Wasted $450 on a fancy collet set I barely touch anymore

A guy on the Practical Machinist forum convinced me that ER collets weren't always the best choice for tight tolerance work, and now I'm stuck with a drawer full of them for light-duty jobs only - has anyone else found a good use for their old ER stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

aaron_flores8414d ago

But aren't they still fine for 90% of what most of us actually do?

thomas_scott14d ago

That 90% number gets thrown around a lot but nobody ever stops to think about what that 10% actually costs you. Missing out on the last 10% of performance or features means you're gonna replace it way sooner than you planned, so you end up spending more money in the long run anyway. Plus that 10% is usually the stuff that separates a frustrating device from one that actually feels good to use every single day. You're basically paying for a product that's already outdated the moment you buy it. The math only works out if you're okay with settling for something that works okay right now but will feel like junk next year.