6mm collet-cone for Makita RT0701C

Could you suggest a reliable source for buying 6mm and 3mm collet-cones for Makita 701C?
A friend gave me a case full of well kept and hardly used metric wood cutters. Quite a few 6mm and 3mm endmills, ballnose and tapered ballnoses. Here and there I am reading that for safty reasons I better use dedicated metric collet cones for these cutters. As far as collet goes, Elaire only sells one collet for Makita with poor description about it. That said they have listed " collet adapters " for 1/4" to 6mm and 1/4" to 3mm. Could adapters be safe option ?

Elaire shows a 6mm collet for the Makita. I went back and forth with Elaire about their 1/8" collet, but when I asked how they shipped to Canada, and said that if they used UPS, I was not interested, they stopped returning my emails and phone calls. It must have been something I said. :slightly_smiling_face:

UPS for a collet cone the size of a pen insert? I don’t blame you. $40 for UPS ad $75 brokerage fee, for a $6 part. Would be nice if Sienci stocked them… nudge nudge @chrismakesstuff

1 Like

@jwoody18 Jeff: The shipping charge actually did not seem too bad. I forget what it was now, but I would have paid it. As you say, though, I was not open to a UPS “brokerage” charge. I wrote back to Mark Neely at Elaire to ask what shipping method they use, explaining that if they use UPS, I was not interested. That was two weeks ago. He has not replied. I called and got his voicemail. I asked the same question. He ignored my call. Such is life. Unfortunately, they seem to be the only source of these collets.

I talked to a local machinist about the subject of collets and collet adapters. He basically said it’s not a big deal to turn and cut these collets. Depending on how tight we expect the final tolerances to be and testing and quality control ( read it liabilities ) and most importantly the volume per setup the cost will vary.
It’s a great idea to encourage the Sienci to carry metric collets for Makita.

I didnt got the Makita but the chinese clone from Katsu.

I got this pack of collets link, and use the 6mm one, which works well. The rest of the package is scrap metal.
Actually dont know how identical the Makita and Katsu are, maybe they also fit to the Makita.

To use the cheap 1/8" end mills, I got an adapter sleeve 1/4" -> 1/8" like this link. Fits perfect, no doubts to use, probably also availabe in a 1/4" -> 3mm version.
Cheers

I bought a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter from Sienci when I first bought the Mill and it works well. I thought having more than one would be a good idea and ordered a pack of 6 on Amazon. Of the 6, 2 will not fit into the 1/4" Makita collet. For the price, that’s likely to be expected, but it did show me that these things are not exactly precision tools. In woodturning, the conventional wisdom is to stay away from adapters that change one thread size to another. No matter how good they may be, they all introduce some run out issues. On that basis, I thought it would be good to find a good quality 1/8" collet that would fit into the Makita spindle. I still think it’s a good idea. I just can’t seem to obtain such an animal at a delivered price that I am willing to pay.

I am going to check if they ship to Canada and the total cost. Tha\nls for the heads up about the scrap metal. Who knew Germans’ machining coil produce junk too.

As for the 1/4" to 1/8, I have been using a few of the standard issue adapters from the Sienci store. They’ve been great

Oh I was wrong. Just to be correct:

  1. I already got a 6mm collet, but needed a 1/4", so I am using the 1/4" from the pack linked above. As I said scrap metal, I meant screap metal for me: I have no 3/8" end mill, and just a ring replacing a collet for an 8mm mill, I actually wont even try.
  2. I think its more a Chinese product sold via an American store in Germany - so nothing to blame the Germans machining coil for :nerd_face: - but well, there is also junk produced here.:wink:
1 Like