# Makita 3612C Spindle Lock Problem



## Stevekane (Jul 16, 2017)

Hi, Im new to the forum and although ive done a fair bit of basic routing Im far from being expert in any way, anyway Im in the process of building a fairly large cabinet and i will need to do a fair bit of hand routing, and I feally dont want to remove my big old Elu out of its table, so a golden opertunity to try out a secondhand Makita 3612c I picked up a few months ago,,,untill I tried to remove and old bit that came with it, the spindlelock button will not lock the spindle and ive realised that the problem is that the lock pin is not really entering the hole in the spindle, it drops in by perhaps .5 of a mm and then under pressure rides out. Ive removed the pin and its okay but I can see the edge is knocked off, but the real problem seems to be that the Spindle is out of line with the lock pin, feeling with a twist drill the spindle ( ie the armature shaft) seems to have dropped slightly and the lock pin cannot enter the hole. Before I stone off the end of the pin has anyone else had this problem, is it a bearing or thrust washer problem,,any replies most greatfully received, 
I really wish it did not have a spindle lock at all,,Im happy with two spanners!
Steve.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

The complete cure and vast improvement would be to replace the collet assy. with a MUSCLECHUCK as shown in this shot of my modified 3612C which only requires a half turn with a 4mm allan key.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Welcome to the forum Steve. Harry may be correct there. By the time you solve the problem you may not be much farther ahead money wise to have just replaced the collet assembly with the Musclechuck. Last I heard Forum members were still getting a 5% discount from the maker.

That pin is a chronic problem with that router as one I used when working in a mantle factory had the same issue. They never fixed it while I was there so I don't know how hard the fix is. If it is just burrs on the edge of the hole or tip of the pin then that would be an easy fix but if it's an alignment problem I don't know what would be required to fix that. Maybe check to see if there is play in the shaft top to bottom and if pushing on it will line the two up.


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## Stevekane (Jul 16, 2017)

Many thanks indeed for your replies Harry and Charles, much appriciated. 
After I did the post to the forum I too wondered if there might be up and down play in the shaft, as you would expect if say wear had taken place, and I popped out to the shed to check, but no play at all (which is of course good) and peering into the hole where the locking pin sits I can see the edge of the hole in the shaft,,roughly checking with a vernier the pin measures up at about 5.5mm and a 5mm twist drill drops about 4mm into the shaft without any effort. Will stoneing off 0.5mm remove the hardened steel? Im hopeing not and that the pin has been made of a hard steel rather than been case hardened. I will also give Makita a ring to see what they say about it,,esp as I have a suspicion that this might be a fault its had from new and that with sharp edges the pin might have locked,,
The Muscle Chuck looks very intresting, Ive not seen one before so Im off to Google it, and I will of course let you know how I get on,
Once again, many thanks,
Steve.


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## Biagio (Mar 2, 2013)

Harry, may I tap into your knowledge? Here in South Africa we have pretty much the same models as in Ozz. I have a Ryobi RE 1600, which is a reasonably handy third machine, but has an inherent collet design fault - bits creep out. Otherwise good motor, reasonably precise adjustments, would hate to throw it away.
Question: do you know whethe there is a musclechuck to fit this model? Thanks. Biagio.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Just a bit more information on the MUSCELCHUCK, the quarter turn of an allan key locks the bit with several times the holding power of a standard collet, it is such a wonderful invention that I have them on my Makita 3612C, Makita RP2301FC and my Triton TRA001.


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## BrianS (Nov 7, 2004)

If you're considering a MuscleChuck, you can purchase directly from the manufacturer here: MuscleChuck And, if you ever DO have difficulties with it, John DeRosa is a great person to deal with.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

It doesn't look like they make one to fit the Ryobi RE1600 but here is a link to their website, send them a message, as mentioned by Brian, they are a brilliant company to deal with. A few years ago I wanted a MUSCLECHUCK for a Makita 3600BR which I had before the RP2301FC and they told me to be patient and would contact me when they had designed one, which they duly did, amazing service.

Quick Change Camless Router Chuck Wood Working Accessories


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## Stevekane (Jul 16, 2017)

Problem solved,,for the time being at least!
This morning I spoke with Makita UK and the service chap thought it sounded like a manufacturing fault,,and there is certainly no up and down play in the spindle, so I suspect its always been like this and that a new locking pin with sharper edges might lock the spindle. He also said that the pins are not hardened steel, so I popped the pin into the chuck of my drill and with a fine file and emery cloth took it down just over half a mm for about 5mm of the tip, and the locking pin now works perfectly, obviosly its weaker than it was and I will treat it gently, but its dropping fully home now and it stood up to my undoing the collect that had been done up by a large gorilla!
I will be useing the router over the next few days and I will let you know how I get on.
BTW the Muscle Chuck for the Makita was £80,,, more than I paid for the router so I will not go down that route unless I have too.
All the best, 
Steve.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum Steve.


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## Stevekane (Jul 16, 2017)

Many thanks for the welcome messages, so far Ive still not used the router, my routing is done outside and the summer weather here in the UK has deteriated into heavy rain and high winds, so Im useing my time fiddleing around with a fence for the router, presently trying to source cheap 12mm rods, Ive tried ebay and Fences are quite pricey, up to £40 and come with micro adjustments, none of which Ive ever had call to use, so I thought a decent length plain fence would be better for me. Tomorrow Im off to Poole (Dorset) where coincidently there is a large scrapyard that some years ago I went to with a model engineer friend, and they held a good stock of materials for model engineers, all pulled out of the scrap bins I guess, so I will try to call in there and see if they can help.
All the best,
Steve.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Here is but one of MANY mild steel suppliers in the UK.

https://www.themetalstore.co.uk/products/bright-mild-steel-round-bar-metric


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Steve if I ever get around to making a set of router skis I was planning on using drill rod. It's the same steel that that drill bits are ground from but without the grinding of the flutes. It comes in every size that drill bits come in I believe and is usually reasonably cheap.


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## Stevekane (Jul 16, 2017)

Many thanks for those suggestions, Ive never heard of drill rod, I guess its hardened after machineing? Yesterday afternoon I set up two lenghts of old black iron railing that i had been given, these are probably 1/2ins bar and measured up at 12.65mm, clamped in my workmate, I then took the angle grinder fitted with a grinding wheel and was able to lay it flat down on the workmate with the guard holding the wheel off the wooden surface, it was then quite easy to grind two quite presentable flats right along the bars, That got rid of quite a bit of material, then supporting the rods on blocks and clamped down I ground down the sides of the rods freehand useing flap wheels, once down to size i finished off with emery cloth, the whole job took me a couple of hours, and i now have a pair of 400mm long fods with a nice flat face for the clamping screws to nip down onto, my plan was to "blacken" them with oil and whilst I have done a few small things with this over the years, there was not enough heat in my little blowlamp outside, or on the kitchen gas stove, though enough to cause a bit of a stink!! But perhaps there is a sort of protection even if its far from black. The fit in the router is quite good, no tight spots, and as the bars are clamped I doubt it would cause any problems if they aren't a precision fit.
Tomorrow is more heavy rain so Im going to see how far I get with the wooden fence to go on them, if it all looks presentable I might post a photo..
Steve.


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