Collet and assembly for mounting a workpiece to a milling machine

A method of mounting a workpiece to a milling machine having a chuck with clamping jaws, the method comprising:

• providing a clamping collet having a chuck mount portion and moveable clamping fingers for clamping a workpiece to said clamping collet and being movable between an unclamped position for receiving a workpiece and a clamped position for clamping to a workpiece;
• mounting said clamping collet to the workpiece by:
• moving said fingers of said clamping collet to said unclamped position, where a portion of the workpiece can be received between said moveable fingers,
• positioning the workpiece between said moveable fingers, and moving said movable fingers of said clamping collet from said unclamped position to said clamped position, whereby said portion of the workpiece is clamped to said clamping collet by said fingers;
• and
• mounting said clamping collet, while mounted to said workpiece, to said milling machine chuck by:
• inserting said chuck mount portion of said clamping collet into-said chuck and applying a clamping force from said clamping jaws to said clamping collet, whereby said work piece is mounted to said milling machine by clamping said milling machine chuck to said clamping collet, thus avoiding a time consuming necessity of workpiece setup and alignment with the milling machine chuck;
• wherein an actuator for moving said clamping collet fingers is operably and releasably coupled to said clamping collet for said steps of moving said fingers of said clamping collet to said unclamped position, and moving said movable fingers of said clamping collet from said unclamped position to said clamped position;
• and uncoupling said actuator from said clamping collet after said step of moving said movable fingers to said clamped position is performed and prior to said step of mounting said clamping collet to said milling machine chuck.