Albrecht Chuck Problem

[mikey]

I recall one Albrecht chuck I did - I dropped all 25 bearings on my garage floor FOUR times. If you saw my garage you would realize what a disaster this was. I found all of them with the help of a magnet on a stick but it wasn't that much fun. Whatever you can do to contain those little suckers, do it.

 

[tq60]

Should have been one time...

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[mikey]

I've rebuilt 9 of these chucks and I was a total klutz with that one for some reason. Once I got it done and mounted on my drill press it runs with about 0.0005" of runout.

 

[sanddan]

I just got an Albrecht 1/2" chuck off ebay and when checking it has about .005" runout. It also feels "gritchy" so I plan on taking it apart to clean and inspect. Anything I should specifically check regarding the cause of the runout?

 

[mikey]

Run out can come from the spindle, arbor or the way the chuck is mounted to the arbor. Personally, when I get an Albrecht off ebay, I remove and replace the arbor with one I trust. I disassemble, clean and re-lube the chuck and then clean up the chuck and arbor tapers before remounting the chuck on the arbor. I must be paranoid but I prefer to trust an arbor I put in myself.

 

[sanddan]

It's not the spindle (I checked another chuck and got 0" runout) but could be the shank as it is used. I had planned on switching to a straight shank but want to make sure the runout issue is fixed first. I can see that removing the R8 shank should be easy using wedges but how do you remove one that has a straight shank? My other chuck with a 1/2" straight shank doesn't have a lip the wedge can push on.

 

[mikey]

You can use a shaft or clamp collar for the wedge to bear against or you can push it out from the inside once you get it apart using a hydraulic press or you can pull it off as found in this article: http://www.machinistblog.com/?s=albrecht&submit=Search

 

[sanddan]

Thanks for the link Mike.

Unfortunately the link to the rest of the article doesn't work but it did cover the disassembly. Tom Lipton has a good video on this also but he didn't cover removing a straight shank but I'm sure it can be done.

 

[coffmajt]

I picked up a 1/2 in capacity chuck off e bay cheap, but when it arrived it was very rough to open or close, so I used the Tom Lipton rebuild video to take it apart and get it clean and lubricated only in the right places. The results were outstanding, it now opens and closes so smoothly that it is a pleasure to use and it holds tight on all that I have used it on. Please don't soak yours in solvents to try and "solve" a problem, because taking it apart is not that hard == Jack

 

[JimDawson]

Tom Lipton has a good video on this also but he didn't cover removing a straight shank but I'm sure it can be done.

Smack the arbor on the side, near the chuck end with a round steel shaft. It sets up a shockwave in the arbor that will loosen the taper. Yes, it puts a bit of a divot in the arbor, but that's what files are for.