course I’m very pleased with Accusize’s response. He actually send a couple of other nice things too but that just unnecessarily lengthens the story. So I’ll just end with - he was quite generous and very willing to make sure that i was a happy customer.

 

[CWret]

How big is too big for an R8 collet?

Several months ago i meet @trlvn and bought a couple things he had on the Forum classifieds. He also gave me a 1.25” and a 1.5” endmill that have 1” shank.
I purchased a 1” R8 collet and tried out the (new to me) EMs.
This size is much too big for the geometry of an R8 collet. It does not (or maybe i should say can’t) securely hold a 1” EM. Mine is now a paper weight since I’ll never use it again.
But since I have a 1” ER40 (see long story in post above), thanks trlvn now i can happily use those EMs.

To answer the question i started with - IMO the practical limit for a R8 collet is 3/4”.

 

[jcdammeyer]

My 5C collets that came with the South Bend go up to 1" and if transferred work from the lathe to the 5C spin indexer.
I'm not sure what the largest R8 is that came with mill.
On doggy walk. Will look when I get back.

 

[Former Member]

5C 1-1/8 and R8 7/8

 

[jcdammeyer]

5C 1-1/8 and R8 7/8

R8 7/8 was the largest supplied with my Mill. 5C 1" was the largest that came with the lathe. When I bought the collet chuck for the 4th axis I decided on ER-32 because the hole through the harmonic drive was just under 20mm although a larger collet could hold bigger things it just seemed too expensive for that one time. So I have a set of ER-32 up to 20mm

 

[Susquatch]

I've seen some huge R8 collets. I don't like that the big ones cantilever the collet sleeves beyond the spindle and I don't see how that can hold anything as securely as needed. 7/8 R8 are pretty common but I never go over 3/4. In fact I prefer R8 End Mill Holders (everyone else calls them Weldon) for everything over 5/8. Not that the 7/8 R8 collets won't work, it's just why bother with a collet.

 

[combustable herbage]

Background- when i got my RF45 clone mill from Modern Tool it came with a set of R8 collets. They have served me well.

I’ve been wanting to also get a set of ER collets. About a month ago I got a set of ER40s (from Amazon and suppled by Inpanols) for less than $200 taxes in. (Equivalent from Accusize is $319 +taxman)
They looked pretty good but I measured the TIR at 0.001” which was a bit too far off of their advertised TIR of less than 0.0004. So i took advantage of Amazon’s free return system and sent them back.
I then reconsider which ER size was more appropriate for me. When holding the ER40’s in my hand I realized how big they are.
So i decided to get a set ER32s plus a 7/8” and 1” EM holder.
I bit the bullet and sprung for Accusize ER32s. When considering those EM holders, I couldn’t find the TIR for Accusize’s 7/8” and 1” EM holder. So i sent them an email to find this info. At the same time as all this was happening, I discovered that my 7/8” R8 collet (the one that came with my mill) had defective threads. I called Accusize and talked to a nice guy there - I asked him about my email and also what would he do about my R8 collet. His solution to both questions was to send me an ER40 collet chuck plus a 7/8” and a 1” ER40 collet. WOW - great deal and of course I’m very pleased with Accusize’s response. He actually send a couple of other nice things too but that just unnecessarily lengthens the story. So I’ll just end with - he was quite generous and very willing to make sure that i was a happy cus

I recently purchased an Er 40 setup for my mill and lathe, d1-3 collet holder for the lathe an r8 for the mill both from amazon and a 35 piece set of collets 1-32mm and 1/8 1/4 and 1/2 from ali and so far liking them I like the bigger size and 32mm is around the same size as my lathe spindle. bore.
I really like being able to use them for the mill and the lathe, so far the collet holder for the lathe has being on there 50% 3 jaw 35%and 4 jaw 15%.

https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005003336383640.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.22.57071802i42YZd&gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm

 

[kstrauss]

I'll give that a try.

Not if you are building an AR3 Robot Arm.

My first set were bought from Little Machine Ship and although have the wider flange but no tool changer slot. That's also where the 19.03mm (0.75") R8 collet came from.
Back in 2021 I ordered and received 6 from AliExpress COMES Discount store.
This summer I tried again for 6 more and they screwed up and delayed and delayed and I finally cancelled and received the refund.
So now again AliExpress but from Shop912627031 Store and only 5 plus the undersize R8 holder.

When buying all this I take into account that my House of Tools Mill (like the Grizzly G3616) isn't the highest quality or most accurate in the world. But then brand new I only paid about $3K for it when the closest Bridgeport clone was almost triple that.

It's also true that the machine is only as good as the weakest link. But in my case that's me.

Little Machine Shop is a Tormach dealer so their TTS holders are probably from Tormach and should be decent quality.

 

[jcdammeyer]

Little Machine Shop is a Tormach dealer so their TTS holders are probably from Tormach and should be decent quality.

This was early on. Yes. They are marked Tormach. They are reasonable quality. No slot for tool changer. No bevel on the end to insert. And until you do the math the 19.03mm is a bit confusing. But I'm happy with them. And since they didn't have the slot I figured I'd need a different approach to tool changing.