# Unwanted Experience



## KenBee (Jan 1, 2011)

I had an incident yesterday I don't want to experience again. I was using my Woodhaven Box Joint jig to cut 1/4 inch joints for a box I had intended to make. I was working on the 3rd end and was standing behind the jig and work piece feeding by feel. After 6 cuts I heard a loud noise and my router bit headed for parts unknown. Unbeknown to me the router bit had slowly climbed out of the Collett and needless to say it had made each cut deeper as I fed the piece until it came out completely and literally wrecked the part I was routing by breaking off 2 of the fingers and chewing a large gash above the fingers. I still don't know where the bit is even though I really haven't looked that hard for it. It was beautiful piece of birdseye maple too. I guess I can trim it down and make a matchbox out of it.


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## Gene Howe (Jul 10, 2007)

Had the same problem with a 3/8 straight bit I was using for dados. Didn't know it till it started cutting through 3/4 ply. 
Tried tightening, no luck. mic-ed it and it was dead on correct as per the seller's spec. (MLCS).
I no longer even try that bit.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Ken

Sorry to hear that  , I have seen Bob R.and Rick R. and the demo from Woodhaven and they both show how to do it the free hand way (your hand as a clamp) and it makes my skim claw  that's why I came up with the push block for the box joint jigs and a clamp to hold the stock in place and yes it takes a bit more work to clamp it in the push block ever time but router bits do come free from time to time and they always come up in the router table.

We all try and get the bit in right but sometimes it can come free and when it come free look out, if you hands are anywhere by the bit..

====






Ken Bee said:


> I had an incident yesterday I don't want to experience again. I was using my Woodhaven Box Joint jig to cut 1/4 inch joints for a box I had intended to make. I was working on the 3rd end and was standing behind the jig and work piece feeding by feel. After 6 cuts I heard a loud noise and my router bit headed for parts unknown. Unbeknown to me the router bit had slowly climbed out of the Collett and needless to say it had made each cut deeper as I fed the piece until it came out completely and literally wrecked the part I was routing by breaking off 2 of the fingers and chewing a large gash above the fingers. I still don't know where the bit is even though I really haven't looked that hard for it. It was beautiful piece of birdseye maple too. I guess I can trim it down and make a matchbox out of it.


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## Dal300 (Jul 14, 2011)

My old Crapsman router would let the bit come loose every so often as it heated up. I tried cinching it tighter to no avail. I mic'ed the bit and it was dead on, but there were no marks on the shank, as if it had never been used.

I thought my collet was titsup, but other bits would stay in with no problem, only the ones that had high use in a cut were a problem. Hmmmm, sounded like a buildup of some sort.

I took the collet apart and let it soak overnight in a small jar of "BrakeKleen" from the local Napa Automotive store. The next morning I used a small brush and a rag to clean the parts up and Waa-Laa... Everything was happy in router land.

My theory, and I can't prove it, but after years of routing plywood or glue joints material, some of the glue had melted or collected as dust in the collet. This let the collet not tighten as it should and as it heated up, the glue would melt and let the bit slip.

Good Luck, I don't have as much experience as these other guys, but this is what worked for me.

DF


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Ken,

While I'm sorry to hear it chewed up the fingers on the figured maple box, please keep in mind what it would have done it it'd caught your soft, meaty fingers instead.

All-in-all, I'd consider you were mighty lucky!


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## sweep96 (Apr 18, 2014)

in the 1980s i used several routers that did that, when i used ELU 96 yhere was no router creep


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

BigJimAK said:


> Ken,
> 
> While I'm sorry to hear it chewed up the fingers on the figured maple box, please keep in mind what it would have done it it'd caught your soft, meaty fingers instead.
> 
> All-in-all, I'd consider you were mighty lucky!


X2 

I was thinking the same thing, thankfully your unscaved ! Scary stuff as people have died from that


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## Dmeadows (Jun 28, 2011)

RainMan1 said:


> X2
> 
> I was thinking the same thing, thankfully your unscaved ! Scary stuff as people have died from that


A. Its a 3 year old thread!

B. Yep, lost several just the other day! Seriously, people(plural)? Proof?

C.Don't get me wrong, That is very dangerous to be sure!


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Dmeadows said:


> A. Its a 3 year old thread!
> 
> B. Yep, lost several just the other day! Seriously, people(plural)? Proof?
> 
> C.Don't get me wrong, That is very dangerous to be sure!


I wish I had a bullet proof vest sometimes . I can imagine one of the larger bits exploding at over 20,000 rpms! 
I wonder what the velocity of a bit is when this happens?


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## gms002a (Oct 2, 2008)

Ken Bee said:


> I had an incident yesterday I don't want to experience again. I was using my Woodhaven Box Joint jig to cut 1/4 inch joints for a box I had intended to make. I was working on the 3rd end and was standing behind the jig and work piece feeding by feel. After 6 cuts I heard a loud noise and my router bit headed for parts unknown. Unbeknown to me the router bit had slowly climbed out of the Collett and needless to say it had made each cut deeper as I fed the piece until it came out completely and literally wrecked the part I was routing by breaking off 2 of the fingers and chewing a large gash above the fingers. I still don't know where the bit is even though I really haven't looked that hard for it. It was beautiful piece of birdseye maple too. I guess I can trim it down and make a matchbox out of it.


Lucky you didn' get hurt


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