Festool router collet extension?

[Acrobat]

Are there any router collet extensions available for the Of1010 and the Of1400?
I sometimes find when using the mfs, the depth of it (16mm) does not give me enough depth for the router bit to do its job, and I have rather gingerly placed the odd short router bit a little out and not seated as deep as usual to try give me an extra few mm's. I do not like doing this and have always been careful to have enough of the shaft in to be held secure but it is dodgy and a nuisance to say the least.
If Festool do not make one, do any others fit ?
Any recommended?

 

[Acrobat]

Bump...
Has no one has any info on a festool router collet extension or compatable one?

 

[richk]

This might be what you're looking for, but I have no experience with it. Is the use of an extension more dangerous?

amazon link

 

[Bohdan]

I bought one of the supposedly better ones but it increased the vibration in my router so much that I never used it again.

A much better idea is to just buy longer cutters.

 

[Stone Message]

I had a potentially very serious incident with a router collet extension. My router table at the time was such that I needed the collet extension in order to be able to change cutters without too much fuss. I have no idea what failed first but it ended up with a very chunky piece of metal flying at considerable speed across the workshop. The very solid looking collet extension was bent, the router collet was in several pieces and the Dewalt 625 was destroyed as the shaft was bent.

After that I still need to use a collet extension and so I took some advice at an Axminster store and bought their own make. I used to have 3 collet extensions (1/2", 8 mm and 1/4") but the Axminster one needed just the extra inserts in order to take the different size cutter shanks.

Peter

 

[charley1968]

I'd get a longer cutter or a bearing-guided cutter for the final depth,if possible.

 

[greg mann]

Search for a post by Steve Rowe on the Eliminator RC. I have that unit for my OF2000 which uses the same collet as the OF1400. It is a much better designed extension than any others I have seen as it does not rely on a 1/2 inch shank held in the original collet but rather replaces the collet and nut assembly altogether. This is essentially the same concept applied with the big dovetail cutters used with the Ligna timber-frame fixtures to hog off huge amounts of material.

Steve has a short video regarding this accessory and why he likes it. Good info, IMHO.

There are lots of warnings about using extensions and how they may effect bearings and all but the reality is the issue comes from the lack of rigidity with the 1/2 inch shank on the lesser quality units. Rigidity is effected exponentially to the cross section of the tool so that smaller shank is far less rigid than the much larger cross section of the Eliminator design. Whether you achieve the cut length by using a longer tool or by using an extender of good design, if the cuts being taken are of the same load, the impact on the router's bearings is the same. That said, any vibration caused by a bad extender or an excessively long tool would not be good for the bearings.

Conclusion? I would much rather use a short tool in the Eliminator extender than a long tool in the original collet.

 

[Acrobat]

The Eliminator RC is interesting.
I'll pop into my local Festool shop in the next day or so and see if they recommend anything, otherwise I may get that Eliminator. If I go with the Eliminator chuck then I guess it gives an extension to all my current router bits so i won't have to buy new longer versions of what I have already.
thanks

 

[richk]

Here's what I found browsing around the web:

rowe's video review of the collet chuck replacement

another review

the manufacturer of the chuck, who sells direct