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Jacobs Super Chuck or clone?

slow-poke

slow-poke

Ultra Member
My new lathe has a MT3 tailstock, my old one has a MT2.

One option is to purchase new arbors and use my old chucks.

Another option is to get a new or good used chuck. New Jacobs are pretty spendy, Ali type clones are less expensive but I'm not sure how they compare, anyone try one?

If someone happens to have an extra one preferably with a MT3 arbor, please let me know.

From time to time I will use this with large bits and so a keyless chuck is probably not a great idea.
 
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I bought my tailstock chucks (keyed and keyless) from Accusize and an very happy with them.
 
I find the keyless Ali clones work great. If you have good chucks on MT2 arbors - leave them as they are. Pick up a couple MT2 to MT3 sleeves - then you can play both ways (perhaps you’ll end up with another machine that accepts MT2?)
 
I have found with keyless and big bits they self tighten so much that I need channel locks to loosen after using.
 
Get yourself a pin spanner, much better for loosening off when it’s over tight. I have lots of keyless chucks from Asian sources and they’re all pretty good, especially in a tail stock where they don’t spin, runout isn’t a big deal.
 
Albrecht specifically states that their keyless chucks are not to be used with drills larger than the chuck capacity. i.e., 1/2" capacity chuck, 1/2" drill max. I've seen an Albrecht with the hood cracked from this very thing.
 
I have an assortment of chucks from various sources some acquired with equipment, some purchased individually, and some in kijiji hauls. In my experience, keyless is just fine. I've never had the problems that some complain about. The only keyless chuck I didn't like at all was an Albrecht that had been abused. I rebuilt it with a kit from McMaster Carr and now it is just fine.

I used to like having both an R8 and a MT3 arbour for my bigger chucks, but as my drill chuck stable grew, I started to prefer dedicated arbours.

Most of the keyless chucks will take a pin spanner if it was ever needed. But that hasn't happened yet.
 
slow-poke said:
I have found with keyless and big bits they self tighten so much that I need channel locks to loosen after using.
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Me too !
I've actually had one commit suicide. It wound itself so tight the internal threads were all boogered. A nice Rohm - that hurt !
I guess I asked for it though, driving a 2" hole saw through 1.5" aluminum plate in back gear on the mill.
 
Some keyless chucks have a location for a hook wrench (and the new chucks that I’ve bought came with a hook wrench). On rare occasion I’ve needed to use the pin wrench to loosen. My Rohm keyless does not have a place for a wrench. Occasionally I’ve needed to use a strap wrench - always because I’d abused it. I wouldn’t be keen on using channel lock pliers. If the strap wrench wasn’t adequate, perhaps grabbing it with some sort of a lathe chuck (protected with soft pads), the idea being to keep it pretty round (ideally in a 6J). Sort of depends how tight it really is whether a little distortion is a problem to hinder getting it to come loose.
 
slow-poke said:
If someone happens to have an extra one preferably with a MT3 arbor, please let me know.
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You are on the southern site . I have 50 or so Jacobs SSBs and quite a few Albrechts . For any type of large drilling just removing material any cheap chuck will do , and the cheap chuck should be used . Save the SSB or precision Albrechts for more delicate ops .

Edit . You can read back on my posts when a bought a new " Chinesium " Jacobs 14N . Fit and finish were not the same , accuracy was dead on . Comparing to the old USA made 14Ns , I saw no difference other than the markings . Funny thing is the price never dropped from USA to China . o_O
 
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mmcmdl said:
You can read back on my posts when a bought a new " Chinesium " Jacobs 14N . Fit and finish were not the same , accuracy was dead on . Comparing to the old USA made 14Ns , I saw no difference other than the markings . Funny thing is the price never dropped from USA to China . o_O
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Maybe they tightened up on the QC so only the better/best ones were marked as Jacobs?
 
Chipper5783 said:
Some keyless chucks have a location for a hook wrench (and the new chucks that I’ve bought came with a hook wrench). On rare occasion I’ve needed to use the pin wrench to loosen. My Rohm keyless does not have a place for a wrench. Occasionally I’ve needed to use a strap wrench - always because I’d abused it. I wouldn’t be keen on using channel lock pliers. If the strap wrench wasn’t adequate, perhaps grabbing it with some sort of a lathe chuck (protected with soft pads), the idea being to keep it pretty round (ideally in a 6J). Sort of depends how tight it really is whether a little distortion is a problem to hinder getting it to come loose.
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If you have a/some chuck without a hole for a pin spanner, make some non-marring “wrenches” so you’ll be prepared:


or (starting at 5:30):

 
slow-poke said:
New Jacobs are pretty spendy,
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Jacobs are unfortunately now part of Apex. Another one who's model seems to be ship production offshore, who cares about quality and milk the brand. I can't attest to the decline as all mine are older (and excellent, they were great chucks) but there are lots complaining how the quality has sunk and being part of Apex, that makes sense.

My strong preference would be to go with rohm, Albrecht or Jacobs used in good condition. For spendy new, Rohm or Albrecht. For less spendy I'd try Chinese and with a plan to survey it and a quick trigger on the return. It would seem by all the happy accolades that Accusize is doing a good job on QA ..... and it is just drilling. Except for the very small sizes, a bit of inaccuracy doesn't much matter.

It's great to have keyless for convenience, but make it your second chuck. You can get a tighter grip with a keyed chuck (for max grip tighten each of the three holes) and the keyless won't work for tapping or any left handed tooling.
 
ChazzC said:
If you have a/some chuck without a hole for a pin spanner, make some non-marring “wrenche
Click to expand...

Why can't you just drill a hole or three. I would think that even a hardened body would give it up for a carbide drill and some patience.

Mcgyver said:
You can get a tighter grip with a keyed chuck (for max grip tighten each of the three holes)
Click to expand...

Great reminder! It seems I always forget about using all three holes that way. That said, I've just never had a problem.

For shafts bigger than 3/4, or large diameter tools (eg face mills), I use collets or fixed sized arbours (eg Weldon or end mill holders).
 
Chipper5783 said:
My Rohm keyless does not have a place for a wrench. Occasionally I’ve needed to use a strap wrench - always because I’d abused it. I wouldn’t be keen on using channel lock pliers.
Click to expand...

ChazzC said:
If you have a/some chuck without a hole for a pin spanner, make some non-marring “wrenches” so you’ll be prepared
Click to expand...

Susquatch said:
Why can't you just drill a hole or three. I would think that even a hardened body would give it up for a carbide drill and some patience.
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I guess my advice isn't so great after all...... In fact, it's horrible!

I just discovered that all my keyless chucks (Gerardi and South Bend) already have holes - EXCEPT NOT THE ALBRECHTS!!! (News Flash - Blood curdling Susquatch screams are being reported all over the world!)

I'm not at all keen on molesting my Albrecht chucks by drilling holes in the shell.......

That said, I've never had a problem with them. If I ever did, they both have really nice knurling on them, so I'd guess that the strap wrench mentioned by others would hopefully work just fine. Go figure!
 
I watched this video a while back. Kinda feels like a Project Farm knock off, but was still good. He compares a bunch of different drill chucks. Iirc he was a big fan of the one from HH Industrial Products (HHIP).

 
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