[Teyber12]

as the title says, i don't want to overtighten my new xmas present- a tts collet holder and some er20 collets. Ive always used set screws. You just want to tighten it down hard but without putting too much effort into it correct?

cheers, sorry for the noob question but id rather ask then loose it

[compunerdy]

Thats what I do..just snug them down good

[Teyber12]

cheers thanks i just wanted to make sure you didn't have to tighten them particularly hard or particularly soft

[Geof]

Actually you do need to tighten them quite hard; for an ER32 it is several tens of lb-ft of torque.

My approach is to tighten them as much as is physically possible using just my hands and the wrench that fits the collet nut, without hurting my hands too much.

Using just your hands, not a hulking great length of pipe on the wrench nor banging it with a hammer, just your hands, it is impossible for you to overtighten them; unless you are a real gorilla with enormous hands.

You may find however, that to loosen them you have to resort to a small length of pipe slipped over the wrench; they seem to 'settle in' during use due to heat and/or vibration.

[Bubba]

I have a pdf file that I found on the net that gives the torque information for the various sizes. I have extracted this page from the section that I have, but you can easily find the original from information on the top of the page.

I would ignore the col. for the ER GB values as this is their special high holding nut and requires less torque.