# 1/2 inch collet for 320-17542



## joea (Dec 8, 2018)

Need (want) to make some tongue and grooves for a panel I'm building. Got a couple of Craftsman routers the 320-17542 being variable speed.

Since most of the router bit sets for t&g seem to be 1/2 inch, I am looking for a 1/2 inch collet for that router. It seems to have only come with a 1/4 inch, but the manual says it can take either. 

I don't want to buy one and hope it works, so asking if anyone knows what will work.

Edit - seems the part number may be 3550721000 which some say came with the router. Guess I can go hunt for it and hope, as the outlets I checked all seem to list it as backordered.


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## joea (Dec 8, 2018)

joea said:


> Need (want) to make some tongue and grooves for a panel I'm building. Got a couple of Craftsman routers the 320-17542 being variable speed.
> 
> Since most of the router bit sets for t&g seem to be 1/2 inch, I am looking for a 1/2 inch collet for that router. It seems to have only come with a 1/4 inch, but the manual says it can take either.
> 
> ...


While I have found the case and the original packing materials, the 1/2 inch collet is not to be found. I hope someone can provide a source or interchange number as none of the usual suspects seem to stock it or have a time frame for delivery.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

welcome to the forums N/A...
use a Stacked Slotting Set w/ a ¼'' arbor or a fixed slot cutter......
most everybody that makes router bits has them...
stay away from MCLS...

.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Joe I tried looking the manufacturer code up (320) but none of the lists had that number. 315 which is the most common Sears router maker is Ryobi. Try posting a picture of it. As long as the picture is in your hard drive you can post it even though you have less than 10 posts. We've discovered lately that there really aren't all that many different collets out there and it's possible that it's the same as someone else's. With Sears you never know but we've found that Bosch, DeWalt, and Hitachi use one collet on a number of their models, My Hitachi M12V used the same collet as an older Makita and an old DW of mine used an older model PC collet so it's possible someone else used yours too.


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## joea (Dec 8, 2018)

I was looking at the Freud set but did not see it in 1/4 inch. Some of the user comments on the 1/4 items I found, mostly cheap, had comments about them bending, or worse, almost immediately.

Fortunately, I just found the 1/2 collet set, clean, in the bag, close to where I had stowed the box. 

For reference, attached are pictures of the set and of the collet by itself

Thanks for the replies.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

It looks very close to the collet that fits the Bosch 1617 among many other Bosch routers as well as a bunch of DeWalts, and some Hitachi routers. If you can find someone with one of those routers then it might be worth comparing and then trying to interchange them if they look like they will. This thread has a list of the routers that use the 1617 type collet: https://www.routerforums.com/tool-reviews/131393-bosch-dw-hitachi-collets.html Be careful with the collets you have because getting a replacement from Sears or ereplacement parts might not be an option. We see a lot of people coming to the forum trying to find replacements for their Sears routers.


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## joea (Dec 8, 2018)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> It looks very close to the collet that fits the Bosch 1617 among many other Bosch routers as well as a bunch of DeWalts, and some Hitachi routers. If you can find someone with one of those routers then it might be worth comparing and then trying to interchange them if they look like they will. This thread has a list of the routers that use the 1617 type collet: . . . Be careful with the collets you have because getting a replacement from Sears or ereplacement parts might not be an option. We see a lot of people coming to the forum trying to find replacements for their Sears routers.


It does look very much like it. Appears the Bosch collet may not protrude above the nut as much and may be a bit longer overall, but as long as the threads are the same it should likely work OK. 

You are quite correct that finding that exact part, new, could be impossible. I even called Sears parts direct and they say they cannot get it from the source. All the other online sources seemed happy to charge my card and put it on order. However, in each case, that was for the collet part number, not for "the assembly". I did not come up with that part number at all, so, who knows.

I would be happy to take some measurements of what I have, and compare it to the Bosch, if someone happens to have one they care to measure and post. Not inclined to buy one just to test it.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

If I remember correctly it's a 19mm shaft with a thread pitch of 1.0 mm. If you get a measurement I'll go out to the shop and double check.


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## joea (Dec 8, 2018)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> If I remember correctly it's a 19mm shaft with a thread pitch of 1.0 mm. If you get a measurement I'll go out to the shop and double check.


I am not comfortable trying to remove the collet from the nut, so I'll forgo the thread pitch until I can remove the router from the table and measure the shaft and pitch. Eyeball is "fine pitch" from what I see. The collet is "retained" and I am not sure how to compress it to remove it, without damage, or how I would get it back in. 

From what I can mic out so far, the ID of the nut, tip to tip on the threads, seems to be .775 in or 19.685 mm, flat to flat, .994 in/ 25.25 mm, length .883 in/ 22.43 mm

Over all length of collet is .993 in / 25.22 mm, narrow end of collet taper .556 in/ 14.12 mm.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

joea said:


> I am not comfortable trying to remove the collet from the nut, so I'll forgo the thread pitch until I can remove the router from the table and measure the shaft and pitch. Eyeball is "fine pitch" from what I see. The collet is "retained" and I am not sure how to compress it to remove it, without damage, or how I would get it back in.
> 
> From what I can mic out so far, the ID of the nut, tip to tip on the threads, seems to be .775 in or 19.685 mm, flat to flat, .994 in/ 25.25 mm, length .883 in/ 22.43 mm
> 
> Over all length of collet is .993 in / 25.22 mm, narrow end of collet taper .556 in/ 14.12 mm.


It was 20 mm diameter on the threads but still 1.0 pitch which is pretty fine on something that diameter. The bottom of the collet was 14.3mm, very close to what you got. If yours turns out to be 20mm shaft diameter then the 1617 type collet will probably work. That collet is so common that we can expect it to be around for a while. It's also available in a number of different sizes.


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## joea (Dec 8, 2018)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> It was 20 mm diameter on the threads but still 1.0 pitch which is pretty fine on something that diameter. The bottom of the collet was 14.3mm, very close to what you got. If yours turns out to be 20mm shaft diameter then the 1617 type collet will probably work. That collet is so common that we can expect it to be around for a while. It's also available in a number of different sizes.


Removed the router from table and 1/2 inch collet and nut. Threaded shaft measures out at 19.8 mm. Close enough? The thread pitch is 1.0.

A segue, I got the Freud adjustable bit and find it binds when lowered into the router table (aluminum). That is what prompted me to remove the router, so I can resize the hole to not impact the router bit.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I think there is a very good chance it will interchange. Yours may have been a prototype. It's worth looking for one of the other models listed to see if yours will fit it. Take it to a tool store next time you go.


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