Abstract: A collet-stop assembly for fixing the position of a work-piece or tool ("item") intended to be held immobile by and within a collet during machining operations. The assembly includes a stop-collar for gripping a stop-unit to be placed in direct contact with the item, and a collar-retainer used ensure that the stop-unit is held immobile with respect to the collet. The collar-retainer is screwed into the collet and includes a tapered section into which a tapered section of the stop-collar is drawn. In the Preferred Embodiment of the invention the stop-collar is formed of three separate jaws that when drawn into the collar-retainer by means of cap screws passing through the collar-retainer squeeze against the stop-unit. The basic collar-retainer design permits it to be manufactured so that the distances it extends, respectively, to the outside of the collet and down into the collet are very short; that is, it has small external and internal profiles.

Abstract: A collet-and-shank assembly for gripping a work piece or tool used in rotary cutting equipment. The assembly includes a dual-threaded nut that enables the machine operator to lock and release the device from a single end. The dual-threaded nut is completely recessed within the shank, thereby reducing the overall length of the assembly and increasing the available working space. In the preferred embodiment of the collet-and-shank assembly, the dual-threaded nut has an interior right-hand threading corresponding to the outside threading of a section of the collet. The exterior of the dual-threaded nut has a threading orientation opposite to that of the interior region, corresponding to the threading of an interior section of the shank. When the exterior of the dual-threaded nut is threaded into the shank and the collet is threaded into the interior of the dual-threaded nut, the collet is affixed to the shank, and the work piece or tool is also locked within the collet.