Axminster router collet extension review

[Adam9453]

Recently I bought the following router collet extension:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/accessories/ ... 0wod-TsO2A

Various people were interested in how I got on with it so here is my review.
First impressions were very good, it is beautifully machined and reassuringly heavy. The threads are machined well and work very smoothly and securely.
Because the extension works with the separate changeable collets, it's very versatile and there are no concerns with concentricity of the router bit. It really is a case of idiot proof design. You just pop your bit in, tighten it and away you go.
Conclusion is that it works perfectly without any cons.
I thoroughly recommend anyone that needs a collet extension to get this one, it is superb and very fairly priced
I used it to produce 38mm thick mouldings in solid oak by doing two passes at different heights.
If anyone has any questions about it, please ask away.

 

[MikeJhn]

Is this a self extracting collet? sorry just looked on Axminster's web site and it is.

Mike

 

[n0legs]

Thanks Adam, I've been looking for a while.
I think my mind is made up now

 

[Adam9453]

No worries, I also should mention, you need a 19mm spanner and a 27mm spanner to tighten/loosen it. Most people probably have these already but I mention just incase. I didn't have the 27mm so I just bought the proxxon one from Axminster when I ordered the extension.

 

[AJB Temple]

I second this review. Mirrors my experience. Well made bit of kit. I had to buy a 27mm spanner too. Britool one from Amazon was £8 delivered (Prime).

 

[Adam9453]

Thats good to hear AJB temple. Did you also buy the 6-7mm and 8-9mm collets to go with it?
I did just incase I want to use the smaller router bits with my big router. Nice to have the flexibility I thought.

 

[MikeJhn]

Well more fool me I bought one of these: http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodworkin ... 0wodr74Clw

Sits in a cupboard unused, absolutely impossible to balance, I got the runout down to 1.01tho and still the vibration was bad enough to wobble the table, now I take out the insert and use cranked spanners on the router itself.

Mike

 

[AJB Temple]

No I didn't buy the other collets. Had no use for them. A

 

[galleywood]

AJB Temple

The extension gained by this is 40mm, according to the description on the Axi website - which is more than for the XX and Musclechuck.

Given that the body of the extension needs to be held with a spanner during toolchanging, does that mean that the spindle needs to be fully raised to access the spanner flats each time? (Compared with partially raised to access the Allen key for the other two models).

Cost of the Axi model is approx half of the other two.

The ER collets have a greater range and must be vastly superior to the others IMHO.

Overall it seems the Axi one is a best buy.

 

[galleywood]

My previous post should have been addressed to Adam9453 too.

Apologies.

 

[Adam9453]

Yes you're correct in that it needs to be raised high enough to get both spanners on the flats.
I agree it certainly is the best value and perfect functionally to boot

 

[MikeJhn]

This does look a better bet : http://musclechuck.com/articles/FactSheet.pdf the thing I bought (see post above for link) is far too long to be balanced to use anything over 30mm in dia, fine for parallel bits, but not anything eccentric or large.

Mike

 

[OwenRS]

Just a bit of extra info on the Axminster extension. To prevent you extending it too far out of your existing routers collet the shank on the Axminster extension is stepped. It is a true 1/2" at the top and the bottom but in the middle it is made slightly under.

The idea is if your pull it out of your routers collet too far it will not sit correctly and vibrate making you turn it off before an accident.

Basically insert it fully in your router and you will gain the 35-40mm length of the extensions body which is perfectly fine and it runs smooth as you can expect for a hand held router. GREAT BIT OF KIT.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I've just noticed too that the alternative collets are quite inexpensive compared to those for Trend, DW, etc. So inexpensive in fact that the extension with two collets is about the same as two collets for the router.

Since my 1/2" collet is in good nick (the 1/4" one is a bit worn), it might be worth getting this instead of replacing the Trend 1/4" one for the T11.

Will consider it.

 

[MikeJhn]

This does look a better bet : http://musclechuck.com/articles/FactSheet.pdf the thing I bought (see post above for link) is far too long to be balanced to use anything over 30mm in dia, fine for parallel bits, but not anything eccentric or large.

Mike

Had a Musclechuck delivered to me in France, what a great piece of kit it is, used it on some very large bits and it does not vibrate in the least, in fact had to check it was turning it was so smooth, would recommend it above everything else I have used.

Still have one of these: http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodworkin ... 0wodr74Clw if anyone is interested in something that does not do the job without major setting up. (hammer)

Mike