It didn't hold...

[Dee2]

Got out the Bosch Colt and installed a Whiteside 1/4 spiral bit. Gently entered the spinning bit into the starting hole and out came the bit. Not tight enough? Tried again, and same results. Can't be right I said to self. So I removed the collet nut and found...

...the collet broken. Thankful to the Almighty that no injury occurred.

Packed up the Colt and got out the ancient Craftsman router and made my cuts, no problem.

Must be a known problem for the Colt. Even Amazon has replacement parts.

 

[Graywolf]

Ouch, I’m glad you were not hurt.

 

[Hmerkle]

That is problematic!

 

[petebucy4638]

I have had collets wear out, but I have never had one break.

 

[golfdad]

Almighty was watching over you!

 

[Tarhead]

The collet is a consumable. This can happen to all routers eventually.

 

[mrmilburt]

I think its amazing the number of times that a problem comes up, and some piece of vintage craftsman comes out of hiding to help finish the job!

 

[bob vaughan]

There's good and bad about that little collet's design. The multiple slots seem to be a better design for getting a good grip. The multiple slots also make the collet a bit more fragile. Bad hardening will make the connections rather fragile.

The older Porter Cable 310 & 3710 trimmer size routers had a pretty robust collet that rarely broke.