Drill chuck; new China or used German?

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liveaboard
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Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by liveaboard »

I need a drill chuck for the heavy drill press; for 30 euros I can get a Rohm 16mm looks well used.
Or I can get a new shiny Chinese 13mm.
I don't need 16mm but that doesn't mean I don't want one.

I CAN'T buy a new Rohm or similar, those jeweled items cost hundreds of Euros and are not for the likes of me.

Keyed or keyless? I've only been using keyless for a long time but maybe it's time to reconsider.
Keyed chucks actually seem to be a bit rare.

What do you think?
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Bill Shields
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Re: Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by Bill Shields »

Rohm or Albrecht

I like the keyless whenever possible

A have 4 sizes of Albrecht...3 we're purchased used.

I have a handful of the Chinese purchased over the years from several suppliers, ...and none of them run true on center, no natter whobrhe maker of the adapter
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Steggy
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Re: Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by Steggy »

I'd go with the Rohm. I've yet to see a Chinese chuck that didn't have runnout.

As for keyless chucks, no thanks.
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Re: Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by Harold_V »

BigDumbDinosaur wrote: Sat Jul 23, 2022 11:51 am As for keyless chucks, no thanks.
You'd likely change your tune if you were tasked with drilling multiple holes in multiple parts. By the time you center/spot drill, open the hole, then drill for size, a huge amount of time can be saved by using a quality keyless. Even more time can be saved by using a quality keyless Wahlstrom (cutting tools are changed with the spindle in motion).

Keyless chucks have their place and are superior to keyed chuck so long as you don't have to reverse direction of rotation.

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Re: Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by Bill Shields »

👍
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Re: Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by liveaboard »

Interesting range of views...
I do get irritated with the self-tightening ones sometimes when I want clamping strength it reverse.
The main trouble I have with keyed chucks is not the few extra seconds they take (Although those can be irritating seconds), but that I tend to lose the key.
Constantly.
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Re: Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by Bill Shields »

BTDT.

Every keyed chuck in my shop uses one of 2 keys...and I have a set of keys at each machine...

The drill press uses the same large key
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Re: Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by Mr Ron »

I have a cheap Chinese chuck on my drill press. On my lathe and mill, I use a German Rohm chuck. I have other Jacobs chucks that find use in various applications. Generally, I stay away from Chinese junk. I'm sure they can make quality stuff, but I don't know how to identify them. Chinese factories may be using German chucks for all I know
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Re: Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by Bill Shields »

Or Japanese
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Re: Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by whateg0 »

I've come to like keyless chucks for a lot of things. But I use holesaws quite a bit and learned the hard way that some keyless chucks self tighten.
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Re: Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by Bill Shields »

Except on hand drills, I thought that all keyless chucks self tightened..and in general, the chhcks on hand drill motors are almost universally junk.

Or am I missing something
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Re: Drill chuck; new China or used German?

Post by Harold_V »

Keyless chucks do self tighten, assuming the tool doesn't spin in the jaws first. Even when that happens, if the shank is soft it usually raises a burr that stops the slippage. A hardened shank may never stop spinning, an example being a tap.
The fact that they self tighten is the reason I have my 5/8" Albrecht chuck, which I find quite useful when drilling with the tailstock of my lathe.

Indcations are that the hood was cracked by the chuck tightening, which must have happened when it was new. An old refining customer who fancied himself a machinist gifted the broken chuck to me years ago. A new hood made it new again. Didn't even have to replace the jaws, which were pristine.
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