# Makita 3600BR collet assembly and bearing removal



## vjeko (Feb 5, 2009)

Hi,
Not sure whether this is the right place for this question.
If someone has experience on the subject I would appreciate a pointer:

I have disassembled the Makita 3600BR to the point where I need to remove
the collet holder (not sure of the name of the part into which the collet is screwed into) as I want to replace the collet assembly and grease the bottom bearing while I'm at it.

The collet holder is screwed on (at least I see the tip of the thread) and I need to clamp the rotor to unscrew it. Which part of the rotor should I clamp (I presume wood blocks in a vise will do) ?

What type of grease for the bearings (I have some STP MOS2 and some old lithium and shell retinax) ?


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Whilst I have never stripped my 3600BR, I would think your suggestion of clamping the armature between wood should be fine, I would give the spanner a sharp tap or two with a hammer rather than continuous pressure as this will be more likely to break the bond. I really don't think the type of grease is all that critical. An alternative method of clamping might be something similar to what is used to remove oil filters on cars.


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## vjeko (Feb 5, 2009)

Thanks for the reply Harry,
In the meantime, I couldn't wait for feedback , so I went ahead and here's what I did in case someone else needs to do it in the future:



The Makita 3600BR is some 20 years old – I think its simple and very well built.
To take it apart, you remove the height adjustment screw and spring and then
separate the height adjustment from the body.

The body has 2 screws for a metalic cover and 4 longer ones which hold the
body together. Once these screws are removed, you can separate the
body in two parts – the rotor with bottom housing and stator.

The bearings are on the rotor one on each end. I found out they were very clean so
I didnt even take them off, just greased them with some lithium grease.
In case you need to remove them, clamp the rotor by the winding in a vise using
some softwood blocks on the side to avoid damaging anything. The top bearing can
be removed with a pulley. For the bottom bearing, turn the rotor over, clamp in
vise again and unscrew collet holder. Now find some softwood blocks of wood which
will stand upright and hold up the bottom housing at top and rotor below. Softly tap the rotor axis with eg some hardwood dowel (at least I wanted to avoid any damage). The rotor will pop out (down) out of
the housing and the bottom bearing (on the top of the axis) will be able to be removed with a pulley.

I suggest you check if bearings are OK (top one should rotate fairly freely, the bottom
larger one may be a bit coggy) and decide if its worth taking them out. I always think
its better leaving something alone if it works. Grease them and reassemble in reverse order.

I then applied some machine bed paste to the height adjustment rods and hand turned
the rotor to check if everything was OK – well, everything went great, motor
sounded great and height adjustment was so smooth – well, that felt good especially
since in the beginning I was a bit unsure on how to clamp the rotor without damaging it.


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## geraelec (Mar 20, 2015)

Hi, I consider myself an amateur and not an expert in woodworking, so I have little knowledge on this. I'm a follower of the Makita router series and I recently got a 3612br that seems to work well - compared with a 3612c they are not so different- except for the screaming and that the top and bottom of the housing get too hot, the rest seems all right. About your comments, I think that the bearings might be defective, I'd be happy with an opinion and comments before I disassemble it. Thanks and greetings.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

This router is of course very old and so a strip-down and clean-up and possibly replacement bearings are in order. It is an excellent router, mine is 15 years old and it had been introduced well before that. It's now delegated to sitting on skis as I've replaced it with a Makita RP2301FC.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Welcome to the forum, Gera.

You will be very happy with the Makitas...


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## Paul Brierly (Feb 19, 2015)

Thanks as I recently purchased this model Makita so any info will be helpful in the future


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

geraelec said:


> Hi, I consider myself an amateur and not an expert in woodworking, so I have little knowledge on this. I'm a follower of the Makita router series and I recently got a 3612br that seems to work well - compared with a 3612c they are not so different- except for the screaming and that the top and bottom of the housing get too hot, the rest seems all right. About your comments, I think that the bearings might be defective, I'd be happy with an opinion and comments before I disassemble it. Thanks and greetings.


So far as I know there is a BIG difference between the 3612BR and the 3612C, the former I'm sure is a SINGLE speed whereas the 3612C is variable speed with soft start.
I had a 3600BR for many years and it never got particularly hot and neither does my 3612C during long sessions which are quite frequent. Perhaps a strip-down and clean-up may solve the the problem. These photos of removing the 3600BR bearings apply to all three models and may be of help to members.


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## vjeko (Feb 5, 2009)

geraelec you opened up a veerrry old thread of mine - memories . I remember using the router for hours and it never got so hot that you couldn't stand holding the casing. I would say you have at least some problem with the bearing(s). The old routers without speed control do make a lot of noise, but "screaming" may be related to the possible bearing problem/worn parts. I'd suggest you take it apart and check it out.
From my description you can see how to take it apart without any special tools. Make sure you put all parts back as they are now  especially bearing spacers (if I remember there were some - don't lose them !!!) - if needed pencil/paper/camera/phone camera are your friends  Good luck


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