I looked at the muscle chuck. Are there any other options?
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Personally, I wouldn’t do it. You’re probably pushing a cutter harder in a CNC router than you would by hand, so anything that can add a failure point would be dangerous.
Any added runout could also affect tool life and cut quality.
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As noted, the Muscle Chuck was designed in an era of router hand-usage — for CNC the added runout is problematic to say the least.
An option which I’ve been exploring for a while is:
but it requires a 220V–110V step-down transformer, and custom mount and vacuum setup as discussed there.
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Every collet and bit has run out. The more you extend the bit out the more run out you get. Run out causes vibration and can cause your bit to loosen and change position or could get jammed and break.
The collets that come with your Dewalt, C3D and Makita routers are adequate but are not perfect. Nothing is perfect but there are more precise collets available for routers.
The spindles that are using ER collets have more gripping area and are likely machined more precisely than stock collets.
Bottom line is changing bits is a chore but a necessary chore. Even the MuscleChuck you still have to loosen and tighten the bit so it is the same amount of work as a regular collet.