Thread: Frozen/Jammed/Stuck collet

Try putting all round pressure on the reducing collet (all leaves at once if you can - I have used a pair of Vicegrips to apply even pressure on all the sides of the collet (play with the width of the opening and angles to achieve this after putting masking tape on the collet to protect it) and leave it for a few hours with some WD 40 squirted around the line between the reducing collet and the collet. You may still need to yank a bit but it shoud come out.

Bugger!
I sometimes have die grinder bits jam in the collet, even with the outer part removed. My fix is to give the bit a short, sharp clout (with a soft hammer, or a lump of wood) inwards! Not sideways, but straight in, and that usually loosens the grip. I put it down to vibrations tightening it more than the spanners.

Good luck!

Yeah! Exactly as Andy said but I would try hitting the reducing sleve directly INWARD before hitting the bit.

Have the same problem with the die grinders also, as these things cop a real flogging. Never bottom your bits in the collet because when they do jam you have no where to go in the tapping them in stakes .

Good luck

There's a product called 'penetrine' which works well. Its very thin & gets into all sorts of places but I fear it might only be available from a specialist engineering shop.

Before you do that though, try heating the outer shaft with a little blowtorch or some such. I have one that has a needle point flame at 1300 deg C. Sometimes you see them available with a cigarette lighter for a fuel source.

I'll bet you said, "By gee, that's a shame, looks what happened!"

Good luck.

I have tried the tap method, but I can't get at the collet due to the perfectly sized bearing that conceals it just nicely and the very lip of the spindle......
Off to buy some vice grips in the morning.........If that fails, will try the small burner idea.
And Keith, yes that is incredibly close to what was said............. You must have been a fly on the wall.......
Thanks for all the suggestions you have come up with.

Instead of applying heat to the spindle which might soften it consider heating your bit to expand it in the adapter and then shock cooling it with a penetrating oil. A slide hammer hooked to a pair of vicegrips will pull most stuck bits. You are way ahead of the game damaging a 1/4" bit than your spindle. You need to use a product like automotive brake cleaner to be sure you have removed all oil from your collet when finished.

No way I was going to let the stuck collet beat me. Took a bit of work with a tool similar to vicegrips called a viper grip and plenty of WD40. Vipergrips seem to have a more effective grip than the traditional visegrips.
I have managed to remove the collet from the spindle and the jammed reducer and by now extremely stuffed bit from the collet. To be honest, I cannot really justify calling the wreckage inside the reducer a bit, more like a extremely twisted piece of what used to be a pretty shiny and newish straight bit and bearing that no longer spins or does much of anything really. They sure don't make solid carbide like they used too.......
Not going to risk putting the reducer back into the collet so I will lash out on a new reducer to celebrate. I sure know how to have a good time......
I wasn't sure what Plan B was going to be, but I sure wasn't keen on the 1300 degrees and burning torch idea....... Not saying it wouldn't work, but I am no metallurgist so wasn't keen on heating the spindle and then worrying about having removed the strength in the metal spindle and the possible consequences each time I turned the tool on. Knowing that there is no unusual additional wear and tear, particularly rapidly induced wear and tear is what lets me have confidence in my power tools.
Thanks again for all the suggestions.