Woodpeckers is manufacturing/grinding their own carbide spiral router bits.

[jeffinsgf]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] Also worth mentioning: If you have more than one router and keep a particular router bit installed in each router on a mostly permanent basis, make a habit of checking to make sure the collet is still tight before each session. The collet can (and does) loosen up over time. Loosen the collet nut, check to make sure the bit is inserted properly and retighten.

An extra bit of effort, but significantly less time than reworking a mission critical part.

Don't ask how I know.  [eek]

Ron

Ron, by any chance, was the router where the collet released a cordless palm router? Those brushless motors that stop immediately make me nervous.

 

[rvieceli]

Jeff, nope just a corded Dewalt trim router with a 1/4 inch solid carbide down cut spiral. It's on a plunge base and I use it to cut out for inlays, so it runs into and through a LOT of funky grain. Not surprising that it might loosen enough to allow the bit to slip over a long period of use without checking.

Ron

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Jeff, nope just a corded Dewalt trim router with a 1/4 inch solid carbide down cut spiral. It's on a plunge base and I use it to cut out for inlays, so it runs into and through a LOT of funky grain. Not surprising that it might loosen enough to allow the bit to slip over a long period of use without checking.

Ron

It's not likely with a down spiral bit. In the decades of router use I have done, literally the only bit I have ever had move was an up spiral 1/4". They have a tendency to pull down, much like a drill bit when breaking through the far side of the part.

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] that's the "they say" I was thinking of, but couldn't remember the name right off hand.
I was typing my first reply while half-watching the TV in the background, not fully concentrating enough to search it out. I have not gone as far as actually using the O-rings (they sell them) but I do always pull out on the bit, assuming it is long enough to bottom out. Many times, that is not even an issue because the flutes would enter the collet before reaching that far.

Cheese qoute: That sounds like a quote by the owner of a Model T who religiously hand started his car every day until it backfired once and it broke his arm...it just takes once to learn a lesson.

That is exactly why the president (at the time) of Cadillac commissioned the creation/invention of the electric starter.  It happened to a lady he knew. It was either his wife or a neighbor's wife? I don't recall immediately.

But it follows some of the advice that I always give to new hires at the shop. "Learn the best practices and use them. Just because you have gotten away with something for a long time, does not guarantee future success."  and "Bad practices become bad habits"

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] Also worth mentioning: If you have more than one router and keep a particular router bit installed in each router on a mostly permanent basis, make a habit of checking to make sure the collet is still tight before each session. The collet can (and does) loosen up over time. Loosen the collet nut, check to make sure the bit is inserted properly and retighten.

An extra bit of effort, but significantly less time than reworking a mission critical part.

Don't ask how I know.  [eek]

Ron

That's a good mention Ron as I keep a round-over bit in a MFK 700 almost on a permanent basis...thanks for the advice.

In my last post to Packard, I tried to include a photo of the "accident" I had when milling aluminum slots in 8020. The carbide bit came loose and really messed up the aluminum and then proceeded to "chip its way" to unusefullness. The 8020 was a mess and the new $30 router bit was toast. I'm just glad the carbide bit didn't break, at 14,000 RPM who knows what would have happened.

I couldn't find the picture of the damage but this is what I was doing.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

[attachimg=3]

 

[Crazyraceguy]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] Also worth mentioning: If you have more than one router and keep a particular router bit installed in each router on a mostly permanent basis, make a habit of checking to make sure the collet is still tight before each session. The collet can (and does) loosen up over time. Loosen the collet nut, check to make sure the bit is inserted properly and retighten.

An extra bit of effort, but significantly less time than reworking a mission critical part.

Don't ask how I know.  [eek]

Ron

That's a good mention Ron as I keep a round-over bit in a MFK 700 almost on a permanent basis...thanks for the advice.

I do the same thing. That is in part (mostly, who am I kidding) why I have so many routers. Virtually all of them have a permanent bit. I even use different brands for different things, to keep from mixing up the cut. I ruined a part one time, years ago, by picking up the wrong router and just cutting without looking.
I had 3 routers out, on that project, 2 the same brand, with very different cutters. It did not go well. That 2 seconds of not looking cost me about 3 hours of repair time.

The only routers I have that don't have a certain bit are the OF1400 and a Porter Cable 690. I just prefer to keep the OF1400 ready/available for anything and the 690 is just because I don't like it very much. It's the least-used of any router I have.

 

[rmwarren]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] I've had spiral bits pull loose more than once when routing AL when I'd swear I couldn't have cranked the collet any tighter. I'm not sure if it was the cause but I suspect the combination of spiral flutes and stickiness of AL overwhelm the collet's holding strength. DW611 with good aftermarket collet/nut.

Seems to have happened when I got cocky and started pushing the setup harder, again seemingly increasing to pulling forces.

RMW

 

[TSO_Products]

Fellows: -
this particular FOG thread is a keeper!
Thank you all for posting here.

It will become a permanent fixture among our growing collection of (internal to TSO) Work Instructions.
Also a great reminder that GOOD HABITS are YOUR FRIEND!

Hans

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Years ago the owner of the remodeling company I was working for at the time showed up on a Monday morning with his right hand/arm bandaged nearly to the elbow. Apparently he was working in his Shop at the table saw, making plunge cuts by setting the blade to a particular height, then dropping the sheet of plywood down on the spinning blade. Needless to say, on one of the cuts something went wrong, the board went "that" way and his hand came into contact with the blade, fully amputating three fingers. The medical staff were able to stitch the fingers back on, I have no idea whether he ever returned to full functionality or not.

When I asked him why the heck he was doing it that way, his response was "Well, I've been doing it that way for thirty years and never had a problem!"......

 

[ryanjg117]

Wondering if anyone is having problems with Woodpeckers down-cut spiral bits slipping out of their collets? I'm using the 1/4" DC spiral bit from Woodpeckers and my ER20 collets (non-Chinese, super precision Techniks ER20 collets).

I'm having consistent issues with my ER20 toolholders being unable to "grip" these bits. As I'm cutting on the CNC, the down-cut bits actually extend out of the collet, cutting deeper than intended and ruining projects.

I am suspecting it might be the high degree of polish that Woodpeckers adds to the shank? I don't have this issue with Amana, Whiteside, or any other bits I've used in the machine, even the cheap stuff off Amazon.

 

[jeffinsgf]

Ryan, please contact Customer Service and share your experience. They'll either have an answer or find one.