Hi All,
Just thought I might mention this for all those of you who like the old 3600B and may have to find another 1/2" collet - I have the 3600B myself, and since my collet was a bit dinged up, was looking for a new one, but those are no longer readily available. Instead I had got a Hitachi TR-12 1/2" collet/cone assembly. A couple of nights ago I decided to change the 3600B bearings and since I had it apart, checked the Hitachi for fit - result: it fits on the threads of the armature shaft perfectly, and looks like the original in terms of height width, etc. The collet and cone are almost identical from the outside, but the cone assembly is way less beefier than the original Makita cone, and the Hitachi is still made in Japan! Will post pics as soon as I able to do so.
Just thought I might mention this for all those of you who like the old 3600B and may have to find another 1/2" collet - I have the 3600B myself, and since my collet was a bit dinged up, was looking for a new one, but those are no longer readily available. Instead I had got a Hitachi TR-12 1/2" collet/cone assembly. A couple of nights ago I decided to change the 3600B bearings and since I had it apart, checked the Hitachi for fit - result: it fits on the threads of the armature shaft perfectly, and looks like the original in terms of height width, etc. The collet and cone are almost identical from the outside, but the cone assembly is way less beefier than the original Makita cone, and the Hitachi is still made in Japan! Will post pics as soon as I able to do so.
The Makita collet on my 3600B uses the 21mm and 27mm spanners while the Hitachi replacement used 21mm & 23mm. I have not been able to download the pics as yet, but hope to do so soon! Both of these are the 2-piece versions, but have not had any issues ... as yet, of the bit getting stuck in the Makita (knocking of wood 
