Router bit stuck in collet

Try removing the nut and hitting the bit with a hunk of wood (forcing it towards the router).. sometimes that will break them loose. Putting the thing in a bench vice or somehow securing the collet and then using some channel locks or vice-grips to twist/pull the bit may also be an alternative. You may wind up with a worthless bit, but at least it will be out!

Cheers,
Brad

-- Brad in FL - To be old and wise, you must first be young and stupid

Try tapping the side of the bit on one side then the other and be sure not to hit the carbide (if it has any)

-- ART- WINSTED CT. Just Remember! If you walk a mile in another mans shoes ----your a mile away and you've got his shoes!

And if you beat up your collet, Amazon has a replacement waiting for ya.
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-keywords=bosch%201617%20router%20collet&index=blended&link_code=qs&sourceid=Mozilla-search&tag=mozilla-20

I had this happen with mine, since it was in a router table I raised it just enough that I could get a box end wrench under the bit and used the wrench like a pry bar which sent the bit flying. The next two times I just took a 15mm wrench and rapped the side of the collet once I had loosened it, that actually did the job better then the pry bar wrench method. Good luck.

-- --Rev. Russ in NY-- A posse ad esse

I have only had this happen in my old Craftsman router, 1/4” bit, but t has not happened on my PC’s or my Bosch Colt.

It feels like the bit and the router have fused together.There must be some underlying reason this happens!

-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"

Is the bit stuck in the collet and the collet stuck in the router? I have had it where the router nut actually pushed the bit out of the collet. Other times the taping on the bit had worked. It happens with one straight bit on my router table with a triton router, I actually removed the nut, collet and bit and used a dowel to tap the bit from behind. I was glad that worked because I was about to hit it like it owed me money so I can imagine what you are going thru.
If all fails try the warranty route, take it back and ask for both a new router and a new bit.

I have had the same thing hapen with my Milwaukee router a few years back. I removed the collet and used a dowel from the back side to tap it out.
Now I always use a 1/2” ID “O” ring that I slip on the shaft of each bit and it has never happened again. You can get the o rings in the plumbing dept of lowes or home depot.

-- Every step of any project should be considered your masterpiece if you want the finished product to reflect the quality of your work. http://www.FineArtBoxes.com

Sounds like maybe you bottomed out the bit in the collet. The manuals generally warn you to make sure the bit isn’t hiiting bottom when you insert it – I guess this is why . . .

-- Dwight - "Free legal advice available - contact Dewey, Cheetam & Howe""

Try to put the collet in a vise and hit the bottom of it with a mallet

-- Ike, Big Daddies Woodshop, http://www.icombadaniels@yahoo.com

MonteCristo, I thought that as the collet tightens there needs to be an amount of downward travel with the bit. on router bit set I had bought came with, a rubber grommet, that you put down inside the collet which you could bottom out the bits on and it would still compress enough to tighten the bit in the collet.

It is my understanding that i you bottom out a router bit metal to metal and tighten it may not tighten enough and a router speeds slip of potentially fly out. Not saying that your not right just pointing out what I believe is a safety statement.

Like others have said you must have bottomed out the router bit in the collet a definite no no. If you have the collet loosened in the router try taking a soft piece of wood and taping on the sides of the router bit alternating from one side to the other,If that doesn’t work just take the collet router bit and all and drive the router bit out with a dowel will holding the collet in a vise(as others have said) ,make sure you have something soft for the router bit to land on so it does not hit a hard surface as it comes fling out.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

Never had it happen, but I am with the dowel from the back side

-- Norman

If the bit is bottomed out in the router, the heat due to cutting expands the bit and it lodges in the router shaft.

Just the opposite of the steel rims that were put on the old spoked wagon wheels. The rim was heated, pushed on the wheelrim, and then cooled off with water to shrink it down and hold the wheel together.

Sorry about the reverse analogy!

-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"

I’ve used a nail set and tapped the shaft of the bit, from the router side, while holding the collect to free the bit. It’s a pretty controlled way to do it so the bit doesn’t shoot away or drop to the floor (I have done both with other methods :-(.

-- "Checking for square? what madness is this! The cabinet is square because I will it to be so!" Jeremy Greiner LJ Topic#20953 2011 Feb 2

A bit of internet searching yielded these results. Like that commercial said ‘if it says it on the internet it must be true’ not always, lol, but these seem to ring true with me.

http://www.woodworkersresource.com/content/how_to_get_a_router_bit_unstuck_from_the_collet/

http://www.newwoodworker.com/stuckbits.html

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/library/installingrouterbits.pdf