# Question About Jacobs Chucks



## Anthony G (Sep 23, 2015)

I went to the hardware store today, one of the couple that are still left in my city since most of them closed up. I needed a couple bolts. Anyway, while I was in there I was looking around and I noticed some Jacobs chucks in a locked display case they had. Just out of curiosity I ask the guy if he would check to see what kind of a mount they were. I was sure they were threaded mount, but could tell because the case was behind a counter and too far away. Anyway, they were threaded mount, I think maybe 3/8"-16. The thing about these is that these were OLD chucks. I can't say they had an inch of dust on them (yes, even in the display case), but they had a LOT of dust on the packages. The are USA Jacobs chucks. All of them. They are $11.00. Two of them were keyed and one was keyless. 

I guess my question is how accurate are threaded mount chucks? I know I can buy an arbor for them from ENCO or elsewhere with the threaded mount for the chucks and the MT2 taper for a tailstock. Would it be worth it? These are old, USA Jacobs chucks. I bet these are 20-25 years old. The guy acted like he didn't even know they were down there.


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## JimDawson (Sep 24, 2015)

Unless you are working for NASA, I would say that a threaded chuck would work fine.  Not quite as heavy duty as a taper mount, but plenty strong for most work within the range of the chuck.  Sounds like a deal to me.  I would buy all of them.


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## 4GSR (Sep 24, 2015)

Man, jump on them!

I have a two that I bought for next to nothing with no. 2 Morse taper shanks that were NOS chucks that nobody wanted because they were threaded mount.  They work fine on my SBL.


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## chips&more (Sep 24, 2015)

I have a feeling they are replacement drill motor chucks. Which means they are not made to the quality standards of a machine chuck. But, it all depends on your use/needs/finances. And be aware that a threaded chuck could un-screw. Might want to Locktite the threads to be safe…Good Luck, Dave.


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## Anthony G (Sep 24, 2015)

"Chips".............I'm sure they are replacement drill motor chucks. Just wondered if they would be "OK" mounted on a threaded arbor for my tailstock. I would think as long as I use right hand drills, unscrewing wouldn't be a problem. Might be OK for secondary, utility chucks, huh? I think they're 3/8" capacity.


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## Charles Spencer (Sep 24, 2015)

I'd buy them in a New York minute.  I think they'd work well if you made a threaded 5/8" sleeve and fit them into something like one of these:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Tailstock-Turret-MT2/G9318

I have one and also a flat, capstan I guess, version.  A smaller drill chuck would work better than a larger one in these.  True it would lack rigidity but it would probably work OK for center drills, pilot holes, etc.


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## Bill C. (Sep 24, 2015)

Anthony G said:


> "Chips".............I'm sure they are replacement drill motor chucks. Just wondered if they would be "OK" mounted on a threaded arbor for my tailstock. I would think as long as I use right hand drills, unscrewing wouldn't be a problem. Might be OK for secondary, utility chucks, huh? I think they're 3/8" capacity.



Now days most drill motors are reversible, they should work just fine. Like someone posted earlier use a drop of Loctite if in doubt.


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## T Bredehoft (Sep 24, 2015)

I have about half a dozen small Jacobs chucks, salvaged from drill motors, all mounted on 3/8 24 threaded  M1 Tapers for my little lathe, I can set up center drill, tap drill, tap, reamer and a couple of others to make multiple operations on pieces in the lathe. I've had no problem with them unscrewing when backing out a tap.


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## hman (Sep 24, 2015)

Reversible drill motors typically have a left-hand thread in the spindle, usually something like a #10.  A LH screw is driven in from inside the chuck and keeps it from unscrewing in reverse.

Of course, if you're using the chuck on a drill press, reversing will not be an issue.  Do the chucks have a large enough capacity for use in a drill press?  If so, I'd say "go for it!"


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## Anthony G (Sep 24, 2015)

hman said:


> Reversible drill motors typically have a left-hand thread in the spindle, usually something like a #10.



But the outer thread is right-handed, correct? That would be a problem since I haven't seen any arbors with left-handed thread. 



hman said:


> Of course, if you're using the chuck on a drill press, reversing will not be an issue.  Do the chucks have a large enough capacity for use in a drill press?  If so, I'd say "go for it!"



The are 3/8" capacity, I believe. Not 100% sure, but relatively sure. I was sort of in a hurry to get out of there and back home. I think mostly I'd be using them in the tailstock of my lathe.


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## Anthony G (Sep 24, 2015)

Charles Spencer said:


> I'd buy them in a New York minute.  I think they'd work well if you made a threaded 5/8" sleeve and fit them into something like one of these:
> 
> http://www.grizzly.com/products/Tailstock-Turret-MT2/G9318
> 
> I have one and also a flat, capstan I guess, version.  A smaller drill chuck would work better than a larger one in these.  True it would lack rigidity but it would probably work OK for center drills, pilot holes, etc.



I thought about getting one of those before, but put it off. I think it could be handy and will have to look into it again. 

I think I'm going to go back up there tomorrow and get at least one of the chucks. Probably the two keyed chucks. I don't think the keyless chuck is of the quality of the more "industrial" type ones for lathe work, but I'll check it out again. It actually looks pretty similar to the one I have on my Milwaukee cordless drill that is about 20 years old. For $11.00, though, I can stash the other two if they don't work out for lathe work. You can't find $11.00 USA made chucks around anymore. Even the China ones are more than that.


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## Anthony G (Sep 24, 2015)

I was looking on ENCO and all of the threaded-mount arbors are pretty much about $50. I went over to Victor Machinery Exchange and they have threaded arbors for $5.90. Has anyone ever used Victor's arbors? If not, how about anything else from Victor? How was the quality? That's a big difference between $50 at Enco and $6.00 at Victor. I think Wholesale Tool is about the same price as Victor.

If I were to buy a couple of those chucks for $11, and then buy a couple of the $50 arbors (cheapest at Enco), there really wouldn't be any benefit to it. I could just buy another Jacobs chuck on Enco with a taper mount and then buy a cheaper taper mount arbor from them (about $15) and be spending the same money.


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## hman (Sep 24, 2015)

Anthony G said:


> But the outer thread is right-handed, correct?


Yes.  The RH outer thread and the shoulder keep the chuck in place running forward.  The LH retaining screw keeps it in place running in reverse.
As for Enco vs Victor arbors, I wouldn't expect a lot of difference.  Both are probably from China.  You can also check out Little Machine Shop.  They have several arbors (short MT2 for mini-lathe tailstock, tang MT2 for drill press, drawbar MT3 for mini-mill and tang MT3 for larger drill press, etc.) that go to ⅜-24 threads and are about $9:
http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_search.php?critFast=arbor&B1=Product+Search


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## The Liberal Arts Garage (Oct 13, 2015)

Just a thought - chuck a piece of straight stock - 3/8" x 1 1/2" in the new chuck
And just "kiss " the seating base of the chuck.  ........BLJHB


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## Anthony G (Oct 16, 2015)

The Liberal Arts Garage said:


> Just a thought - chuck a piece of straight stock - 3/8" x 1 1/2" in the new chuck
> And just "kiss " the seating base of the chuck.  ........BLJHB



Do you mean to chuck up in the 3-jaw chuck the piece of "round" straight stock that is chucked up in the new drill chuck, and lightly machine the seating base of the new chuck? I take it that's what you mean. I haven't ordered a threaded arbor yet for the chucks, but will soon.


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