Besides damaging the tool during the work by crashing to the loosened knot or parts of the workpiece, tools can be also damaged by missed or irregular maintenance.
Dust and small parts of wood and epoxy can be stuck to the router bit and collet extension.
If these parts are not cleaned regularly, they can cause increased tool vibration and damage to the bearings of the router.
Collet cleaning:
Cleaning the collet is recommended after every 10 hours of work.
Mainly the inner part of the collet is cleaned using a nylon brush.
It is recommended also to clean the space between the slats of the collet.
Tool shanks should be cleaned after each tool change or every 10 hours of work.
It is ideal to use a cleaning solution: e.g. CMT Formula 2050 or a similar product.
Collet replacement:
The collet wears out due to tool clamping and tool vibrations, and surfaces are squeezed out on the internal clamping parts, which causes imperfect tool clamping.
This can cause the tool to break at the clamping point, increase tool vibration, and damage the milling machine or spindle bearings.
Replacing the collet with a new one every 300 hours of work is recommended.