Universal Centrotec / Standard Bit holder that fits a Centrotec Chuck

[jbasen]

I read a post a while back that the Milwaukee Quick-Loc bit holders would securely hold either a standard 1/4" hex bit or a Centrotec bit.  Sorry I couldn't find this post again to give credit to the original writer.  The problem I had with this was that the Milwaukee Quick-Loc wouldn't itself fit into a Centrotec chuck.  Then I read halfinchshy's blog entry on modifying a standard 1/4" hex bit to fit into a Centrotec chuck and I decided to try modifying the Milwaukee Quick-Loc.

I couldn't find one of the Milwaukee Quick-Locs in any of the local hardware or big box stores so I tried a number of other adapters and none that I tested would accept or securely hold a Centrotec bit like the Milwaukee was supposed to so I ordered the short 3" one off eBay for $10 including shipping.  

I practiced halfinchshy's procedure on a standard screwdriver bit before trying to modify the Milwaukee Quick-Loc.   Once I felt confident in the process I attacked the Quick-Loc.  The first challenge was that the diameter of the Quick-Loc was to large to fit into the chuck on my drill press.  I solved this by simply putting a standard screw driver bit into the Quick-Loc and clamping that in the drill press chuck instead.  There is a slight bit of wobble but it didn't impact the outcome.  The second thing I found was that the metal of the Quick-Loc hex base is much softer than a screw driver bit so you will take off metal much faster.  The only other challenge was that the length of the hex shaft of the Quick-loc was about 1/4" shorter than a Centrotec bit base so I had to file down some of the shoulder of Quick-Loc.  This will make more sense when you see the picture I've attached of the modified Quick-Loc.  

The Quick-Loc now fits very securely into the Centrotec Chuck and I can use either a Centrotec bit or a standard 1/4" hex bit in the chuck without having to swap different adapters.  The Milwaukee Quick-Loc also holds a standard 1/4" hex bit much more securely than the Festool adapters.

I'm going to throw some flat black paint on the Quick-Loc so I don't get any rust but I took the picture before doing that so it is clear the shiny areas are where I filed off metal.

I've added a 2nd photo showing the how everything fits together in my T18

Thanks

Jay

 

[jbasen]

Just wanted to let people know that to make this a little clearer I modified my original post to add a picture showing how it all fits together in a T-18 with the Centrotec chuck.

Thanks

Jay

 

[mrboult]

Interesting, But I don't quite see the point of this. . . . Why would you want to put a Centrotec bit into that Milwaukee adaptor rather than straight into the Centrotec chuck?  As for standard hex bits, Festool have a couple of adaptors already. Am I being silly and missing something here?  [tongue]

 

[elfick]

Interesting, But I don't quite see the point of this. . . . Why would you want to put a Centrotec bit into that Milwaukee adaptor rather than straight into the Centrotec chuck?  As for standard hex bits, Festool have a couple of adaptors already. Am I being silly and missing something here?  [tongue]

Locking ball detent bits? Festool doesn't have an adapter for those.

 

[jbasen]

Just so you can go back and forth between centrotec and non centrotec bits very quickly while working without have to play games with chucks and other adapters. 

I personally have a large stockpile of non-centrotec locking screw driver bits, square drive bits, drill bits, etc from before I bought my T-18.  Now I'm starting to collect some Centrotec bits.  I simply found it a pain to go back and forth and this solved my problem.  I also didn't like all the slop in the Festool adapters for non-centrotec bits.  The Milwaukee adapter holds both centrotec and non-centrotec bits tightly and securely.

Hope this makes more sense now

Jay

 

[Davej]

Festool do make a locking 1/4" bit holder.  The bits have a wire detent for the holder . Unless you pull the collar back you can't get them out. I have the protool version , and it's slimmer than the milwaukee.
Dave

 

[jbasen]

I have that adapter and just found that it while it does securely lock the bit in there is a lot of side to side slop.  I found the Milwaukee adapter holds a bit much more tightly.

Jay

 

[Gotoh]

It doesn't fit *in* the Cetrotec chuck out of the box, but the Wera 889/4/1 K Rapidaptor sits very nicely in its place, allowing me to slap regular old hex bits in whenever I need to (which is frequently, as I own only one Centrotec bit and don't see myself running out to buy a lot more of them any time soon). Wobble is virtually nonexistent--substantially less than the hex chuck on my impact driver--and it works perfectly in the eccentric chuck, too.

 

[tazprime38]

I've just got my new PDC it comes with a normal hex bit adaptor.  Its the magnetic one and not the locking one. I sadly have sold the locking bit adaptor I had this week as I sold it with my 12V Cdd drill.

So n0ow I need to do the same thing and get a bit holder and convert it to fit the centrotec chuck. I have been looking at getting the wiha centrofix bit adaptor as it can lock in all types of bits ring, indent, ball dent and centrotec.  The problem I see is the shank looks a bit short just like the milwaukee bit holder. Its description in the Axminster catalogue states there is no wobble to any type of bit inserted and is especially good for long bits. Like a lot of festool owners I have slot of snappy and other hex bits which work fine and I will not waste money replacing them with centrotec bits.

I have been looking at other bit holders from felo, dart, wera etc and the best one seems like the wiha centrofix. I cant find the milwaukee one. I'll have a look at the wiha centrofix bit holder next week and see if the shank can be extended like the milwaukee bit holder. I hope it can and if it can thats the one I'll be getting. I will also practice the conversion on other bits first to get the hang of it.

Can someone post the links to the threads that show hex bits being converted to centrotec?

 

[eddomak]

Hi, here's the video:


I found that I couldn't make any real progress on impact rated shanks, but "standard' was fine. Instead of a drill press I just used the PDC itself.

 

[tazprime38]

Thank you  eddomak

 

[tazprime38]

I have just converted my wera kraftform bit holder to centrotec so i can use it with my PDC. This is longer than a normal bit holder but this is all I had. I will be getting a wiha centrofix bit holder to convert if I can get one with a longer hex shank as the standard one seems too short. If no luck then I will get another wera like the one I have but with a shorther shank. Both the wera and wiha accept all types of bits including centrotec.

I used files to start with but this was taking forever.  So then I used a sharpening stone which completed the job in seconds. I held the bit in my PDC and had it on full speed while grinding.

I also practised on a 50mm posidrive bit. Still need to grind more of that.

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[tazprime38]

I have just coverted a 75mm Wera Rapidadator bit holder to centrotec. It works but has an issue due to rushing the grinding of the indent which has rounded the edges. As the edges of the indent have been rounded they do not have a sharp corner edge.

This means that if you pull the bit holder hard it will slip out of the centrotec chuck. The factory machined indents have sharp edges that prevent the ball indents from rolling over and prevent the bit from being pulled out.

The two wera bit holders that I have converted can be pulled  out with force but when using in the drill with the centrotec chuck, they stay secure even when inserting and removing bits in the wera holder. So this is not a major problem but one that should not occurr if care is taken grinding the indent.  I think maybe if I used a square edged file the same width of the indent at the start then changing to a smaller round file then I would have got sharp edges. Will try it out on some cheap bits.

What would you guys suggest would be the best way of grinding a new indent and what types of file or stone should be used?

 

[Cheese]

In the picture I've attached it appears that the new groove you've added is not the same diameter (depth) as the original factory groove. Thus the detent balls don't full engage the groove and are ramping out early. I'd just revisit the new groove and cut it to the same depth as the original.

I'd turn it on a lathe but you could put it in a drill press and then use a Dremel type tool with a small grinding wheel.

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[tazprime38]

Cheese, you may be correct on that. I'll have to find a better sized file or stone to do that. Will post the results here once done. It may be some time as I may have to buy the correct size file or stone.

 

[ifit]

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-trade-bitz-qr-universal-shank-magnetic-holder

 

[tazprime38]

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-trade-bitz-qr-universal-shank-magnetic-holder

I have looked at that and played with it at Axminster. I wanted to check if ut was a one handed operation to change bits. It was not, so did not get it. I can't remember ecactly how it worked but I think you had yo pull back on the collar to change bits which means two hands. The wera rapidaptor is truly a one handed bit change operation so I adapted those. Also the wera bits locks all types of bits positively. It also accepts centrotec bits but are hekd by the magnet only not the ball dents.

The axminster bit otherwise is great probably better than the festool one and is only about £5.99.