Jesada top bearing router bit...need hex key size.

[Jim O'Dell]

I've had this bit for about 4 years. Only thing I've used it on before is routing the recess for my Woodpecker PRL to sit in the router table. Worked flawlessly for that. I'm trying to finish up my ZCI for the table saw, and I have ruined 2 blanks now because I can't get the collar to lock down. I've tried a 1/16" key, when about tight, it spins in the set screw. The 5/64" and 3/32" will not fit into the set screw. So I think it must be metric. Tried a 1.5mm...not as tight as the 1/16", so won't tighten up at all. 2.0 mm won't fit into the set screw. :confused::confused::confused: Is there a 1.75 mm or a 9/128" size? I emailed Jesada yesterday before my last problem thinking I had it tight enough to work. Now I'm thinking I need a new bit. Anyone have the same problem and find the answer? I would have thought that if it was an odd ball size, a wrench would have been included with the bit. TIA Jim.

[David Sofio]

(Eleven years later, Dave stumbles in to report the same bafflement...) Mine's a 'Magna Industrial Tool' item (three of them, all so prone to loosening Allen setscrews that the first one disappeared into oblivion before the workpiece was ruined). I'm thinking I might have to re-tap the collars to fit a new setscrew. The 'Magna Industrial Tool' that made these doesn't seem to exist anymore.

[Rick Potter]

Step one: Go to Harbor Freight and get a set of T handle SAE and Metric hex wrenches. About $20-25 on sale, or use one of your 20% off coupons.

Step two: Go home, knowing you can now fit pretty much ANY hex screw that life throws at you.

Maybe consider getting some lock tight or star washers for the ones that loosen up on you.


PS: For the original poster...If you're still listening for an answer to those Jesada bits, I have two in my collection, and they both definitely take a 3/32" key. 2.5MM is slightly too big on mine.

[Richard Coers]

Or apply the universal hex wrench, a vise-grip.

[Jim Becker]

Ring up Infinity...same folks, I believe and they might know the details of that older cutter.

[David Sofio]

Apparently I've got too much time on my hands, still futzing with this, but in my case, the setscrew is metric, 3mm x 0.5 thread, verified by my diggin out a metric tap/die set and finding that I was able to twist that size tap right into the collar with minimal resistance and no appreciable slop.

The internet seems to agree that this should be serviced with a 1.5mm key. Mine indeed fits snugly and feels right - until I want to torque it a little more to be sure the bearing doesn't ride up the shaft and ruin my work. Then it pop-pop-pops itself, limiting my torque (and I'm not talking gorilla-mode, either.)

I was poised to just order replacement setscrews until I found that they were stainless-steel, probably 18-8, which quite possibly would explain why they were yielding under so little torque. Instead, I'm in the process of drilling/tapping them up to accept new 8-32 set screws (9/64" Allen) because those are definitely available in a hardened plain-steel variety.

(can't use the standard Vise-Grip mod here, because they're countersunk so as to avoid scraping the living hell out of the work - they spin with the collars at 10K RPM or so...)

[Larry Edgerton]

Step three. Buy Whiteside next time, best pattern bits I have used. I use the 1 1/8 and 1 1/4" a lot and the balance is perfect, never get loose.

[Jim Becker]

Step three. Buy Whiteside next time, best pattern bits I have used. I use the 1 1/8 and 1 1/4" a lot and the balance is perfect, never get loose.

Keep in mind that those of us who bought Jessada "back in the day" were buying from a well liked company and the products were and are very nice quality. Jessada is gone, but a good bit of the same lives on with Infinity which was started by a family member of the original founder of Jessada...also nice tools. Whiteside certainly makes nice tools as do other brands, however. It's good to have choices!

[Bill Dufour]

Pretty much all ball bearing are metric. They have been metric since they were first made in France around 1860. I would think the hardware that touches them would be metric as well. Even if it has a british hex key the diameter is most likely metric.
Bil lD

[David Sofio]

Pretty much all ball bearing are metric. They have been metric since they were first made in France around 1860. I would think the hardware that touches them would be metric as well. Even if it has a british hex key the diameter is most likely metric.
Bil lD
...wha?... Well, if by "pretty much all," you mean "roughly half," sure, I'll go with that. But sorry, no, there are as many bearings made for SAE shafts as for metric versions. SAE still dominates in the US market. But regardless, this isn't about bearings per se - it's about the silly little stop-collar set screws.

[Bruce Lowekamp]

I've had this bit for about 4 years. Only thing I've used it on before is routing the recess for my Woodpecker PRL to sit in the router table. Worked flawlessly for that. I'm trying to finish up my ZCI for the table saw, and I have ruined 2 blanks now because I can't get the collar to lock down. I've tried a 1/16" key, when about tight, it spins in the set screw. The 5/64" and 3/32" will not fit into the set screw. So I think it must be metric. Tried a 1.5mm...not as tight as the 1/16", so won't tighten up at all. 2.0 mm won't fit into the set screw. :confused::confused::confused: Is there a 1.75 mm or a 9/128" size? I emailed Jesada yesterday before my last problem thinking I had it tight enough to work. Now I'm thinking I need a new bit. Anyone have the same problem and find the answer? I would have thought that if it was an odd ball size, a wrench would have been included with the bit. TIA Jim.

I just checked and my top-bearing Jesada bit came with a 1/16” key for the setscrew. (it’s a 3/4” bit so I think not the same bit you’re using, but I would assume it’s the same setscrew)


Keep in mind that those of us who bought Jessada "back in the day" were buying from a well liked company and the products were and are very nice quality. Jessada is gone, but a good bit of the same lives on with Infinity which was started by a family member of the original founder of Jessada...also nice tools. Whiteside certainly makes nice tools as do other brands, however. It's good to have choices!

Agree, I have many white bits still in my collection. Have only replaced a couple of the more heavily (or, more likely, poorly) used bits.

Bruce

[Bill Dufour]

...wha?... Well, if by "pretty much all," you mean "roughly half," sure, I'll go with that. But sorry, no, there are as many bearings made for SAE shafts as for metric versions. SAE still dominates in the US market. But regardless, this isn't about bearings per se - it's about the silly little stop-collar set screws.


I really meant the standard deepgroove sealed or shielded bearings. Roller bearings probably use a lot of inch size stuff.
Bill D.

[John Stankus]

Step one: Go to Harbor Freight and get a set of T handle SAE and Metric hex wrenches. About $20-25 on sale, or use one of your 20% off coupons.

Step two: .
Step two: Return set to Harbor Freight since they didn’t bother to harden them,and they round over when you apply any torque. DAMHIKT:mad:

[Mark Daily]

I encountered a set screw once that I couldn’t find an Allen wrench for so I put the closest “too big” wrench in a bench vise and filed each side down with a file. Fit like a glove and worked perfectly.

[Bill Dufour]

Step two: Return set to Harbor Freight since they didn’t bother to harden them,and they round over when you apply any torque. DAMHIKT:mad:


This is not true at all. Mine got returned after I snapped off the tip on a few. They were too hard. In the same batch a few were soft enough not to snap but they did rotate about 1/4 turn and get a nice permanent twist in the shank.
Bill D.

[Rick Potter]

Mine have worked well, but I don't stress test them on tiny screws.

There was a glitch however. I got the double set of T handles metric and SAE. The set did not include a 1/4" wrench. Odd.