Keyless chucks- Advantages and disadvantages?

HMF

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Folks,

When the chuck broke on my 30 year old Enco drill press, I put an Albrecht keyless on it, and it seems to work well. However, I have heard people say that keyless chucks have some limitations, particularly when using large size drills, taps, or putting a lot of pressure on the operation.

So my question to you is this, do you use keyless and/or keyed chucks, and what machines or operations do you put a keyed chuck on as opposed to the keyless?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of keyless chucks?

Thanks,


Nelson
 
I have a 1/2" Albrect on an R-8 arbor for my mill. I never use it. I have a small Albrect that I use all the time for #60 and smaller drills.

My favorite chucks are the Jacobs Super Ball Bearing Chucks. I have 14N's (0-1/2") on all my drill presses, lathes and mills. I also have 1/4", 3/8", 5/8" and 3/4" and use them as needed. I use the 2 smaller ones often in the mill.

Charlie W.
 
i dunno i have both for my lathe i use the keyless most often for the fact that i dont have to use a key ;D
 
I have an older Jacobs 14N on my drill press, but use SPI keyless on my lathe. I also have an LFA keyless I use on my Miller. The SPI and LFA appear to tighten as pressure is applied, so no slippage is encountered; I had a cheaper one that loosened and slipped, which I deep-sixed. The SPI's came with a spanner, so you can crank on them if you want, but I have not needed to use them to tighten, only to loosen after drilling. The LFA goes from near zero to 1/2" and spins so true that I rarely use my smaller chucks, even for the tiniest of bits. The Jacobs 14N is still pretty good, but a rebuild kit costs almost as much as some of the newer, good, keyless chucks, and from what I have heard, the Jacobs are now imported and are hit-or-miss for quality.
 
I have a couple of the Jacobs 14N chucks as well, but I was never really happy with them because they don't feel "solid" when they tighten down. Turning the key just feels "mushy" like it want's to turn more, but slowly seizes up - if that makes any sense? ???

I bought a SPI chuck to try on my 20" drill press and immediately loved it! The speed of inserting or removing bits now is awesome, and when the jaws touch home on a bit the chuck collar stops dead solid. Never found a need for using the included spanner yet. After using it for awhile and never spinning a bit (unlike the Jacobs) I bought another SPI with an integral R8 shank for the mill. Love it there too. :)

So my 14N's are restricted for use on the lathe now, but I still cringe when ever I have to tighten it down on a bit. Neither one has been abused (in fact one has rarely been used at all) so no need for a rebuild kit. I see you can buy a new complete chuck for less money than the kit now from most places.

Different strokes. That's why Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors, eh? ;D

Edit to add: I forgot to mention that I don't have anything against keyed chucks. I also have a smaller LFA chuck for my mini-lathe that works just fine. No ball bearings, and it operates just as smooth - but is more solid when tightened than my Jacobs chucks for a lot less money.
 
CharlieW link=topic=1748.msg10739#msg10739 date=1303004454 said:
I have a 1/2" Albrect on an R-8 arbor for my mill. I never use it. I have a small Albrect that I use all the time for #60 and smaller drills.

My favorite chucks are the Jacobs Super Ball Bearing Chucks. I have 14N's (0-1/2") on all my drill presses, lathes and mills. I also have 1/4", 3/8", 5/8" and 3/4" and use them as needed. I use the 2 smaller ones often in the mill.

Charlie W.


Charlie,

I have heard it said before that the Albrechts are better for small diameter drills than larger ones, and you obviously feel that way, since you use Jacob 14N's on your machines.

My stupid question is, why is that? Is the hold better for larger drills in your opinion by the keyed 14N?

Thanks,


Nelson
 
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I hear (see) kudos for LFA, SPI and Lambrich. My old eyes had trouble making out the letters on the Lambrich ad, but it looked like Spain, I have seen SPI sold by Enco, but presumed it was Asian, and LFA I have never seen. Where are these made?

Thanks,

Nelson
 
Allthumbz link=topic=1748.msg10844#msg10844 date=1303081607 said:
Charlie,

I have heard it said before that the Albrechts are better for small diameter drills than larger ones, and you obviously feel that way, since you use Jacob 14N's on your machines.

My stupid question is, why is that? Is the hold better for larger drills in your opinion by the keyed 14N?
Thanks,
Nelson

I started home machining when I was a teenager and I only had the chucks that came with the Logan 200 I had. It was a Plain bearing 1/2" Jacobs chuck. I made an extended chuck key which kept me from getting skinned nuckles and the long T-handle made it easier to tighten. A few years later, I picked up a 8" Atlas lathe that I fixed up and sold but I kept the tooling that came with it that was better than what I had and that included a 14N. It worked so much better than the plain bearing chucks that eventually I bought additional ones when I found them. Eventually I got a 1/2 Albrect but I was so acustom to using the BB chucks that I just seemed to like them better. A small Albrect will hold a .006 drill very nicely and it just seems right for small drills.

Maybe not the best reasons for what I use but much of the tooling I have gotten was tools that I got with other things or bought because I could get them for a price I could afford. I guess I just got in the habit or comfortable with what I had. The avaliability of Albrect chuck at reasonable prices used has only happened in the last 10 years and by then I was already comfortable and set in my ways using the Ball Bearing chucks.

Charlie W.
 
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Allthumbz link=topic=1748.msg10845#msg10845 date=1303081999 said:
I hear (see) kudos for LFA, SPI and Lambrich. My old eyes had trouble making out the letters on the Lambrich ad, but it looked like Spain, I have seen SPI sold by Enco, but presumed it was Asian, and LFA I have never seen. Where are these made?

Thanks,

Nelson


LFA chucks are made in France. The one I have is a ball bearing unit and doesn't slip or loosen under pressure. I was pleasantly surprised with its performance.
 
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