samoht Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 well.. i finally made a perfect attachment for my dremel copy for routing the binding channel. i tested it on scrap for some time until i was comfortable trying to route the real body. i started routing and everything seemed ok until the router bit came loose and made about 3mm deeper slot on the side of the body!! that's actually not so big of a deal. i can repair it easily, but does anyone know what i could do to keep the router bit tightly in it's place? i wouldn't wanna do the same thing again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samoht Posted October 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 (edited) what's the name of the part that holds the bits? there's a hole trough it and the other end is thicker with tapered end and has four slots that allow the end to tighten the bit when the other part is screwed on it.. i was thinking of carefully filing the four slots a little bigger so they could move more inwards when tightened.. would this make any sence? please forgive me my bad english and inform me if you don't understand what i'm trying to say Edited October 29, 2004 by samoht Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 (edited) The little unit that holds your bit is called a "collet". Most collets are made of aluminum. If the bit wasn't tightened up enough at one time all that spinning could wear some material from the collet making it a little bigger. Sometimes bits will work loose if pushed into the collet too far. Pull it out slightly then tighten. If your bit is dull you sometimes have to use force ie. pushing it into hard material. That could cause them to work loose too. Let the bit do the work. You can buy packages of different sized collets for dremels, its always handy to have a few spares around. Edited October 29, 2004 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samoht Posted October 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 thanks! the collet on my cheap dremel copy is made from brass. i did tighten it properly when i routed the slots and i just got the damn thing yesterday, so the collet isn't worn at all.. i'm gonna file the slots a little wider and see if it would grab the bit tighter. also the bit i'm using wasn't made for this dremel copy though it should be the same size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 Before you modify that collet, check it by tightening it without the bit in it, and then see if it is too small for the bit to slide in. If it is too tight, then those slots are already wide enough. I'm curious about the brand name of your Dremel copy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samoht Posted October 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 the cheapest i could find it's KINZO! i'm gonna try some other collets and see if they'd work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samoht Posted October 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 (edited) well i widened the four slots and sawed them a few mm deeper.. just tried it on a piece of wood and the bit seems to stay in it's place much better now. i did notice a small change in the depth in a part where i had used too much force, it was like 0,5mm (before it was more like 3-4mm). i'm still gonna order a original dremel collet and try that. now i know why this dremel copy was 19,90€ thanks for the advice dudes. it seems that the problem wasn't the too narrow slots. the slots simply were too short. i saw a photo of an original dremel collet and the slots were like 5mm longer. Edited October 30, 2004 by samoht Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samoht Posted October 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 (edited) what happened to my post? someone deleted it? please!!! dimensions for the dremel collet? i don't wanna order one without knowing it will fit into my crappy copy. Edited October 31, 2004 by samoht Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samoht Posted October 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 (edited) anyone? 28 users online and not one has both a dremel and a caliper Edited October 31, 2004 by samoht Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 5/32" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samoht Posted October 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 (edited) hmm.. i need all the outside dimensions of the collet. the lenght, the diameter of the thinnest part and the thickest part etc.. i know i will have trouble trying to translate measurements in inches to an understandable form, but i guess i have no choice. it seems that there's no accurate measurements of the collet at the official dremel site. i know what collet i need for my router bit, but i don't know if it will fit in the dremel copy i have.. my friend has a black & decker which has much smaller collet than mine, so... Edited October 31, 2004 by samoht Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Ok, the main thing is that Dremel makes many sizes of collets, because not all bits have the same size shaft. Make sure you're not using a collet that was made for bits with a bigger shaft than the bit you are dealing with. I grabbed one of my Dremel collets, the most common one for use with bits with a 1/8" shaft. And I grabbed one of my digital calipers. And so here we go. I'll put on on the metric mode. Length of entire collet : 19.02 mm Length of more narrow part up to where it gets wider : 12.16 mm Length of fatter part : 6.64 mm Width of narrow part : 4.30 mm Internal width of narrow part : 3.18 mm at very end (non-slotted end) Max width of fatter part : 6.09 mm , but the pieces move because of the slots, so this is hard to get exact. Like I said this particular collet is the one for 1/8" shaft bits 1/8" = .125 " and I guess that equals 3.17 mm ??? ( i just flipped .125" to metric mode on my caliper, so I don't know if that's correct or not) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samoht Posted November 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 thank you very much. that's about all the information i need. it seems to be a little longer than the one i have, but that's not a problem. the other dimensions should be spot on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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