Whiteside 9700, MuscleChuck, Magnate Eliminator RC QR Router Chuck - Difference?

[Ben Rivel]

Ben, not sure which one of these you're referring to, but with the Muscle Chuck it's the nut that attaches the MC to the router shaft that you shouldn't over tighten (12 ft. lbs.). They say to tighten it about 1/4 turn past hand tight. The cap screw that you use the Allen wrench on (to secure the bit) is rated to 125 ft. lbs., which is why I use the T-handle on it.

Gotcha. I think I mis-understood whatever it was I read. You are correct as per the instructions listed at MuscleChuck's website: LINK

[Andy Giddings]

Gotcha. I think I mis-understood whatever it was I read. You are correct as per the instructions listed at MuscleChuck's website: LINK

I've found a quarter turn or less is about all you need with the cap screw that clamps the bit as well. A normal size Allen wrench tends to limit the torque to about that.

[Nick Decker]

Yeah, once that cap screw starts to tighten, there's not much more movement involved. I use about the same amount of force that I would with a regular collet wrench. About 70 to 80 ft. lbs., according to my highly imprecise muscle memory.

[Dave Richards]

I've got Eliminators on two of my routers and like them very much. No problem with balance or getting the router clamped tight. I also have an Eliminator XL for my DW625 which is nice when I want slightly more reach on the Router Boss. I got my Eliminators from the Router Boss folks.

Yesterday I was using a Trend extender in the Eliminator on my DW625 on the Router Boss. It was very nice to have the length and it was perfectly balanced.

[James Zhu]

I bought MuscleChuck at Rockler , works perfectly. I followed the instruction video, was able to get the runout to 0.002".

http://www.rockler.com/quick-change-...de-musclechuck

I have the Bondhus 4mm ball end tip with t-handle, high quality. It was $6.68 when I bought it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Ben Rivel]

Think Im gonna give Whiteside a call tomorrow and ask them the story behind all these different brands of what looks to be the same product. Hopefully they can confirm something. I'll post back with whatever I can find out.

[Nick Decker]

I've been using these for a couple of years now, and keep waiting to hear why they're not a good thing. Other than extending the bit height, I haven't heard or read a thing. I'm a bit surprised we're not seeing them offered on new machines.

[Ben Rivel]

Just got off the phone with Whiteside and the gentleman I spoke to there (Todd) said they buy their 9700 from The Eliminator Chuck company and that the MuscleChuck was created by a guy who used to work for The Eliminator Chuck company, broke off and made his own version and changed how the collet screw works a bit. I'm guessing the Magnate Eliminator RC is just one of those two versions.

So that being said I think I'm going to go ahead and go with the Whiteside 9700. I'm a big Whiteside fan anyway so that works for me.

[Nick Decker]

Well, that's a different story than what I heard, but who knows? FWIW, I'm a big fan of Whiteside myself.

[Ben Rivel]

Well, that's a different story than what I heard, but who knows? FWIW, I'm a big fan of Whiteside myself.

Do tell! What did you hear?

[Nick Decker]

It goes back to when I first heard of the MuscleChuck, in the Router Forums. One of the mods there (maybe the owner?) became acquainted with the guy who invented it. The story was that the inventor's background was in machining parts for racing, nothing to do with the Eliminator company. But, that's not to say that that story was true, or that Tod's story isn't.

Knowing Whiteside's quality, I really doubt they would get behind anything second rate.

As an aside: I mentioned the 4mm Allen wrench I've been using. You mentioned, I think, a 5/32" wrench, which made me wonder about that. Turns out that while a 4mm will work, a 5/32" fits better, less slop. Gracias! (Note that this applies to my MuscleChuck unit; the Whiteside/Eliminator may be different.)

[Ben Rivel]

Okay, reading more into this thread that I mentioned earlier, I think I understand the difference better. The Whiteside/Eliminator version has the older design bit retention that looks like this:

Whiteside_Eliminator.jpg

Whereas the MuscleChuck/Magnate SHA0002 looks like this:

MuscleChuck.jpg

Notice the split in the MuscleChuck version? That changes how the unit grips the router bit and is apparently a much stronger design with less likelihood of marring the shank of the router bit.

So I guess Im leaning towards the MuscleChuck now.

[Bruce Page]

Mine has the split like your second picture.

[Ben Rivel]

Mine has the split like your second picture.

You said earlier that you had the MuscleChuck, so that checks out.

[Dave Richards]

As I said before, I've got several of the Eliminator chucks. I've never seen any marring on the shanks of my router bits. I wonder if that's a real problem or not.