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I recently bought a Testors pin vice from Hobby Lobby. It looks exactly like this one so I'm sure it's generic:



The issue I'm having is that the two collets only fit to one of the five included drill bits once tightened. Each collet has one end that can close all the way (no aperture) and one end with an aperture to allow for larger drill bits. Even the smallest bit won't fit in either of the no-aperture ends and only the biggest bit can be properly clamped in the open ends of the collets.

Am I missing some basic technique to open up the no-aperture ends so the smaller bits can be inserted and properly clamped?

Are the collet ends different? Maybe you got two the same size instead of two different ones? They should be two different sizes, giving you 4 different sized openings.

The two apertured ends look slightly different. The closed ends look the same, though. I'm going to call Testors tomorrow to see what they say

they should be noticeably different, I will take a photo of mine when I get home


Automatically Appended Next Post:
These are obviously not the same, but you should effectively have these 4 ends over the two collets

http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mWYb8m5gqgafhs0OUmor3Jg.jpg

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Set-8pcs-Brass-Collet-Adapter-Nuts-for-Dremel-Rotary-Tool-0-8-1-6-2-35-3-2mm-/291225180903

Unscrew the whole tool, you'll likely find another collet in the handle/shaft.

If you take off the end by unscrewing it completely sometimes the aperture (the part the bit goes into) can be flipped around for a different size. That's how both of mine are.

I did open up the shaft - that's where the second collet came from. As I said, the two closed ends are similar (too small for any bit) and the apertured ends are different sized but both only small enough to hold the largest bit.

Sometimes, when you loosen the collar over the collet, friction keeps the two locked together - instead of opening up, the collet simply slides forward. Have you tried inserting bits into the loose collets (i.e. not installed in the tool)? I occasionally find collets that are such a tight fit that I have to install/remove the bit off of the tool (with a bit of force, in the worst offenders), place the whole assembly in the vice head, then slide the collar down over the whole lot before tightening.

Got tired of doing that with one cheap model I had, so I tightened an empty zero-closure collet down and chamfered the center with a small drill bit. Didn't drill it out, mind you - just angled the leading edge to help the shank of the bit spread the arms as I pushed it in. Still far from my favorite pin vice, but it's not nearly as much of a pain to use as it once was.

There is probably a second Collet stored in the back under the spinny knob. Detach it and check.

I did attempt it on the bare collets. I was tempted to try your idea of wearing away a starter hole but I think I'll just return the one I bought and get a different brand