[honesttjohn]

I keep a big ole Triton in a table with a roundover bit just for knocking off the sharp corners on my signs and plaques. Started to notice it was taking off more material than usual so I checked to make sure it was still solid in the plate, which it was, and everything else seemed ok. I readjusted the height and tried it out. Seemed ok at first but then it gouged the sign I was routing, made an awful racket, and the bit popped out and fell to the floor along side of the table. The collet was just loose enough to move under pressure but not noticeable when I checked it. Wasn't close to causing any damage to me or anything else, but it ruined the sign. I put the bit back in, tightened it down, and all seems well again. The firepit has more fuel.

 

[RainMan 2.0]

Well I’m thinking you may have got off easy . I could hardly imagine a bit spinning at 10,000 rpm coming out of the router .
Glad the damage was minimal and you weren’t hurt . I’ll have to remember this event for my own safety. Thanks for sharing John.
It’s scary how things can go south so quickly

 

[JOAT]

Well I’m thinking you may have got off easy . I could hardly imagine a bit spinning at 10,000 rpm coming out of the router .
Glad the damage was minimal and you weren’t hurt . I’ll have to remember this event for my own safety. Thanks for sharing John.
It’s scary how things can go south so quickly

Way I see it, you should always be a little afraid of any of your tools. That way you are always careful. Not afraid means over-confident, and don't pay as close attendion as you should, and that's how you get hurt.

 

[sreilly]

John I'm a bit surprised that you keep a bit installed. The safe thing would be to double check the collet tightness each time you sue the router just in case as you found out. I realize that keeping it installed is faster because the height is already set and likely the fence is where it needs to be but.....the extra time to check is well worth it I'm sure. Of course I'm not guilty of this but likely would be if I were doing what you do so you did indeed have a teachable moment that turned out well. Bad case would have been a broken /chipped bit, worse case an injury and broken bit. Neither is good.

Thanks for sharing that teachable moment to remind us all. Seriously, we often don't think of such things till we hear about someone else's accident/mistake.

 

[TenGees]

I leave bits in a couple of routers and double checking the chuck tightness is not something that I'm in the habit of doing... I guess that I better change my habits!

Glad that you didn't get hurt, John.

 

[David Bradford]

I usually keep 5 or 6 routers set up permanently and have a few that get set up for what is needed. I had maybe a bit or 2 come loose but generally had more bearings come apart and ruin a piece of work.

 

[JFPNCM]

Indeed a teachable moment. Pleased to see you escaped unharmed.

 

[JOAT]

I usually keep 5 or 6 routers set up permanently and have a few that get set up for what is needed. I had maybe a bit or 2 come loose but generally had more bearings come apart and ruin a piece of work.

I keep my bit in permanently also. And also the only issue was bearings coming apart. May have solved the bearing problem tho, ever since I started putting a drop or two of oil on the bearing before using, I have had no bearing failures.

 

[artman60]

Sorry one of your works of art made it into the fire. I did learn something tho.

 

[gdonham1]

It is tempting to leave something setup permanently and just walk up and turn it on use, abuse it and turn it off. So the lesson is when you first noticed something wrong you have to go back to basics and check everything. Remember when you ASSUME you make an ass out of U and me.

Just glad you were not hurt.

 

[anndel]

I make sure the collet is tight before each use. i had the collet loose once and noticed the bit dropped while I was outing dados. After I turned the router off, I noticed the bit was lower than where I left it and discovered the collet was loose. Glad you didn't get injured.