What happened?

Collet fell apart when I removed Bent bit.

Wow! That had to be a serious wobble!

David

Nasty. Glad it didn't come flying out completely. Time for a new collet. When you think of how little difference in inside diameter of the collet closed vs open--a couple of thousandths--it's amazing they hold up as long as they do.

Was the bit coming out while you were trimming?

Where you taking too much off?

What is the likely cause of that?

I'm surprised the shank could bend that much without fracturing, but I guess they are made to be fracture resistant?

Details, need details.

Welcome to the forum @Jerrycarroll

You might have had the bit extended too far.

A better description of what you were doing and what happened is needed. 1st thing I would point out is that no more than 1/16th should be removed in any pass and you need to be aware of the proper direction when routing. If you felt a sudden pull and the router got away from you then I'd say you started a climb cut which is the opposite of the direction you want to go and can pull the router away quickly. But a far better description is needed of what actually happened before anyone can give an accurate guess. A picture of the wood wood may yield a clue or 2 as well.

Do you pull the bit out of the collet a little before tightening? That can be a cause of the collet not tightening properly.

Speechless!!!