Ken.
Good question reference?release.
Unscrew the ring about 1 turn or enough to take the pressure of the?
front end taper of the collet, a gentle tap from the rear end of the part being held, and that's all is required
to release. This was Richards concern till he came to visit and physically see my blocks.
The big advantage of the internal locking ring blocks is exactly as you?
posted, (a) holding the block within the centre confines?of the jaws and (b) no overhang.
This idea of internal locking came to me based on the old Clarkson Autolock end mill collet holders.
Similar principle, the end mill is screwed into the collet, then entered into the holder, a front load applied by
screwing in an internal threaded ring, and the rear of the end mill picked up a solid center point in the base of the holder.
That is why I believe ? the reason the threaded shank type end mills had a centre hole drilled in them.
?
I chose to make a 6 sided (hex) and a 8 sided (oct) blocks, it was as easy to cut 8 sides as it was 4.
using my step indexer method of manufacture.
I will post some photos later today, how I made mine, I am sure Richard will reply to your post, as he took
a slightly different approach milling the flats without an indexing head to achieve the same accurate results.
?
Cheers
--
John
John Lindo