Bosch Colt .. The final solution ..

[Rick Fisher]

I have one of those Bosch Colt routers which had the shoulders on the collet lock round off. I had a crappy little thin wrench for changing bits, but lost it somewhere in the shop.. Since its failure, I have really come to loathe it either way ..

So I wanted the bit that was in the colt, for another router.. Truth is I never use the colt any more, with the exception of flush trimming .. After taking another look for the special bosch bit .. which should never have existed, I gave up and decided that the Freud bit was going to come out of that little router, one way or another ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/BoschRouter2.jpg

Before taking the pipe wrench to the armature .. which by the way made removing the bit very simple, I noticed this ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/BoschRouters1.jpg

Not sure why those divots would be there .. Cant be over use, the router became somewhat useless within a year of purchase.. Meh ..

Anyway .. I got my flush trim bit back .. And thats what this post is really all about ..

[mickey cassiba]

Those divots were cut during the manufacturing process to balance the armature.

[Rick Fisher]

Ah .. thanks Mickey .. makes sense ..

[lowell holmes]

You need to say how you really feel about the Colt.
:)


I use mine frequently.

[John McClanahan]

Now you need to decide on a bit that you can put in it and just leave it.

John

[Tom Ewell]

The self locking on the Colt is one of the worst I've run across.

I've had to grind down the sides of a wrench to fit the flats on the shaft and use two wrenches for the collet.

It is a handy little router so I'm not ready to give it up just yet and there are a lot of alternatives in the shop.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Rick
If you don't want your Bosch Colt any more sent it to me COD. I love the two that I have now. Tom

[Mike Henderson]

If you want a very thin wrench, go to a bicycle shop and get a wrench that's designed for adjusting the cones on wheel axles. They can't be more than a couple of mm thick and they're plenty strong. Back when I was riding a lot, I had a bunch of those but I don't remember what sizes they came in. Looks like they'd be about the size of the router shaft.

Mike

[Mike Wilkins]

This is one of the reasons I have more than one laminate trimmer. 6 to be exact. Extreme I know; but like many I am a tool junkie. There, I admitted it.

[glenn bradley]

The collet lock was always the weak spot on these. It was mentioned in almost every early review I ever read before buying one. Sure enough, mine failed. Took is to the repair depot and had it back in 2 days, repaired and with the extra wrench that Bosch was supplying free as a fix. I wasn't expecting the free wrench and so, as Mike points out, had already gone to a bike shop and bought one. Now I have a spare. I guess having it fixed was really just for the exercise as I have never used the collet lock since. All my other routers are 2-wrench routers, which I prefer, so the "fix" was perfect for me. I use the heck outta the Colt and it always performs admirably. I'm after the plunge base as soon as it becomes available.

[Rick Fisher]

My new goal is to get at the collet lock and repair it .. Seems like the front bearing is holding it all together..

[Matt Meiser]

Wish I could remember who bought a Colt off me that didn't have a working spindle lock. He took it apart and was able to fix it. Hopefully he'll see this.'

That one stripped about the 2nd time I used it and I just used a cheap wrench I ground to fit.

[Rick Fisher]

I got the spindle lock out .. Its worn at one edge, but not much .. pretty surprising how little it takes to cause this problem ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1180095.jpg
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1180091.jpg
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1180090.jpg
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1180093.jpg


Looking at it .. the spindle of the motor is pretty ground up .. Hard to believe, but I think the steel on the arbor is softer than the steel on the lock .. lol