Gifkin Reducing Collet

[burraboy]

Router bit slip is a problem that can ruin a job. I have occasional problems on various jobs, and through my readings here, so do a lot of other woodworkers. One job in particular that caused problems for me, pretty well every time I needed to do it, was this one.



Those laminated ply rings are 15mm deep and 12mm across. They need to have a 4mmx10mm groove routed in them. The concentricity is the easy part but bit slippage caused problems with the accuracy and consistency of the depth of the groove, both of which were absolute necessities for this job.


I was at the stage of looking at new collets to try to eliminate bit slip from that point of weakness when I came across an advert for the Gifkin's 1/2 to 1/4" reducing collets. Here's a picture of the one that I got.




From the look of them, I thought that they would give a very positive grip on the shaft of the bit because of the number of grooves in the sides. I decided to give one a try. You can see good pics and read the details on the gifkins.com.au website. All up, it cost $27, ordering was easy and delivery was quick.

Results were outstanding! I just did a big run of those rings and there was no sign of bit slippage at all through the whole job. If that reducing collet does such a good job there, then that's the one for me!

[munruben]

Good news.

[Mr Brush]

Yup - I'll second that. Bought one a few months ago, and it works brilliantly.

Highly recommended