Router collets

[Jeff Bartley]

Until last week I had never experienced bit slippage in a router. I was milling a pile of white oak into ship-lap boards on a job site using a 1 1/4” bearing guided 1/4” shaft router bit. Cut was 3/8 wide, 1/2” deep and I was making about 3 passes over the work to get the full cut.

After about one board the bit would move about a 1/16” and finally it slipped so much it almost came out of the router. I tried two different 1/4” bits and finally swapped out the collects and put in the old 1/2 shaft bit. So far so good but that was at the end of the day.

Can a router collet wear out? Is my 1/4” done?

[Dave Sabo]

Absolutely.

[Lee Schierer]

Have you tried cleaning the collet and the taper to insure there is no sawdust or other material interfering with proper operation. You can safely burnish the collet taper with scotch brite.

The collet on my old Craftsman router is prone to slip, so I usually tighten it, make a trial cut on a piece of scrap and then re-tighten the locking nut. It has a single split in the tapered insert which doesn't always tighten properly. Both collets on my Freud router have six splits or finger and they never fail to hold a bit in place the first time.

[Jim Becker]

Collets are technically "disposables". While some folks have been able to use the same ones for many years, they do wear and that wear can cause slipping. Slipping can become dangerous if the tooling comes completely loose or goes through material and hits something. When in doubt, replace the collet and it's not a horrible idea to have an extra one if it's something you use frequently.

I kinda wish that typical hand-held/table mounted routers had collets that are more flexible...in the CNC world, the spindle collet is separate from the collet nut which means one can change the collet at will. There are standard sizes, too. With most routers, these are assemblies not designed to come apart and are also brand/model specific.

[Dennis Peacock]

Yes!! They do wear out and there are better quality router collects out there than what came with your router. ALSO...it is a good practice to clean the collet and the socket on the router that the collet goes into. You'd be surprised at how much better a router collet holds when it's cleaned every once in a while. The other issue here is "heat". White oak is tough! Make sure your router speed is low and you keep the chip load in the router up so that you aren't producing fine chips / dust. This is a good indicator that you aren't moving fast enough (feed) to keep the bit cutting well and are generating excessive heat. I've thrown a 1/2" collet spiral router bit when machining white oak for loose tenon joinery before and thought I had blown the bit all the way through the wood. Luckily not!

Since I've learned more about routers, bits, and speed/feed rates....I've reduced the number of burned bits and I've also reduced the number of collets that I've ruined. :)

If you need a replacement collet? Then I here is where I got my last collets from: elaire corp (http://elairecorp.com/index.html)

[Tom M King]

That's a pretty big cut for a 1/4" shaft too. I keep extra collets. They don't last as long as you think they would, or should.

[Jim Dwight]

I have three 1/2 inch PC collets and two 1/4 inch PC collets. I use them interchangably in 3 PC routers. But I do not make a cut as large as you describe with a 1/4 inch shaft router bit. I only use 1/4 inch shanks if absolutely necessary. With a good collet, it can work but there is a lot more area in a 1/2 inch collet.

But regardless of the size of the collet and cut, it is good to be sure the bit is not bottomed out in the collet and both are clean.

Design of the collet also matters. My little Bosch colt doesn't have a lot of motor but it has enough motor to slip the collet. It is not as good as my PCs. I have a junk Sears Craftsman somewhere that pretty much always slips.

[Wes Grass]

The Precise Bits collets and nuts are a step up from an OEM collet. But, I'm not a fan of their wrench. Never mind the runout claims, they pop apart easily to be cleaned or swapped for size.

But, they're nowhere near as universal as an ER, which is what CNC spindles generally use. The extra grip range of them makes them practical for use with drills, without needing an absurd number of collets. But it *IS* better to run a 1/2" collet on an endmill, vs the 13mm that comes in a set. Of course, if you *REALLY* need to hang onto a tool, you skip right past ER. The taper is too steep.

[Thomas McCurnin]

1/2" diameter bits have bigger surface area to grip and thus slip less.

[Jeff Bartley]

I’m happy to report that it went much better with the 1/2” collet and bit today. It really was too large a cut for a 1/4” bit. Makes ya wonder why the only bit sold at Lowe’s is the 1/4”? And why even make that bit with a 1/4” shaft in the first place?

I’ll have to pick up a new 1/4” collet anyways.

One more day with this ship lap!

[Jim Becker]

The 'Borg caters mostly to the DIY crowd when it comes to tooling and .25" shank tooling is more universal.

[Thomas Colson]

I keep replacement collets for my Bosch for this exact reason. Has happened in past, and I don't want to wait a week for a replacement.

[Alex Zeller]

I'm surprised you found a router bit at the local borg. They carry almost nothing. What they do have is going to be 1/4" and just a basic shape.

[Dave Sabo]

I'm surprised you found a router bit at the local borg. They carry almost nothing. What they do have is going to be 1/4" and just a basic shape.

Really ? Have you been to a borg lately ? :confused:

Your local orange flavored one has 38 in stock, and pretty much all the usual suspects are there. Including a couple with 1/2” shanks.
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Tools-Power-Tool-Accessories-Woodworking-Tool-Accessories-Router-Bits/DIABLO/Pick-Up-Today/N-5yc1vZc8y9Zqy9Z1z175a5?storeSelection=

The blue flavored one has just as many with even more 1/2” shank variety.

Now, do they have the selection that rockler or woodcraft or a specialty WW store has ? Nope. But they do have 6000+ places with the basic selection; so one is likely near you . Wherever you are.

[Curt Harms]

Speaking of the need to replace collets, I wonder how long replacement Porter Cable collets will remain available with the ending of (most?) router production. Maybe Elaire will sell a lot more Porter Cable collets.