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MAKING A COLLET FOR NEEDLE FILESMy hands are getting old and holding something as small as a needle file for an extended length of time is becoming more difficult and painful...because of this and because I tend to use needle files alot I had to come up with something. Yes they do make handles for needle files but they aren't much better than the files themselves. I finally came up with an idea of how to make a collet from a brass flare fitting....Any of the three nuts will work, it'll just be a matter of looks...8^)
This particular fitting is for a 1/8" line on the flare end...which is the diameter of my needle files.
And the other end is 1/4" NPT, which is...
Just over 1/2" in diameter...
For a handle I'm going use a Kingwood handle that I turned for a socket chisel but wound up not using...
This isn't my first one so here is a picture of where we're going...
LETS GET STARTED... Cut the socket tenon off the chisel handle...
Find the center...
Drill bit of the appropriate size...
Sorry no picture of the drilling... Use a 1/4" - 18 tpi pipe tap on the handle, I'm doing this only because the Kingwood is so brittle, if it was a soft wood like Maple I'd just thread the fitting into the wood and let it cut it's own threads.
Now I'll cut the fitting to make a collet... First I use a small triangular file to mark the fitting and make a registration mark for the hacksaw...
Cut the fitting with a fine tooth hacksaw blade...
Fitting is ready to install in the handle....
Screw the "COLLET" into the handle and use a little super glue to make sure it stays...
Clean up the glue and then use a 1/8" drill bit to drill down thru the center of the collet to make sure the needle file will go deep enough...
Check to see if the file will fit...
And choose which nut....
© Roy Griggs
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