# 12 mm or Half Inch collet



## chengiz (Oct 30, 2010)

I need some advice - please help.
As far as I know half inch is close to 12.7 mm and not 12 mm.
Now, one local router manufacturer in India is selling a router which comes with a 12mm collet which he claims will happily take a half inch shank router bit. This somehow does not seem right; 0.7 mm may be a small number but would it not make a major difference when it comes to using a router bit spinning at several thousand rpm?
Also, do router makers in Europe and elsewhere sell routers with both 12mm and half inch collets or is it one or the either. Would be very grateful for anything that throws light on this issue.


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## cagenuts (May 8, 2010)

Quick advice, DO NOT buy that Indian router unless you are certain it has BOTH 1/2" and 12mm collets or live with whatever it comes with.

"Most" bigger routers are still 1/2" but some like the Triton offer 12mm collets but it all depends on where you can get router bits or what selection you have already.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Hi Indranil



chengiz said:


> one local router manufacturer in India is selling a router which comes with a 12mm collet which he claims will happily take a half inch shank router bit


I agree with Hilton 1/2in is NOT 12mm and vice versa. That manufacturer is nothing better than dangerously incompetent. If he doesn't know the differences in sizes on this, it makes me wonder how long his routers will last - and how safe they are.

In mainland Europe ONLY metric collets/cutters are available - the most common sizes being 12mm and 8mm with some hobby machines and cutters being 6mm. In the UK and Ireland we have to be different (of course) - here the normal sizes are 1/2in and 1/4in with a smaller selection of 8mm available.

Some manufacturers such as deWalt and Bosch offer a full range of collets for different markets; for example my DW625 can have 6mm, 6.35mm (1/4in), 8mm, 9.5mm (3/8in), 12mm and 12.7mm (1/2in) although in the UK we normally only ever see the 6.35mm (1/4in), 8mm and 12.7mm (1/2in). For the other metric sizes I'd have to buy from Germany or eleswhere in mainland Europe.

Hope that clarifies the situation

Regards

Phil


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## janaf (Jan 28, 2012)

Like others have said: don't use the 12mm collets for 1/2" shanks. It may work for a while but will most likely wear unevenly and cause run-out, sooner or later. So either get 1/2" collets or bits with 12mm shanks.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

chengiz said:


> I need some advice - please help.
> As far as I know half inch is close to 12.7 mm and not 12 mm.
> Now, one local router manufacturer in India is selling a router which comes with a 12mm collet which he claims will happily take a half inch shank router bit. This somehow does not seem right; 0.7 mm may be a small number but would it not make a major difference when it comes to using a router bit spinning at several thousand rpm?
> Also, do router makers in Europe and elsewhere sell routers with both 12mm and half inch collets or is it one or the either. Would be very grateful for anything that throws light on this issue.


12mm collet is OK as long as you can find a source of 12mm shank cutters. These should be available from UK, Europe.

You cannot use 1/2" shank cutters in a 12mm collet.

The Triton for example comes with a 1/2" collet in Australia and USA, (and UK?) and with a 12mm collet in Europe.

As Phil said,


> In mainland Europe ONLY metric collets/cutters are available - the most common sizes being 12mm and 8mm with some hobby machines and cutters being 6mm. In the UK and Ireland we have to be different (of course) - here the normal sizes are 1/2in and 1/4in with a smaller selection of 8mm available.



Is the actual manufacturer making that claim, or some one in a retail store?

As an aside, if the manufacturer is so prone to lying about his router, I would be concerned about the quality and look for a more common brand name like Makita, Hitachi. etc.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

jw2170 said:


> 12mm collet is OK as long as you can find a source of 12mm shank cutters. These should be available from UK, Europe.


Hi James

Sorry to say we _don't_ do 12mm in the UK. Just like the USA we are on 1/2in for the bigger cutters, 1/4in for the smaller but with a "sprinkling" of 8mm from a limited number of sources. Take a look at the Wealden catalogue and see what I mean



jw2170 said:


> The Triton for example comes with a 1/2" collet in Australia and USA, (and UK?)


I can confiorm that when I talked to the UK distributor of Triton a month or so back he said that the UK models came with 1/2in (not 12mm)

Regards

Phil


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Phil P said:


> Hi James
> 
> Sorry to say we _don't_ do 12mm in the UK. Just like the USA we are on 1/2in for the bigger cutters, 1/4in for the smaller but with a "sprinkling" of 8mm from a limited number of sources. Take a look at the Wealden catalogue and see what I mean
> 
> ...



Thanks for clearing that up, Phil.

I did not look, but assumed that Trend and Wealden would sell 12mm cutters.

CMT Europe seem to have bits in many sizes including 12mm and 12.7mm.

Router bits-Straight router bits, short series-CMT tools


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## cagenuts (May 8, 2010)

Don't tall Harry this but the UK metricated way back when, except for anything that required measurements....................


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

cagenuts said:


> Don't tall Harry this but the UK metricated way back when, except for anything that required measurements....................


:haha:




LOL


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## samurai (Aug 14, 2011)

i still remember i had hard time to find a router for my leigh FMT jig in india but couldn't find.finally my search finished at Endico they make inch size router for export.you can ask them.i m sure they can offer you one.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

jw2170 said:


> CMT Europe seem to have bits in many sizes including 12mm and 12.7mm.


Yes they have, James, but CMT in mainland Europe don't sell 1/4in and 1/2in shank cutters, here they don't sell 12mm shanks (and also very few 8mm ones). The only mainstream supplier I know of who sells 12mm shanks in the UK is Titman (limited range) although in mainland Europe their range is all metric shank



samurai said:


> i still remember i had hard time to find a router for my leigh FMT jig in india but couldn't find.finally my search finished at Endico


Interesting designs - especially what appear to be lugs with holes in around the bases, presumably for under table mounting










Regards

Phil


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## chengiz (Oct 30, 2010)

Wow! Thanks for the many replies to my question. The matter is settled: 12mm isn't 1/2 inch by any means! And clearly I should not be using 1/2 inch shank bits in a 12mm collet.

By the way, even though in India people use the metric system I still prefer the imperial system - inches are more intuitive than centimetres. Moreover most of my router bits are either 1/4 or 1/2 inch. 

Thanks again for all your comments. Much appreciated.


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## IRONMULE31014 (Feb 16, 2013)

Welcome, Indranil


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