Collet in the tailstock?

[JasonW]

I have a lot of knurling to do on some 1/2" and 3/8 " cold rolled stock. I am making a scissor type knurling tool. It would be nice to have some sort of collet system in the tail stock, so I do not have drill and use the live center all the time. I have an MT 3 in the tailstock. Is there any affordable tool that is like a live center but will accept collets? Possible to make one?

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[Thrud]

Jason
You can buy a "turret" for it, they hold several tools and you just turn the turret to the one you need...

[JCHannum]

Jacobs used to (I think still do) make what was called a center rest chuck.
They used them in shops repairing auto starters and generators. It is a 3 jaw Jacobs chuck with brass jaws that are machined to radius. They are hand tightened til work just slips. Use appropriate lubrication. They have a MT shank, and are used in tailstock.
The one I have here is 1/4"-3/4" capacity. They are built a little differently for ease of disassembly to replace jaws as they wear.

[Tree]

What if you got a couple of ball bearings with the same ID as your CR stock and made a cup with a stem on it to fit in your tailstock chuck or taper-sort of like a tailstock die holder?? Bore out cup part for a snug fit on bearing OD, then slip CR into bearing. I don't know if you would have the right kind of fit between CR and bearing but if you did it might be a cheap and sleazy solution...