Parts for Albrecht chuck?

sanddan

Active User
Registered
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
655
So, I bought a used Albrecht chuck off ebay and on examination it felt a little "gritchy". I checked the runout and got .005" which I think is too much so it's time to disassemble and give it a good cleaning.

The insides were filled with gunk and grease, no wonder it felt crappy. There was also some minor corrosion which cleaned up with solvent and a red scotchbrite pad. Two of the three jaws were slightly mashed on the contact edge leaving a slight flat spot about half way up the jaw, not super bad but not perfect either. The big find when the grease was soaked off was that two of the ball bearings were either broke in half or just worn that way. I think there should be 24 balls in this chuck (1/2") and what I have is 22 balls that still look round and 2 that look like they were cut in half.

So, where does everyone get replacement parts for the Albrecht chuck? If the balls were good I would have put it back together and tried it out with the jaws as is. If the runout was still .005" then I would consider changing the jaws out but since I need at least 2 balls anyway I am leaning toward just replacing the jaws now.
 
I took some pics, let me know if you think these need to be replaced.

P1040165.JPG
P1040166.JPG
P1040167.JPG
P1040168.JPG
 
Replace the jaws. There should be 25 ball bearings in there. I think MSC still carries the ball bearings in sets of 25 for less than $20.00. Best place for new jaws is ebay. Otherwise, MSC, Royal, and Albrecht will have them. Maybe others but not sure where.
 
I just looked up the parts on msc and they still everything you need but at higher prices bill there is a number stampecon the chuck or the knurled part under the chuck held by one screw clamp. it should be 130 or160 that number is how you order parts. bill
 
It looks like those jaws are not salvageable any more.
The model # can be found in this pdf file (page 6/10 or 10/10):
http://www.royalproducts.com/img/category/upload/Albrecht_Full.pdf
I just reconditioned mine 3 days ago and the only place I lubricated was where the balls are seated, (you should not grease the Acme thread of the spindle).mine is 1/32"-1/2" (model# C130-J6) and only had 24 balls in it, according to Mikey and the youtube TOM(Oxtoolco) there should be 25.
I thought I had heard some rattling in the chuck due to the missing ball but I was wrong, the chuck is performing very well and the rattling was not from the chuck , I still would like to order the ball set(25/package) from Royal Products or MSC for a single ball, keep the rest in case I get another chuck for my drill press.

Don't forget ebay for the jaws, probably cheaper too.
According to this video on youtube,you can order the balls from Mcmaster-carr $3.20 for a 100pcs:
 
Last edited:
I ordered a set of balls and plan on trying it with the current jaws. If it doesn't perform to my needs after a good clean up, I'll consider changing the jaws then. I can't find them for less than $96 dollars except for an ebay site in England. It's a bitter pill to have to pay more for new jaws than the chuck cost me in the first place.

It was pretty easy to take the chuck apart. I made a fixture out of some scrap plastic to hold the chuck while removing the hood and the R8 shank was easy to remove so if it doesn't perform good enough it'll be easy to install new jaws later.
 
Back
Top