lathe decisions

[hotrdblder]

you would use a 3 jaw head for round stock and a 4 jaw for square/rectangle , to hold them to head, not those collets
the collets are only used when using the tailstock to fixture the work, 95% of the time the tooling will be on the tool post or in the tailstock, plus most bigger lathes use different collets then what a bridgport would use, i have a 2hp bridgeport and a 16 inch south bend lathe 7 ft centers, 3 phase, 3 phase is critical becaue you can reverse the motor for extracting taps etc. the lathe is the single most handy tool i got in the shop

[rubadub]

you would use a 3 jaw head for round stock and a 4 jaw for square/rectangle , to hold them to head, not those collets
the collets are only used when using the tailstock to fixture the work, 95% of the time the tooling will be on the tool post or in the tailstock, plus most bigger lathes use different collets then what a bridgport would use, i have a 2hp bridgeport and a 16 inch south bend lathe 7 ft centers, 3 phase, 3 phase is critical becaue you can reverse the motor for extracting taps etc. the lathe is the single most handy tool i got in the shop

In the tool and die shop I worked in we had bridgeports and horizontal mills, we used collets in them all the time to do the machining. Having collets is not a necessity, but if they go with the machine, they are a really nice thing to have.

If your drilling a hole with a bridgeport, and you can collet that drill bit, it will be far superior to any other means for holding, especially if your after precision. The shortest distance between the spindle and the work is the key. We always used a collet for our end mills and reamers.

Its hard to remember, its been 38 years since I worked in one, but if I remember right, the only time you would use something like a drill bit chuck in the spindle of a bridgeport, would be for just roughing something in.

Anyway all good points everybody has brought up.

I found a picture of the type of lathe I used to run, these types are limited in what all you can do on them, but you can't wear them out, I run one most of the time for 11 years 9 hours a day 6 days a week, and another guy ran the same machine on the other shift, it never broke down that I can remember.

I think we had about 12 of these, a cold header die shop in Frankfort Michigan, the shop is still going yet today.

Especially tapping, the collet keeps every thing tighter.