Product Description
About the Adjustable Tailstock Tool Holder
Held in the Adjustable Tailstock Tool Holder (not included), the collet adapter allows the use of WW (or 8 mm) collets in the lathe tailstock. Using collets in the tailstock means you can hold extremely small drills accurately on center. Drills of only a few thousandths of an inch can easily break if not perfectly centered. Complete instructions are provided with the adapter to help you “perfectly” align the headstock and tailstock of your Sherline lathe. When you consider the alternative of spending thousands of dollars for a jeweler’s lathe that is far less versatile, the time is well spent.
The WW collet to 5/8″ adapter holds Sherline WW collets with a shank diameter of .312-.313″. Other manufacturers make collets that vary in size up to .314-.315″. The 8.0 mm adapter is made to hold collets of that size. If your collets are not made by Sherline, measure them carefully to see which adapter you should use.
We also offer a collet adapter with a hex retaining cap (P/N 20871) for those who want to hold the collet adapter in our 5/8″ Gang-Tool Post mounted on our Chucker Lathe. The hex cap is more easily tightened using a 1″ hex wrench (P/N 65025) than the knurled cap can be by hand. Using a wrench allows you to tighten the retaining cap tight enough to keep the drill from moving or spinning in the collet when drilling into your part.