# Collet sizes on name brand routers



## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Ok, so I'm of to Australia on the weekend.
I was hoping whilst there I could pick up one of these bargain second hand routers Harry is so good at finding. I'd like to get something with more power and larger bit capacity than the Bosch hobby router I have now.
My question is, will the majority of name brand routers(Bosch, Makita, Dewalt, etc) that have 1/2 inch collets, also accept european 12mm, and 8mm collets ?
Are these collets readily available ?
I've been looking online at new prices of routers in Australia and top of the line Makitas are about $500 cheaper there than they are here !!!!!!


----------



## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Hi Gav

I know about _some_ of these. The deWalt 1/4in and 1/2in plunge routers derived from the old Elu line are all available with 6mm and 8mm collets, so that's the following in 1/2in:

Elu MOF177/MOF177e = deWalt DW624/DW625 (6mm, 1/4in, 8mm, 10mm, 12mm and 1/2in)

The collets and nuts are compatible with older Elus including the MOF31, MOF131, MOF98 and MOF77e as well as the new deWalt DW626. The deWalt DW625 has also been sold as the CMT1850 and versions are currently on the market as Trend T10 and T11 in the EU. The same collets are compatible with the Freud FT2000/FT2000e, Mafell LO65e and Festool 2000. It is worth knowing that the Freud FT2000 may also be found badged Atlas-Copco, AEG (although some of them are Ryobis so watch out!) and Casals (who were, I believe, the original manufacturer). The range of sizes quoted are available from DW in the UK, but I don't know about other countries.

The smaller Elu/deWalts have similar compatibities:

Elu MOF96/MOF96e = deWalt DW613/615 (6mm, 1/4in and 8mm)

and for those the same collet and nut will work with the older Elu MOF69 and MKF67 as well as the newer deWalt DW614 (itself a version of one of the Elu MOF96 derivatives only made for the US). A version of the MOF96 was also sold as the Black & Deckler SR100 here in the UK whilst AEG certainly sold a badged version of the original MOF96 way back in the 1980s.

Elu MOF97/MOF97e = deWalt DW620/621 (6mm, 1/4in and 8mm)

The MOF97 was originally sold as the OF1/OF1e I think, but possibly only in it's home market

Incidentally the parts listings/diagrams for Elus and deWalts as well as many others are on Miles Tool's web site if you want absolute confirmation on some of these routers.

On the Bosch side of things there are three main "families", in 1/2in there are:

GOF1600/GOF1600A/GOF1700E/GOF1700ACE (6mm, 1/4in, 8mm, 12mm, 1/2in)

These all look alike, however the earlier models (GOF1600 and GOF1700E) *use a slightly different collet/nut* to the later models. They don't seem to be compatible and have a tendency to work loose _if used on the wrong router_. Fortunately the older ones are getting very hard to find secondhand. Sorry, but I don't know about the newer GOF2000CE. 

GOF1200/GOF1200A/GOF1300A/GOF1300ACE/GOF1300CE (6mm, 1/4in, 8mm, 12mm, 1/2in)

These all share the same collets and nuts, although the 6mm doesn't appear to be available in the UK

GOF900/GOF900A/GOF900ACE/GOF900CE (6mm, 1/4in, 8mm)

These all share the same collets and nuts, although again the 6mm doesn't appear to be available in the UK

I've also had a few Japanese 1/2in routers (Makita, Ryobi, etc) and they universally seem to be available with 1/4in and 1/2in collets here in the UK with 6mm and 12mm being offered in the EU. What they don't seem to offer is an 8mm collet, instead supplying an adaptor (collet reducer). These don't work as well as a properly sized collet and for any sort of continuous use should be avoided as they suffer from bit slippage. If you don't intend to use 8mm shank bits, though, there shouldn't be a problem.

One thing to note is that collets for the European designed routers from Elu/deWalt and Bosch are not normally compatible with their American designed fixed-base routers. Porter-Cable do make an 8mm collet/nut assembly for some of their routers (e.g. the 690 and 890 families) but don't do a 6mm or 12mm as far as I can tell. Milwaukee don't sell routers in the EU, so no metric collets are listed as far as I can tell.

Hope this gives you a leg up, and if there are any errors in the foregoing, please let me know so I can correct it guys.

Regards

Phil


----------



## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Wow Phil, you out done yourself with that info.
Thanks !
I live in Croatia, and here 8mm seems to be the standard shank size on bits, but I know of places in the EU where I can order 12mm bits, and of course there's a mass of 1/2 inch bits available cheaply on the net.
So, unless someone else has some info on Makita having an 8mm option for their standard 1/2 inch routers, looks like I'll be looking for Bosch or Dewalt.


----------



## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Hi Gav

Don't underestimate the solidity of the older Elus. If you are buying older stuff you may need to replace the flex and the collet(s) may well be ropey, but the Elus/deWalts and Bosch industrials are good second-hand buys partly because parts are still readily available. I'd say the main things to watch for are duff speed controllers (on vari-speed routers), bearings and damaged bases where they've been dropped (i.e. obvious cracks). BTW I've got two MOF31s and a MOF98 in regular use, all of which cost less than £40 and none of which required much fettling.

Good Luck!


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

gav said:


> Ok, so I'm of to Australia on the weekend.
> I was hoping whilst there I could pick up one of these bargain second hand routers Harry is so good at finding. I'd like to get something with more power and larger bit capacity than the Bosch hobby router I have now.
> My question is, will the majority of name brand routers(Bosch, Makita, Dewalt, etc) that have 1/2 inch collets, also accept european 12mm, and 8mm collets ?
> Are these collets readily available ?
> I've been looking online at new prices of routers in Australia and top of the line Makitas are about $500 cheaper there than they are here !!!!!!


I'm sure that it will come as no surprise to you Gavin when I suggest that you buy a REAL router, a Makita 3612C no less. These collets shown were all bought over here but the 8mm is only available in Europe, I've seen it listed in a dealer's spare part catalogue but Makita wouldn't import it for me, which is unimportant as I've so far not needed one.
Here is a link to Makita's European web site which includes Croatia.

AUSTRIA/Makita Corporation


----------



## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Thanks Harry, would love to get your favourite router. All depends on what I can find second hand whilst I'm in oz.
Only problem is I'd probably then be asking you to send me a 40mm template guide for it


----------



## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Harry

That looks suspiciously like a collet reducer rather than a collet. Is it?


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

No need to have more than one chuck when it can take on all the bits..

=======



Phil P said:


> Harry
> 
> That looks suspiciously like a collet reducer rather than a collet. Is it?


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

gav said:


> Thanks Harry, would love to get your favourite router. All depends on what I can find second hand whilst I'm in oz.
> Only problem is I'd probably then be asking you to send me a 40mm template guide for it


The 40mm guide is listed by Makita and whilst I no longer have any spare ones, who knows when or if I may one day feel in the mood to make some more!


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Phil P said:


> Harry
> 
> That looks suspiciously like a collet reducer rather than a collet. Is it?


They are indeed reducers which I think was what was meant, as Bj had said, only one collet is needed per router, the slot cutter shown in the centre picture was the only accurate 3/8" one that I was able to test in that spare collet which is from the scrap router that I bought last Saturday. I've used reducers on numerous occasions without any sign of a problem.

Edit: I just realised that the collet nut and cone are items on the OZ list that says "call for price"!

On the US list the 1/2" cone is $US33.63, presumably other sizes if available will be at least if not more than this, a good reason don't you think for using reducer sleeves.


----------



## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

bobj3 said:


> No need to have more than one chuck when it can take on all the bits..


Except for one thing. Reducers/adaptors like those are a known source of router bit slippage (see Patrick Spielman's books on routers). I can recall quite a few occassions when using a reducer has resulted in the bit either coming out of the collet or at least moving and ruining the cut. I've made my living from woodworking for a very long time and either of those occurrences is a definite no-no on cost grounds alone.

I have another reason for not choosing Makitas or Ryobis and that is parts availability and costs. Here in the UK I found it difficult to get spares for Ryobis and the cost of a replacement speed controller on my last Makita 3612C (£160 incl. VAT for the 115 volt version, the 230 volt one costs even more) against the cost of a replacement on an Elu MOF177e/deWalt DW625 (£55 all in) makes it a no-brainer when you run almost a dozen routers like I do. Don't get me wrong, I have quite a bit of Makita kit, including two mitre saws, 18 volt cordless gear, etc. It's purely a matter of economics to me.



harrysin said:


> The 40mm guide is listed by Makita


Bothe deWalt and Trend list them for Elu/deWalt/Trend routers, too. ;-)


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Phil P said:


> Except for one thing. Reducers/adaptors like those are a known source of router bit slippage (see Patrick Spielman's books on routers). I can recall quite a few occassions when using a reducer has resulted in the bit either coming out of the collet or at least moving and ruining the cut. I've made my living from woodworking for a very long time and either of those occurrences is a definite no-no on cost grounds alone.
> 
> I have another reason for not choosing Makitas or Ryobis and that is parts availability and costs. Here in the UK I found it difficult to get spares for Ryobis and the cost of a replacement speed controller on my last Makita 3612C (£160 incl. VAT for the 115 volt version, the 230 volt one costs even more) against the cost of a replacement on an Elu MOF177e/deWalt DW625 (£55 all in) makes it a no-brainer when you run almost a dozen routers like I do. Don't get me wrong, I have quite a bit of Makita kit, including two mitre saws, 18 volt cordless gear, etc. It's purely a matter of economics to me.
> 
> ...


I mean no disrespect Phil. but I have been routing extensively since 1974 a lot of that time using router manufacturers' reducers and have never had or heard of an incident when using them. Spare parts prices usually are a reflection of the price of the original article, a part for a Merc. is substantially greater than for a Ford!


----------



## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

harrysin said:


> Spare parts prices usually are a reflection of the price of the original article, a part for a Merc. is substantially greater than for a Ford!


Since when is a Makita a Merc? Makitas aren't expensive to buy here in the UK which makes them popular with the building trades. Some of their spares prices are a bit heavy, though. £160 for a Makita speed controller when the original router can be had at discount for £240 or so (against the DW625 at £55 and £220 respectively). Oddly Festool spares are very reasonable against their original machine costs. But maybe that's just true of spares prices here in the UK


----------



## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

First I want to thank you both for your help with this matter.
I'm aware that there is generally 2 schools of thought for collet reducers, and perhaps that dependent on want brand of router you use.

I've done a lot of internet research as far as router reviews go and Makita is often on top in the heavy duty range. I think only Festools of2200 gets better reviews and it costs a lot more.
I think it's fair to say the Makita is a Mercedes, but maybe Festool is a Porsche.

http://www.routerforums.com/general-routing/24672-re-3-hp-router-shoot-out.html


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

gav said:


> First I want to thank you both for your help with this matter.
> I'm aware that there is generally 2 schools of thought for collet reducers, and perhaps that dependent on want brand of router you use.
> 
> I've done a lot of internet research as far as router reviews go and Makita is often on top in the heavy duty range. I think only Festools of2200 gets better reviews and it costs a lot more.
> ...


Do you know what it costs to maintain a Porsch Gav?


----------



## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Well I know I guy who has been doing a chassis straightening job/ complete rebuild of a classic Porsche for a customer for years now. The customer is a lawyer, and still has to wait until he has enough money to get more work done.
So, answer is, a lot.
Even my Alfa Romeo cost a lot to repair, but that's european cars in Australia for you.


----------



## ljbuller (Oct 19, 2010)

does anyone have the exact dimensions of a Milwaukee collet? I am specifically looking for the taper. The best I can measure, it comes out to 10.058 degrees. Anyone have any more precise data?


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

LJ I doubt if anyone has measured one like that. Why are you asking? Usually it's easier and cheaper to buy one that fits.


----------



## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

You should be able to get this information from Elaire Corporation in Ohio.

Here is a link to the Milwaukee page on their site: Elaire Corporation

Another source would be DeRosa Engineering, home of the Musclechuck.


----------



## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

I checked with DeRosa Engineering and John says the cone angle to use is 9.96º.


----------



## lowracer (May 22, 2015)

Triton Routers?

their spare parts I can more easily order online here in south Africa, than other commonly available router brands. 

looks like they have the 6mm, 8mm, 12mm, 1/4in, 1/2 inch collets available.
http://www.toolsparesonline.com/images/diagrams/Toolsparesonline.com Triton Router Collets.pdf


----------



## ljbuller (Oct 19, 2010)

mike, thanks for the info, but I don't think 9.96 is right. I put the collet on a 1/2" ground mandrel, chucked it in a lathe with a digital read out and ran a dial indicator along it to get the 10.58 degrees. I took several readings at several rotation angles and averaged the result. We use the Milwaukee router as the spindle in our Panel Pro product. We need to use small end mills so I need to adapt down to the ER11 collets. I have to regrind every Milwaukee collet bore as they are quite inaccurate.


----------



## cdb (Nov 26, 2019)

Does anyone know what the collet type for a Quackenbush industrial router MODEL # QRC-10 is ?
THANK YOU!!!


----------

