Like a few others in the forum, i’m now having some trouble keeping the end mill in the ‘collet’. cant tighten set screw (even with loctite).
Screw threads in ok without end mill inside, but with it in, doesnt tigten. Suspect the soft metal that the collet is made from (brass?) has perhaps threaded from grub/set screw right a point of connection.
Does snapmaker sell replacement collects - they arent shown on parts/accessories page ?
If not, any suggestions where I could get a replacement, preferably not made of tougher material than brass.
This is a topic to which there are already many answers in the forum. I can’t judge if one of the answers is correct, because I don’t have a Snapmaker yet and I won’t buy one until this vulnerability is fixed.
Thanks for your reply. I know there are many posts re this, but they are different to the question i’ve asked - i.e. (a) does snapmaker sell replacements; and (b) alternatives, preferrably tougher than brass.
I’ve spent lots of time googling overnight … and one thing I’ve learned is my use of the word ‘collet’ is wrong … this part is commonly referred to as a ‘coupler’ (an actual collet would be much better).
They appear to be very common, but at this size, not for CNC use, but rather in the RC Aircraft space. Nearly all appear to be brass or copper (which I think is even softer).
We just had a very scary experience with the screw in the collet/coupler loosening and the bit dropping out into the wood during cnc-ing. With no emergency shut off button, the bit stuck itself in the wood and the machine kept going while we tried to cut the power. The shaft on the rotary motor is bent now and our CNC module is unusable. We’ve only used the CNC module a couple of times so this seems like a huge flaw in an otherwise good system. We’re super bummed.