Hello everyone, I learned from an Amish watchmaker friend, Mahlon Shetler that another amish watchmaker, purchased a 9 mm Stark lathe without collets and probably did not realize it was a non standard lathe and acquiring collets for it could very difficult. Does anyone know of any 9 mm Stark collets available? Is there any functioning adapter that could convert it to use standard 8 mm collets? Appreciate it if anyone could help him? Andy Dervan
ron bechler was friends with mahlon and would no doubt have been able to help... don't know who's dealing with his estate but mahlon might...
Hello Bruce, Thank You. I knew Ron; Mahlon was friends with Ron Bechler who was helping him establish a watchmaker training program. I don't believe Mahlon has any time or interest communicating with person dealing with Ron's estate. I was hoping someone might have suggestions regarding 9 mm Stark collets. Andy
i suggested ron because his garage was like a used car lot, filled w lathes... and accessories... of all sizes. he set me up on more than one occasion and i wouldn’t be surprised if there was a supply of those collets. good luck in your search.
Andy If a lathe is to be used for work, its life blood is available tooling and any lack of that will greatly decrease its usefulness, capability and greatly decrease skill development. In blunt terms, it will be a real pain in the butt. The most practical solution is to sell what you have, cut your losses and purchase something that is useful. Its a decision that will never be regretted. Jerry Kieffer
I agree with Jerry completely regarding off sized lathes, such as Stark products. I have owned several of them, perhaps 10 or more. Most of these lathes and collets and accessories were used in production. Frankly, most of the accessories/collets, and I have had many of them, were well past the end of their useful/accurate life. While most of the lathes themselves could be saved, the rest? Not so much.
Hello all, I knew that the answer that they would be unavailable, but I was hoping (just a little) that some usable might be available. Andy
