Which keyless drill chuck?

[SomeGuy]

Would like a second chuck for my lathe, mostly because I just have a keyed chuck and doing a center drill, pilot drill, drill to size, and then chamfer takes forever swapping bits.

Requirements:
- Keyless Chuck
- 5/8" or so size, not a 1/2" since I have a few bits that are quite snug in that
- MT3 taper - I see you can get integrated or a separate chuck and arbor, what's better?
- Affordable - Don't feel like spending $500+ on a Jacobs right now

 

[Crankit]

I have a Yukiwa, LFA, and another European brand(can't remember now) keyless chucks... the Yukima is a better build.
also... look for a chuck with the biggest Jacobs taper available.

 

[ShawnR]

Every time I scrap a drill, I save the chuck. I dedicated one to the center drill and bought the matching arbour for it to match the chuck threads and my tailstock. It only holds the center drill so seldom gets opened. It is keyless but small, perfect for it's job. My "good chuck" is the 5/8" that gets used most but it is not keyless. A pain but my only experience over the years with keyless chucks has been that they are not as secure. Apparently, watching videos, I am the only one with that sentiment so I might have to order one too....

This forum is getting expensive....

 

[Susquatch]

Would like a second chuck for my lathe, mostly because I just have a keyed chuck and doing a center drill, pilot drill, drill to size, and then chamfer takes forever swapping bits.

Requirements:
- Keyless Chuck
- 5/8" or so size, not a 1/2" since I have a few bits that are quite snug in that
- MT3 taper - I see you can get integrated or a separate chuck and arbor, what's better?
- Affordable - Don't feel like spending $500+ on a Jacobs right now

Many many years ago I bought a south bend keyless chuck on a fixed MT3 taper.

I'm not absolutely sure where I got it, but Grizzly comes to mind first. I love this chuck and therefore I only use it when the job requires it. It is precise, never slips, and never needs the spanner tool that came with it. Otherwise I use the plain old keyed chuck that came with the lathe.

I just checked and they still have it. Better yet, it's on sale. Regular 182 on sale for 146 (US Funds) - still a bargain if its anywhere near as good as mine.

Keyless Integral Chuck MT#3 1/32"-5/8"

<h1>SB1380 Keyless Integral Chuck MT#3 1/32"-5/8</h1> <h2>The integral shank design makes for better accuracy and speeds up production.</h2> <p>These SB1380 Keyless Chucks are produced with an integral shank to maximize concentricity between the body, shank and jaws.</p> <p>They start as a...

www.grizzly.com

I should also add that it includes the tang on the MT3 which make removal from my tailstock a piece of cake.

 

[trlvn]

I like Rohm chucks but I've been lucky enough to find them used for a decent price. They do come up on Kijiji from time to time. New, they are a bit spendy:

https://www.kbctools.ca/itemdetail/1-507-020113

I would suggest a 1/2 inch (13mm) keyless. Keep the keyed chuck for your bigger drill bits.

I think the separate chuck and arbor makes sense. Chucks last a long time and you may want use it on a different machine in the future. Being able to move it to another arbor makes that easy. Be aware, though, that arbors can be poorly made. I tried two KBC-branded arbors and the Jacobs taper on each was badly ground (hills and valleys) such that there was significant run out. An Accusize arbor had no measurable deviation.

Craig

 

[Darren]

I have Rohm and Cushman, both are very good.

 

[Gearhead88]

I have had good success with finding chucks on ebay , you gotta be at the ready to bid at the last few seconds or back away if the bidding gets foolish .

I bought a pair of seemingly new Jacobs Super chucks with R8 shanks for an unbelievably good price , not always am I that fortunate , the prices on ebay can be outrageous.

It's convenient to have an array of chucks at the ready , quicker tool change outs .

I've got a selection from really good to not so good

 

[Susquatch]

Would like a second chuck for my lathe, mostly because I just have a keyed chuck and doing a center drill, pilot drill, drill to size, and then chamfer takes forever swapping bits.

Requirements:
- Keyless Chuck
- 5/8" or so size, not a 1/2" since I have a few bits that are quite snug in that
- MT3 taper - I see you can get integrated or a separate chuck and arbor, what's better?
- Affordable - Don't feel like spending $500+ on a Jacobs right now

Just summarize as per your requirements.

Obviously lots of options that ring the bell.

Keyless Chuck - all options mentioned ring that bell.
- 5/8" or so size, not a 1/2" since I have a few bits that are quite snug in that. All options mentioned ring that bell.
- MT3 taper - I see you can get integrated or a separate chuck and arbor, what's better? @trlvn prefers exchangeable but gotta be a good one. I prefer integrated - much easier to get a good one.
- Affordable - Don't feel like spending $500+ on a Jacobs right now. Obviously a good deal on a used one is the way to go. But hard to beat the price of a brand new South Bend. And I do love mine in all respects.

 

[PeterT]

Personally I prefer integrated if you have the choice, unless you found a steal on a precision chuck body that you now want to integrate on a specific machine. Even so, I find chucks don't move around much & nothing saying you have to sell the chuck with machine when the day comes. The arbor/fit is just another surface for potential runout. My R8 mill chuck is same model as MT3 lathe chuck which covers a high % of typical hobby mills & lathes unless you have something more unique

I have this chuck offered through PM, maybe 10 years old now. As good as it was brand new. Very low runout & good value IMO. I think Taiwan made but not sure.
PM has an Ebay store too but stock seems to ebb & flow for some reason. I can't say if prices are different or maybe he uses to reduce inventory ocassionally?

https://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/18-58-ultra-high-precision-keyless-drill-chuck-mt3/

I've seen what I suspect may be same under different names, but can't confirm.

SOWA - Homepage

There are lots of offshore chucks to choose from. Some are good value, others less so. Just be prepared that they are not above exaggerating runout values. Unstated runout is basically a crap shoot. If it was low & reliably low, why wouldn't they use leverage that? Some of the body lengths are quite different within same holding capacity range so maybe a consideration. I can't find my notes but there are variations in the screw mechanism among models Some tighten better & hold better than others & might explain why some people have polar opinions of keyless chucks. Jacobs gets high praise but I think its ben confirmed like so many USA firms, all but he uber-expensive precision model is now produced off shore, so you are just buying a bygone name. Personally I still own my (keyed) big chuck for big drills because lets face it, harsher conditions, basically hogging operations. Save the $ precision chuck for the work suited to it.

 

[Darren]

This is a 3/8 Cushman I keep handy. I made a 1/2" shank arbor for it. Its great on the mill for switching between a 1/2" endmill and tap drills and taps for power tapping. My edge fjnder is a 1/2" shank like most, so its easy. It's sensitive enough that you can set the slip torque on a 10-24 tap to slip when it bottoms pretty reliably.

If you're going to make a straight shank threaded arbor like this, leave it oversized by 20 thou or so on the shank. Then thread it in with loctite, put a 1/4"-3/8" carbide endmill in the drill chuck, flip it around in the 4 jaw (or collet chuck if you have), gripping on the endmill, dial it in dead nuts on, indicating off the endmill and do the finish pass on the arbor to 0.500". It will run dead true after that if its a decent chuck.

 

[deleted_user]

Would like a second chuck for my lathe, mostly because I just have a keyed chuck and doing a center drill, pilot drill, drill to size, and then chamfer takes forever swapping bits.

Requirements:
- Keyless Chuck
- 5/8" or so size, not a 1/2" since I have a few bits that are quite snug in that
- MT3 taper - I see you can get integrated or a separate chuck and arbor, what's better?
- Affordable - Don't feel like spending $500+ on a Jacobs right now

so I guess an Albrecht is out of the question.

 

[Darren]

so I guess an Albrecht is out of the question.

My favorite keyless is an Albrecht! I forgot about it earlier. Like forgetting the misses on valentines day..

 

[kevin.decelles]

I bought the same one as @Janger , butter-smooth, I like it. 13mm though. not 5/8. (It's a Jacobs)
Link to amazon item

 

[deleted_user]

My favorite keyless is an Albrecht! I forgot about it earlier. Like forgetting the misses on valentines day..

Mine too it is soooo smooth

 

[Darren]

Compared to the Rohm, which is very nice, and the the Cushmans, which are too new to be smooth yet , the Albrecht is definitely the smoothest. No effort from locked solid to released.

I bought out my neighbors inventory a few years ago. He was a Lawson hardware rep. Had a shop full of hardware and other jobber supply stuff, Amongst the stuff was a box of probably 20-30 drill chucks. I think all Cushman, most keyed, some keyless, but the biggest keyless was 3/8" . Ive been finding homes around here for them since.

 

[deleted_user]

Compared to the Rohm, which is very nice, and the the Cushmans, which are too new to be smooth yet , the Albrecht is definitely the smoothest. No effort from locked solid to released.

I bought out my neighbors inventory a few years ago. He was a Lawson hardware rep. Had a shop full of hardware and other jobber supply stuff, Amongst the stuff was a box of probably 20-30 drill chucks. I think all Cushman, most keyed, some keyless, but the biggest keyless was 3/8" . Ive been finding homes around here for them since.

Ours came in a kennedy box filled with other goodies..

 

[PeterT]

so I guess an Albrecht is out of the question.

Travers is not the cheapest place but I remember that had a pretty complete Albrecht product line.
I just had to take a peak. GAK! $$$. And that's just the chuck body, arbor not included.

 

[SomeGuy]

Some good suggestions...shame they're not as easy to just click click order all in one shot from amazon, kbc, or accusize or something. Feels like piecing together is needed for some of this or lots of side suggestions of ones that you have acquired in various ways over the years.

 

[Darren]

I don't think any of us are going to pay $1300 for a drill chuck. be vigilant on Ebay. I got my Albrecht for a tenth of that.

 

[PeterT]

Agree. Now to what degree its been used is always the question. I should be more adventurous. I guess if its a dud, send it back to the Ebay pool from whence it came, maybe eat some shipping cost.

Albrecht tangent, I was keeping eye out for a micro & basically gave up. What does the gradation dial do?