Colletts for Makita Routers

For anyone using a 1/8" adapter with your 1/4" Makita collett and wanting a 1/8" Makita collet I just ordered and received one from Elaire Corporation. Cost was $24.50USD + $8.75USD shipping. Have not tried it yet but it appears well made (see photo). I havenā€™t carved with it yet but put a bit in it and mounted on the router. Good tight fit. They also have a 3/16" collett. They also carry MM sized collets too (4mm, 6mm and 8mm)

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And if you want a custom collett they can make them too.

@Heyward43 It is interesting to see that you were able to order and get delivery from Elaire. Where are you located?

I am trying to order from Elaire. I would like to buy their metric collet set. However, Mark at Elaire will not reply to either voicemail or email when I ask how he ships to Canada and if he will use USPS rather than a courier.

I found a Canadian supplier of 1/4 and 1/8 collets - robotshop.ca. They were great, but they do not have the metric collets.

@gwilki You might have guessed but Iā€™m in the good ole USA. Just went online and ordered it. It came USPS in a small box (6x4x4inches). I thought it was a little overkill since the collett probably weighs about 1/2oz and of course is pretty small. If thereā€™s any way I can help you let me know. I have sold items on Ebay before and mailed items to Canada with no issues. I didnā€™t have to do anything special with USPS that I remember.

@Heyward43 Thanks much for the offer, H. I just may take you up on it.

There is no issue with USPS. However, if US companies insist on using couriers to send goods to Canada, it frequently means that the costs get crazy. The shipper does not see this. When the shipment arrives in Canada, the courier will add a ā€œbrokerage chargeā€ onto the original shipping cost. This charge generally is around $40. It does not matter that the charge can be much more than the value of the goods. USPS and then Canada Post charge $10 for clearing customs.

I had good email exchanges with Mark at Elaire when I was asking for details on collets. However, as soon as I asked about shipping, he stopped communicating. I have sent emails and left voicemails. None have been replied to. It seems to me that Elaire is not interested in Canadian business. This is not altogether unusual. It is disappointing, though.

I am looking for a 6mm collet and the only sources that I have found are in Europe or Australia. As you can imagine, their shipping costs are very high - tripling the cost of the collet. Itā€™s not the end of the world, but it is frustrating.

Grant,

Iā€™m also interested in the metric collets, which has lead me down the rabbit hole of some of the 1/4" to ER16 collet adapter options. Amazon.ca has a few of them although Iā€™m concerned about what it will do to run out.

I think you can find one of them here and then the ā€œpeople who were interested in thisā€ section will let you wander through the others: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B081Z2YX1L/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyUUJDREwxMlRVUzlHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDA3MDUzMUFaWkgzS0s5R0RFNiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwOTk4MjEzM0RLWFhPSDNQQTBNWCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbDImYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

I havenā€™t ordered one yet but Iā€™m tempted. You need to order the wrench and the collet nuts separately though, so it starts to add up.

It also has me pondering the router mount. I was watching a Norwegian guy who upgraded his DIY CNC to a Makita from a lower powered spindle and he made a double mount for the body of his Makita, which makes good sense to me. Given that there are two mounting height locations on the Z plate Iā€™m guessing it would be reasonable to have a second bracket in place and further reduce the potential for deflection under load. Iā€™m intrigued. :slight_smile:

This also caused me to notice that the embedded video on the Sienci home page has a 3D printed bracket that looks a LOT taller than the final metal one, suggesting it may be mounted in both upper and lower holes. Hard to tell. I wonder if anyone has ā€˜upgradedā€™ the router mount itself yet?

-Jeff

PS - Somewhere along the way I think I had a brain fart and called you Gord a few times. If I did, my apologies. :slight_smile:

@jwoody18 No worries on the ā€œgordā€, Jack. :grinning: :grinning: Seriously, Jeff, I knew that it was me you were talking to.

The one you link to would mean losing about 2 1/2" of Z travel. I would like to avoid that.

Here is a guy who did something similar:

The converter he links to at aliexpress is no longer available.

I guess the issues for me would be run out and cost. Since all I am trying to do is get a 6mm collet, this conversion is likely overkill. If only Elaire would reply, Iā€™m sure that would address my particular issue.

On the mounting idea, I would think the simplest way to address that would be to buy another mount from Sienci.

I ordered a 6mm collet from Elaire on June 12 via their website (https://www.elairecorp.com/makitaroutercollets.html). I paid through paypal and received a tracking number for USPS. Iā€™m still waiting for the collet to arrive but with postal delays these days it doesnā€™t surprise me I donā€™t have it yet.

@dbraz77 Where are you located, Dwayne?

Forgot to mention that Iā€™m in Manitoba

Some quantification of ā€œextemely low runoutā€ would be interesting.

@dbraz77 Thatā€™s good to know. Thanks, Dwayne. Elaire ignores voicemail and email requests for info. However, it seems like they use USPS. I think that Iā€™ll take a chance. If all else fails, I can simply refuse the shipment. Who knows,maybe by Fall, Iā€™ll actually have one. :grinning:

Update on my order from Elaire. My collet never arrived, ordered it June 12 and tracking updates stopped on June 17th (item seems to be stuck in Chicago). I finally opened a paypal claim and paypal refunded my money. I ended up ordering a 6mm collet from amazon UK and it arrived in less than 2 weeks. Hereā€™s the one I ordered: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0193FYUOY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Not cheap but I needed one since I have a lot of 6mm endmills from china which actually work pretty good for the price.

@dbraz77 I was sure that I had posted an update on my Elaire order. I canā€™t find it so I am clearly mistaken.

I did place my order and I did receive the collet in the mail. I never did get an answer to any of my emails asking about shipping, nor to my voicemails. They sure donā€™t make it easy to deal with them. For me, this will be the last time, I think.