Source for REAL porter cable collets?

[Tom Bain]

I bought an aftermarket 1/2" collet for my 7518 and it's a piece of crap. Nearly had a 1/2" spiral carbide bit come out of the router in use, which would have been very, very bad . Does anyone know if/where you can still get genuine replacement parts?

Thanks.

[Stan Calow]

Tom I bought a OEM replacement collet for my PC690 at eReplacementparts.com but that was a couple of years ago.

PS I had the same thing happen last week with a 1/4" spiral bit. I tried it carefully three times after cleaning and tightening on two different routers (i.e, two collets) and it did the same thing. I switched to a straight bit and that worked fine, so I inferred it was about the spiral bit pulling itself up, perhaps because the cut was too deep for a first pass (1/4"). What you think? spiral.jpg

[Rick Potter]

You probably already know this, but it is a good time to remind us all that spiral bits have a tendency to pull themselves out of a collet. This makes it doubly important to NOT bottom the bit in the collet. Always pull it out a bit before tightening.

[Jason Evans]

These are not made by porter cable, but are more well made than they make. I used to use these with my old porter cable router. I linked the page for the 7500 series. They are very well made. I never had a problem.

https://www.precisebits.com/gateways/ColletsNutsHome.htm

[Rich Engelhardt]

You probably already know this, but it is a good time to remind us all that spiral bits have a tendency to pull themselves out of a collet. This makes it doubly important to NOT bottom the bit in the collet. Always pull it out a bit before tightening.

I drop a space ball into the collet before I stick the bit in. Not only does it prevent the bit from bottoming out, it gives me a repeatable ( and pretty accurate to boot!) starting depth.
I can't take credit for this - I picked it up here on SMC.

[Tom Bain]

Good points on the tendency to pull out. The bit was definitely not bottomed out, but I was pushing it pretty hard and might need to take a lighter first pass.

[Dave Sabo]

These are not made by porter cable, but are more well made than they make. I used to use these with my old porter cable router. I linked the page for the 7500 series. They are very well made. I never had a problem.

https://www.precisebits.com/gateways/ColletsNutsHome.htm

In addition, these guys make execellent collets:

https://www.elairecorp.com/routercollets.html

[Tom M King]

I plan to try one of these, when the last one in the big router quits.

https://www.musclechuck.com/

Others listed here bookmarked, for future use.

[Dave Sabo]

I plan to try one of these, when the last one in the big router quits.

https://www.musclechuck.com/

Others listed here bookmarked, for future use.

I know many are happy with them , but I am not one of them.

It grips well enough, but the added vibration and noise just aren’t acceptable to me. And yes , I’ve followed the directions with two different mc’s on two different but identical PC routers. All with the same results.

YMMV.

[Rick Potter]

Love mine. The brand is Excalibur though.

To Dave's experience...I got mine years ago when they first came out, and had to return the first one as it was not balanced right. The second one, used on the same router worked great (PC 690).

[Alan Lightstone]

These are not made by porter cable, but are more well made than they make. I used to use these with my old porter cable router. I linked the page for the 7500 series. They are very well made. I never had a problem.

https://www.precisebits.com/gateways/ColletsNutsHome.htm

I use the same one on my PC router. It is very well made. Way better than the collet that came with the PC router.