router collet extender

[Justin Rapp]

I mostly finished my flattening sled. It has been slow progress from other project and time. I was hoping to not need a collect extension but it seems I will to get just a little more reach for thinner pieces of wood. I see them as cheap as $12.00 to $20 on Amazon, $30 at MLCS and $40ish from CMT, etc. I prefer quality, but CMTs looks the same as most of the rest.

So, with that said, any recommendations on a specific brand?

Thanks

Justin

[Patty Hann]

I mostly finished my flattening sled. It has been slow progress from other project and time. I was hoping to not need a collect extension but it seems I will to get just a little more reach for thinner pieces of wood. I see them as cheap as $12.00 to $20 on Amazon, $30 at MLCS and $40ish from CMT, etc. I prefer quality, but CMTs looks the same as most of the rest.

So, with that said, any recommendations on a specific brand?

Thanks
Justin

Axcaliber by Axminster Collet extension
Maybe a "buy once, cry once" purchase.

[John Kananis]

Justin, instead of extending the collet, you can use a substrate beneath the thinner pieces. Like a sheet of mdf for instance.

[John LoDico]

Justin, I'm at the same place you are in building a sled/flattening slabs. I'm going to get the MLCS extender just because it's a good brand and I'm a bit leery of the $11-12 ones and the potential for flex etc. I have a lot of flattening to do and figure the extra $20 is worth it in this case (although I'm usually always open to a bargain!)

[Richard Coers]

Adding a collet extender is going to greatly decrease the life of the bearings in the router. That long cantilever from the bottom bearing will really add to the load on the bearings. Hobby routers are not engineered to become a long cycle spindle, so order a few pairs of bearings before you go into production.

[Jim Becker]

I mostly finished my flattening sled. It has been slow progress from other project and time. I was hoping to not need a collect extension but it seems I will to get just a little more reach for thinner pieces of wood. I see them as cheap as $12.00 to $20 on Amazon, $30 at MLCS and $40ish from CMT, etc. I prefer quality, but CMTs looks the same as most of the rest.

So, with that said, any recommendations on a specific brand?

Thanks

Justin

Instead of extending things at the router end, make risers to hold the material higher. I just built my flattening setup so that it can handle 3" if need be. My next and final step is to create some risers that can slip onto the frame when needed to support the workpieces. In this way, you take away the risks that an extender brings for runout/vibration, etc.

The side benefit of this for my particular setup is that the table will also be used with the tracksaw and the risers will keep those workpieces up off the table frame and if they get damaged over time, they are "more disposable" than the entire table frame is.

[Justin Rapp]

Ok - I am convinced to try some risers before going with an extender.

[Jim Becker]

I actually got the idea from Jason of Bourbon Moth on the 'Tube as he uses a bunch of simple risers made from scrap two-by on top of his assembly table when he cuts sheet goods with a tracksaw. This is instead of the ever-popular piece of pink foam insulation method. He glues a short piece of dowel into a small piece of two-by so they can be kept in place with the dog holes in the table top. Now my new flattening/sawing/clamping table has an open grid, so rather than holes, I'll just use additional scrap to "hang" over the lateral members so they stay in place. I'll have some that are about 3/4" thick and some that are 1.5" thick which should cover me for anything I can think of wanting to process on the table with the flattening router.

[Justin Rapp]

I actually got the idea from Jason of Bourbon Moth on the 'Tube as he uses a bunch of simple risers made from scrap two-by on top of his assembly table when he cuts sheet goods with a tracksaw. This is instead of the ever-popular piece of pink foam insulation method. He glues a short piece of dowel into a small piece of two-by so they can be kept in place with the dog holes in the table top. Now my new flattening/sawing/clamping table has an open grid, so rather than holes, I'll just use additional scrap to "hang" over the lateral members so they stay in place. I'll have some that are about 3/4" thick and some that are 1.5" thick which should cover me for anything I can think of wanting to process on the table with the flattening router.

I don't have a track saw since the number of time I would have needed it so far is about 2 or 3 in the past year, so I find an alternative method. Most of the time I need sheet goods, I bring slightly over-size dimensions with me, and my local hardwood dealer would also cut them to exact size for me if needed in their shop for a nominal fee. Not that I wouldn't want to add a tracksaw to my tool collection, and i've looked at them a lot, I just cant justify the cost with my current needs.

[Jim Becker]

I understand. I was only using the tracksaw thing as an example as it was what got me thinking about how to deal with thinner material while flattening. The method of using risers for workpiece support, in other words. It's easy, cheap using scraps, and can have multiple thicknesses to cover a lot of bases.

[John TenEyck]

As others have said, raise the workpiece; don't use an extender. Flattening bits are big and put a lot of stress on the bearings as is. I haven't seen your sled design, but hopefully you've made it so the router carriage itself can index vertically.



They don't need to be very fancy to work well.

John