Welcome to the forum Terry. 1st thing that would be very helpful is a picture of your router mounted on the table. When you mention the bit height as 1/2" are you referring to the cutter length? Also realize that that cut would be made on 2-3 passes depending on the hp of the router and the bit itself. I usually make cuts no deeper then 1/4"-3/8" at a time. A main question would be the way the router is installed on the table, hence the picture request.
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Kobalt tools are not the top of the line, and are often produced under many brand labels, but sometimes with features left out. That's probably why we don't automatically have an answer and would like a picture.
However, there are some things to check. First, the collet needs to be just tight, not over tight. Over tightening can ruin the collet itself, allowing the shank of your bit to slip. Do you have one or two wrenches to tighten the collet? If only one, you likely have a button spindle lock you hold down while tightening with the wrench. I have trouble holding these down hard enough sometimes. If two wrenches are required, it is a lot easier to make the collet too tight.
Below is a pix of the Collet Nut, Collet, and Spindle. The difference between a tight and loose collet is a few thousandths of an inch. Too loose or damaged collets can let the bit slip.
One solution I use is to drop a half inch GROMMET down into the spindle. Drop the bit's shank so it bottoms on the collet. Tighten and you should not have slippage.
On some routers, the table mount, bit hight setting is done by physically moving the router up or down and then tightening a clamp. If the clamp is loose, the whole thing slips. If that is happening, make sure the height lock is set tight enough. I have had bits slip because the clamp wasn't tight. Different brand router though.
Hope this is helpful, here's the picture.
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However, there are some things to check. First, the collet needs to be just tight, not over tight. Over tightening can ruin the collet itself, allowing the shank of your bit to slip. Do you have one or two wrenches to tighten the collet? If only one, you likely have a button spindle lock you hold down while tightening with the wrench. I have trouble holding these down hard enough sometimes. If two wrenches are required, it is a lot easier to make the collet too tight.
Below is a pix of the Collet Nut, Collet, and Spindle. The difference between a tight and loose collet is a few thousandths of an inch. Too loose or damaged collets can let the bit slip.
One solution I use is to drop a half inch GROMMET down into the spindle. Drop the bit's shank so it bottoms on the collet. Tighten and you should not have slippage.
On some routers, the table mount, bit hight setting is done by physically moving the router up or down and then tightening a clamp. If the clamp is loose, the whole thing slips. If that is happening, make sure the height lock is set tight enough. I have had bits slip because the clamp wasn't tight. Different brand router though.
Hope this is helpful, here's the picture.
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