router collet

[Ed Edwards]

Hello All,
I'm sorry I posted this in the classafied area by mistake.

What are the pros and cons, if any, for leaving a router bit chucked in a collet for an extended period of time ?

Thanks, Ed

[Erik Loza]

I don't use a handheld router much but CNC machines use ER collets and those tools are essentially chucked 24/7 for years at a time, with no ill effects.

Erik

[Jim Becker]

No ill effects that I can think of. I very often leave the last cutter used in my router table mounted, but below the table.

[Mark Hockenberg]

Hi Ed,

I leave some chucked for extended periods of time. Generally a dovetail bit that I struggled to get dialed in, etc.

Others I pull out immediately after use. I used to think leaving them in caused them to become more difficult to remove, but I don't really think that's the case.

Sometimes I put in a bit, perform a routing operation, and 10 minutes later it's stuck in the collet.

I've come to think it's more a function of the collet itself - Some just seem to want to release. That's when I tap the shank with my collet wrench.

Cheers,
Mark

[johnny means]

I try my damndest not to remove bits if I don't need to. My dovetail bits may stay chucked up for years. Never notices any issues.

[Richard Coers]

Wide open question. If your shop is in a garage in Florida, rust will be an issue. That's the worst case scenario. More information and we can narrow down any problems.

[Lee Schierer]

I've never had an issue with leaving bits chucked up for long periods of time in any of my routers with the exception of my original Craftsman router. The collet would sometimes stick and not release when the nut was loosened. The cure was to tap sideways on the bit shaft from different angles until it decided to release. Cleaning the parts has no effect on this problem, it still locks up every once in a while to this day.

My Freud router has a groove machined int the nut that the collet snaps into. When you loosen the nut it pulls the collet up out of the taper.

[Ed Edwards]

Router Collet

Thanks a lot for all of the responses!

A friend and I were kicking around the question, other than high humidity possible causing rust, we just wondered.

What a GREAT place to get the right answers and so much more.

Thanks Again, Ed