I’m going to order a 1/8" Makita Style collet from Elaire Corporation and I’m wondering whether I should get a 1/4" collet also. Is the standard 1/4" collet, that came with the router, good enough?
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John,
I own both the 1/8 and the 1/4 as there are a lot more bit choices especially as you get bigger like surfacing bits etc that need the 1/4".
As for the one that comes with the Makita it certainly is not bad by any means but I think you get better tolerances with an aftermarket one for sure. Make sure you read the previous thread on this as I got the forum a $5 off shipping discount.
-Alex
Alex,
I ordered both. Thanks for the reminder about the discount.
-John
Aww man… I wish I had seen this before ordering my 1/4" collet form Elair last week.
I did a test yesterday to see what kind of tolerance the stock collet has and the variability it can induce on a tight tolerance cut. Check it out on my YouTube channel here https://youtu.be/BCZNhc0ArOA. Once the Elair Corp. collet arrives later this week I will do a follow up to compare the difference.
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Great first video. Good pace and flow.
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Great information Kyle - keep up the great work!
-Tom
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As a follow up and answer to @ShamRocker, Yes the stock 1/4" collet which comes with the Makita RT0701c is good enough.
I ordered an Elaire Corp. MRP-2500 1/4" collet in hopes it would magically reduce the 0.003" runout I was seeing when installing a 0.250" gauge pin in the router with the stock collet and got exactly the same results using the same process while installing the gauge pin in the MRP-2500 collet.
In order to get sub 0.001" runout with both collets all I had to do was give the pin a gentle wiggle while tightening the collet nut to ensure the mating surfaces of the tapers on the collet and spindle shaft were well mated. As always, diligence needs to be applied to ensure there is no debris in the collet, the slots in the collet, on any of the mating surfaces of the tapers, collet face and nut and bit shank as well.
Yes, the Elare Corp. collets are really well made and have the benefit of offering different and even custom ordered sizes for whatever you may want to chuck up in your router.
Here is a follow up video the the original one I made.
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Thanks for taking the time to make an update video. It contained lots of good info. I’m looking forward to getting my machine but now I’m also looking forward to the future videos I hope you will make when you get your 1F.
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Thank you @ShamRocker!
I do plan on making more content. Writing text in posts can be good and get the point across, however it can be interpreted differently by the reader as well as tough to communicate technical information and design ideas. Pictures truly are worth a thousand words, but videos can speak volumes. I do plan to do a follow up on collet tightening technique and how to reduce runout variance once my 1F arrives. Then I can get the router mounted solid in the Z-Axis and show it in a real world situation and not just on a bench.