Question regarding CMD 10 Collet sets

[Robin Hewitt]

Take the Clarkson - Remove nut, find collet and screw in cutter, place collet with cutter in and adjust depth of cutter by rotating in the thread then tighten up nut. I have known them to run out even visually with the cr, the less parts in the setup and distance from original spindle fixing the better!

Perhaps you aren't understanding the big advantages of the Clarkson collet.

It doesn't rely on pinching the tool shank to hold it vertically, only to hold it concentric at the bottom of the collet.

The tool extension and tool concentricity at the top is set by the collet centre entering the centre pip on the back of the tool. You can change tool without adjusting the Z.

Because the tool extension is set there is no way on God's green earth it can slip vertically in the collet.

If there is runout then that usually means someone didn't understand how the collet operated, inserted a grub screw and tried to pinch an unthreaded tool thereby nadgering the chuck centre which aligns the tool top. The collet is a loose fit in the chuck so you need to preserve the centre.

To set a Clarkson you do the nose up gently, screw the tool in until it hits the pip, back the nose off a quarter turn, screw the tool in tight. Tighten the nose. No huge spanners required, you aren't gripping the tool, merely supporting it.

Now't wrong with a Clarkson except you need tooling designed for it. A good choice for facing with an end mill.