What's new
What's new

Lyndex Nikken 5C Collet Set - Should they Stay or Should they Go?

Culture

Plastic
Joined
Nov 21, 2019
I just purchased a new set of Lyndex-Nikken 5C collets ($1100). Boy was I surprised when the box said "Made in India." I was expecting "Made in Japan" like the last set I purchased. As far as I can tell, Lyndex-Nikken does not have any manufacturing facilities in India, almost certainly meaning these are manufactured by a "partner" and relabeled as Lyndex-Nikken.

I have not opened the box to check the TIR of any of the collets or to inspect finish quality, as I am thinking I am going to return the set. Once opened, returning gets a lot more difficult.

Yes, I know about the cost and pricing pressures facing manufacturers, and I am sure that there is some top quality manufacturing going on some place in India (they sent a robot probe to the moon, after all). However, I could have purchased 6 or so sets of questionable Chinese collets for what I paid for this set. I not want want a set of crap collets, I want a set of top quality Japanese, Korean or USA manufactured collets. I do not want to be a test case for Lyndex-Nikken's new Indian manufacturing partner.

Should I keep them or go elsewhere? And where is elsewhere?
 
The honest answer is that I am not sure they ripped me off. I just don't want to spend $1100 to find out.
 
I would trust the chinese to make good accurate parts before anybody from India.

I would send them back personally.

Having said that I have Lyndex collets I got from McMaster, for the most part they seem ok, I'll have to check the box to see what their country of origin is.
 
Send them back and get Hardinge. I bought a set of parallels, "top Kurt quality" from MSC. Same shit shars sells for a fraction the price, including the plastic box with the latch broken from the factory. Boy was I PISSED.
 
Well, maybe just buy for about 50 dollars a set of Chinese collets. Measure their runout. My bet, based on my sets of R8 and 5C Chinese collets, is that they will be very accurately made from good hardened steel. The collets are equal to or greater than the accuracy of the American-made spindles I use them in and are plenty good enough for all but the most stringent requirements that few on this forum will ever need. Spend the left over money on some convenient fixtures to hold the collets. Those fixtures will make a big difference in convenience and accuracy whereas spending big bucks on dubiously “more accurate” collets will do you little or no good.

Denis
 
The point is not so much whether they are good collets or not , it’s why the F would anyone knowingly pay $1100 for made in India collets that may be no better than the sub $100 set.
Lots of people will pay a stiff premium for a known quality brand. Paying for the brand and getting an unknown is BS.
I personally would be ok with them being made in India if there was some kind of documentation that said they are guaranteed to meet or exceed whatever Lyndex spec is these days (was <.0005 at some distance)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
The point is not so much whether they are good collets or not , it’s why the F would anyone knowingly pay $1100 for made in India collets that may be no better than the sub $100 set.
Lots of people will pay a stiff premium for a known quality brand. Paying for the brand and getting an unknown is BS.
I personally would be ok with them being made in India if there was some kind of documentation that said they are guaranteed to meet or exceed whatever Lyndex spec is these days (was <.0005 at some distance)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I agree with feeling ripped off.

But, beyond that, would question the OP when he says he wants “good” collets. Or more specifically, what is good enough. Good enough is always the question in machining. Why own collets good to, say, .0001 (if they exist) if they are going to be used in a spindle with .002 runout to make parts with a .005 tolerance? I am not saying the OP doesn’t need super accuracy. Maybe he works in a rigorous environment. But, really, by the nature of his question, I think not. It is a very common rabbit hole for new machinists to feel like they need to spend big bucks on extreme precision tools when they really are aiming to make pretty ordinary parts. My point is the OP most likely would get a lot more good from spending a lot less on collets and more on other “good enough” tooling.

Another way to look at the question is to just look at completed sales on eBay or Amazon. You can still be the first to review a set of Lyndex collet on Amazon, as an example. On eBay there 600 are of one listing alone of Chinese 5c collets sold but not one of Lyndex new complete set sold. Onesie twosies Lyndex discounted, yes.

If the OP is looking for the answer as to what most people think is good enough, those sales numbers are a pretty good indication. Sure MSC, McMaster sales to corporations or government may be different, hard to know. But those numbers are telling.

Denis
 
The worst tooling I've ever seen has come from India. The chinese 5-Cs I got recently just to see were also pretty bad. Not ground through the grip area, off center slits, not deburred etc. and most of them don't run true either. They weren't the cheapest to boot!

I, too, would send them back.
 
I'd call Lyndex and ask if they source anything from India.

The Lyndex collets I have from McMaster have an India sticker on the side, so presuemably Indian origin.

I'll put one in the lathe and check the runout. It's an HLV so I know the spindle is good.
 
What was that old song about the kid running around using our good name? Lots of folks buying cheap goods overseas and putting a good name on them. You can do the same and save $1000. I would ship em back on the principle.
 
I love American iron and Japanese precision as much as the next guy, but isn't it a little foolish to return something without even inspecting it? Schrodinger's cat was maybe a cat40.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the feedback. The good enough question is valid. However, given that precision is a matter of an accumulation of errors from many components, I like to keep everything as small as reasonably possible.

I checked with Lyndex-Nikken and they guarantee a TIR of 0.0008 to 0.0015 depending on the size. Of course, this ignores the angular error that no one talks about (i.e. why the TIR at the face of the collet is not the same as three inches away). I would like to believe that companies like Lyndex-Nikken consider this while no-name importers appear to completely ignore it.

Regardless, I have decided to send them back.
 
I'd send them back too.

India is one of the most protectionist countries anywhere- Lyndex probably can't sell there unless they make them there. But I can't help but wonder what that set sells for in India- it sure as hell isn't gonna be $1100...
 
Runout varies on some of the Asian import collets I have. But most are ok for most jobs. The problem I have with them is the threaded end. Some of these collets are as much as 0.015" undersized. And that's under the Hardinge spec that's already undersized 0.015".

Best Regards,
Bob
 
The last time I purchased a Lindex collet the external threads were so bad that it could have ruined the threads in a new CNC lathe.

Last time for Lindex. It is shame that a company that use to make excellent collets has decided to sink to the bottom of the quality well. Return them.

LOST
 
I buy lyndex Er collets from Mcmaster carr when I need them the next day casue no one stocks hardinges in the valley. There extreamly good collets in runn out roundness and everything where they suck is they have NO and I mean Absolutely NO spring back like Hardinge does. the pins they put in them are tight and when you take them out they spring in. below the size.

ordered 5 of hardinge ones a few weeks ago and I'll be damn they would screw into my miyano. heck 3 wouldnt go all the way to the thread(2 others did just fine). never had that happen with hardinges in the 30 years I been ordering from them

That being said when I ordered a bunch of kenmetal cat 40 holders 10 years ago they all said made in India( in there plastic boxs) I didnt like it but had to run them. never had a issue with one of them.
 








 
Back
Top