Thread: Jammed collet

I thought Festool was like Rolls Royce.

You phone the man and a nice gentlemen collects it in an unmarked vehicle, apologies and returns it fixed that same day.

Ted, Are you saying that you can't turn the collet nut at all? This is rather odd because turning the nut is not a function of the collet's shape or design. That's just standard machine threads. For the first 1/2 to full turn, the collet nut is not even pulling on the collet yet. This is where other new users have been confused because they feel the nut is loose, but it actually hasn't started pulling the collet out of the taper yet.

The ratcheting lock can be a little confusing, and I have caught myself turning the nut in the wrong direction because of it. Are you sure you are not tightening it?

Because the collet has such a steep taper, it is not necessary to tighten the nut with a lot of force.

Powertoolman
I'm definitely turning the collar in the right direction and I can't move the retainer nut at all. As I said earlier I did tighten it (I was using a 19mm dovetail bit) but not excessively so - I had similar bits come loose when equally tight in my Makita.
Ted

I have already discussed this with Ted, but thought it might be of use to others in the forum.
The issue here has nothing to do with not knowing which way you are turning the nut.
It is a problem concerning the positioning of the collet within the nut. The OF1400 and OF2000 require that you ensure that the collet is seated "just so." Failure to do this results in the collet potentially moving out of alignment while the router is in use. As a result, when you try to remove the bit and the end of the run, you cannot unlock the nut. If you don't want to sacrifice an expensive bit, this requires Festool service.
The problem is not uncommon and I can vouch for the fact that an 8mm collet/nut assembly straight out of its packet can ( and has ) result in this.
Be very careful when changing from one collet to another and i stongly suggest buying a collet/nut assembly for each size of bit you will use, or stick to a 12.7 collet/nut and use reducers. Beware they do not attempt to charge you for the pleasure of having your router rendered useless, having extra downtime and the router bits and replacement collet which you have lost. Better still, if you can, buy a Makita 3612C. Half the cost twice the reliability.

Bacuase the taper on the collet is very steep, you shouldn't have problems with bits coming loose, but it is important with any router to keep the collet and arbor tapers clean and free from corrosion. A dirty, pitted, or corroded taper will prevent the collet from properly seating.

As for your current problem, I get the impression this is a new router, and therefore is under warranty. If you are positive that you are not making any mistakes, then use a bigger hammer. Once you get your bit out, send the router in for warranty repair to see what caused this.

One thought that comes to mind is that you may have had sawdust in the threads when the collet nut was installed. Some woods are acidic and will corrode the collet if left in place for too long. I used to have problems with my old Bosch routers for this very reason. Once I determined the cause, it was just a matter of keeping them cleaner.

New Edit: Flowboy, I did not see your posting as I was typing mine. I am not familiar with what you are describing, but I am starting to recall (I think) a conversation with David McGibbon (Festool Repair) about collets that were not fully seated into the collet nuts. Could this be what you were referring to?

The collets are supposed to be captive in the collet nut, and if I recall, David was saying that some users were separating the collet from the nut, and this caused some problem, which I no longer recall the details.

Originally Posted by Powertoolman

Bacuase the taper on the collet is very steep, you shouldn't have problems with bits coming loose, but it is important with any router to keep the collet and arbor tapers clean and free from corrosion. A dirty, pitted, or corroded taper will prevent the collet from properly seating.

As for your current problem, I get the impression this is a new router, and therefore is under warranty. If you are positive that you are not making any mistakes, then use a bigger hammer. Once you get your bit out, send the router in for warranty repair to see what caused this.

One thought that comes to mind is that you may have had sawdust in the threads when the collet nut was installed. Some woods are acidic and will corrode the collet if left in place for too long. I used to have problems with my old Bosch routers for this very reason. Once I determined the cause, it was just a matter of keeping them cleaner..

I'm speechless

Originally Posted by Powertoolman

New Edit: Flowboy, I did not see your posting as I was typing mine. I am not familiar with what you are describing, but I am starting to recall (I think) a conversation with David McGibbon (Festool Repair) about collets that were not fully seated into the collet nuts. Could this be what you were referring to?

The collets are supposed to be captive in the collet nut, and if I recall, David was saying that some users were separating the collet from the nut, and this caused some problem, which I no longer recall the details.

I don't know what they do over there, but collets are available separately to nuts here. So you can interchange them. So, I had a collet move within a nut, which, as a unit, came straight from its pack. Therefore its not a necessarily a user issue. On speaking to the National Marketing puppet here, the first thing he tried to do was pin me on that. He was quite taken aback, but not as much as when I demanded a certificate of safety since the work was done by a sub contractor. I relly do do my homework! It took 13 days to get my router back and I was not impressed. In fact of the 8 Festool tools I own, only two have worked correctly right out the box. I am amazed that you were unaware of the collet issue. It's clearly warned against in the manual we have. Maybe you should update yours

Flowboy, I don't know if you have an older model router or not, but the current collets are not separate from the nuts. The two pieces are locked together with a retaining ring, and separating them does take quite a bit of persuasion. To the best of my knowledge, separate collets and nuts are not available.

Regardless what was designed in the past, at the time of the writing of my manual, all collets were intregral to the nut. The fact that your manual specifically mentioned this tends to indicate it is an older model.

Got me again. Guess your waaay to smart for me. I thought June last year was recent. BTW, please have a look at Festool Aus router pages. Seems also that the marketing guy at TT was unaware, as was his senior engineer of this new development. Had enough now, really don't like being spoken down to. Got a banana to learn to peel.

To all

I've discovered the problem and like they say "a tradesman should never blame his tools"! This is what happened.
I was using a 19mm dovetail bit, a guide bush and a Leigh jig to cut sliding dovetails. The dovetail bit I was using doesn't have an extended shank (unlike the Leigh ones) and hence the collet was down inside the dust collection shroud. I couldn't withdraw it much before the dovetail contacted the guidebush.
Because the shalf locks with a ratchet device, and hence only one spanner is used, I'd never noticed that the router shaft also has one pair of flats machined on it with the same distance across the flats as the collet. In other words the collet can be opened with two identical spanners and embarassing as it is to say the spanner was on the wrong set of flats (I could only see and get at the right set by unhooking the dust collector and retracting the bit a couple of mm - it's tight)! When I discovered this needless to say problem immediately solved.
I'm going to have to claim a "senior's moment" on this one!
Thanks for your interest.
Ted

Ok Guys, settle down a bit please with the insults.

Al

Ted,
Thanks for the update because you really had me baffled with this one. I'm glad you didn't have to take the Big Hammer approach, as this is a last resort. Although I have heard rumors that when the little Festool warranty elves show up at your door they will clean your shop and even make you breakfast in the morning, but that is just a rumor.

Originally Posted by Flowboy

It's clearly warned against in the manual we have.

Is it mentioned in the PDF manual available from here. Even though I don't own a Festool router I'm still curious as to the problem you're describing, and I'm having trouble picturing it.

I suggest that Anthony may be the best person to answer this question

Morning everyone,

I have been watching this thread with interest because I have never had a Festool collet jam. Glad you got your issue sorted Ted.

I am not sure what the earlier OF 2000 collets were like exactly, but the current collets are really a single assembly. As Flowboy indicates, they can be broken down into their component parts which are: collet nut, collet, o-ring. You should only use the collet fully assembled with the o-ring neatly seated. Personally, I avoid pulling them apart as it's a bit of a pain putting it back together correctly with the o-ring seater correctly.

You can buy the OF 2000 locking nut separately, but this is an older version and intended to replace a spanner damaged nut if that has happened to you. The OF 2000 now uses the same collet as the OF 1400.

Images attached include:
- Parts diagram of OF 1400 collet showing three components.
- Picture of assembled OF 1400 collet.
- Picture of the OF 2000 collet locking nut.

Edit - the original OF 2000 collets are only two parts, no o-ring.