Router bits sticking

[I_A_N]

Hi everyone,
I have had this problem from day one. I have a Mafel router motor, which is brilliant, but… when I come to take the bit out I end up having to force it out of the router, there is just no way I can take it out easier. Sometimes I have to jam it in the vice.
Does anyone have a tip for me?
Cheers Ian

 

[John Brown]

I'm no expert, but I have read that bottoming the cutter shank in the collet can cause this.

 

[I_A_N]

Thanks John, I’ll give that a try

 

[Sideways]

Loosen the collet with the spanner.
Unscrew the collet with your fingers until it becomes tight again.
Use the spanner a second time to loosen.

Proper router collets have a two stage action and second use of the spanner should free the cutter.

Just in case your previous routers didn't have this feature and it's unfamiliar to you.

 

[Daniel2]

Loosen the collet with the spanner.
Unscrew the collet with your fingers until it becomes tight again.
Use the spanner a second time to loosen.

Proper router collets have a two stage action and second use of the spanner should free the cutter.

Just in case your previous routers didn't have this feature and it's unfamiliar to you.

Very well explained.
That is how my Festool works.

 

[John Brown]

What he said.
I assumed that was common knowledge. My mistake.

 

[recipio]

Loosen the collet with the spanner.
Unscrew the collet with your fingers until it becomes tight again.
Use the spanner a second time to loosen.

Proper router collets have a two stage action and second use of the spanner should free the cutter.

Just in case your previous routers didn't have this feature and it's unfamiliar to you.

Never knew that. I thought my Makita routers were faulty.

 

[Distinterior]

Loosen the collet with the spanner.
Unscrew the collet with your fingers until it becomes tight again.
Use the spanner a second time to loosen.

Proper router collets have a two stage action and second use of the spanner should free the cutter.

Just in case your previous routers didn't have this feature and it's unfamiliar to you.

I thought ALL hand held routers utilised this feature on their collet's...?
I've never owned a router that didnt, put it that way!

I have a Festool OF2000 router (made by Mafell for Festool I was led to believe) in my router table and it certainly uses the double secure collet on it....

 

[I_A_N]

Thanks guys for all the help, I have never had a router until getting the mafell.
Now I know

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I never understood why my router seemed to loosen and then tighten the collet. If it is normal - why? - I assumed it was a manufacturing fault.

 

[deema]

The first release when you undo the router collet nut is the screw thread of the nut. It takes the load off the threads that secure it, think if it as a nut and bolt. You then undo the nut. The collet is retained in the nut but the nut can spin without turning the collet. When tightened with a router bit in it, the collet ‘locks’ into the taper of the spindle, the second undo of the nut pulls the collet out of the taper and releases the cutter.

 

[Sideways]

I have used at least one old Makita, a cheap clone type and I think also a Hitachi over the years that had inferior collets that didn't work as described.
If you're shopping for a good router, the quality of the collet is the first thing to look at. Fine tapers are self locking - just like a morse taper - and need some mechanical way of unlocking. Without the double action, a collet needs to have a more pronounced taper so that it won't wedge itself fast.

Incidentally on the same theme. If you ever fully dismantle a collet and it's nut for cleaning, always click the collet back into the nut before you reassemble. There will be a groove or split ring that holds them together. This is how the pull of the nut transfers to the sprung collet when unscrewing.

If you simply drop in the collet, then thread the nut on, add a cutter and tighten, you'll find that you can't get it apart again without all that drama that the OP described.

Exactly the same applies when machinists are using ER series collet holders on milling machines. Always click the collet into the nut first.

 

[MikeJhn]

Get a muscle chuck and never use a spanner again, if not put a rubber O ring in the bottom of the chuck to prevent bottoming.

 

[aforjeh]

Thanks guys for all the help, I have never had a router until getting the mafell.
Now I know

Took me several bouts of pulling bits out with chunky gloves and replacing my ‘faulty’ collet with a new one before I figured that out

 

[stuart little]

If all else fails - read the manuel!
Most quality bits have marks to indicate how far to insert them - eg: Trend

 

[I_A_N]

thanks for tip Stuart, I am actually in the line of work which creates manuals ect. but never read them myself
the above tips worked great and now I can change bits easily without it getting stuck.