Rant: A cheap collet set cost me a whole shift and a $300 part

I bought a no-name collet set online to save a few bucks, thinking it was just a simple tool. The runout was so bad it ruined a complex aluminum housing I had been cutting for six hours. The part was scrap, and I had to eat the material cost and explain the delay to the shop foreman. Has anyone found a decent budget brand for collets that actually holds up, or is it just not worth the risk?

3 comments

3 Comments

viola_butler2mo ago

Ugh that's brutal, I feel your pain. My buddy tried to save money on a cheap router bit once and it chattered so bad it looked like a beaver chewed his project. He ended up having to redo the whole cabinet door.

brooke4758d ago

Bought some at a garage sale once and learned that lesson the hard way.

milacarr2mo ago

Yeah, that's the worst kind of false economy, @viola_butler. You spend all that time on the wood and the setup, and then a cheap bit just tears it all up. It's like buying a nice steak and then cooking it in a pan you found in a ditch. The chatter marks alone would make me want to throw the whole project out the window. Your buddy learning that lesson on a whole cabinet door is honestly kind of tragic. Never, ever skimp on the thing that actually touches the wood.