DeWalt Cordless 20v drill. Chuck replacement help please

Jake M said:
From the factory those things are set up right tight, and for obvious reason. Indeed, the "inside" screw is going to be a left hand thread, and the chuck it's self is going to be a right hand thread. Removing either can be brutal. About 4000 Youtube videos might build your confidence a bit.....

Don't go spraying oil... The inside screw, clean metal to clean metal, has formed a seal. Oil won't get under it until AFTER you find a way to loosen it. It's not really every day, but I've worn out my share of drill chucks... The "original" way since threaded chucks were a thing, is clamping a3/8 allen key in the chuck, and beating the (tar) out of it with a hammer to get it to turn (Seriously, I wasn't joking, it takes 4000 Youtube videos to build up that kind of confidence). I've evolved that into using a 3/8 impact gun, clamping a 3/8 square drive allen key in the chuck. That is a quick speedy, not huge torque impact gun. Couple hunnert pounds rated maybe. NOT the big ugga dugga.....

First step for a reversable drill with the locking screw inside, put the allen key in the in the dill chuck and TIGHTEN it with a good hammer thwack, or a couple of burps on the impact gun. This ensures it's not "locked" against the locking screw.

Second step, take your torx socket that you're using to remove the locking screw, put it in the screw, and close the existing chuck until it's supporting but NOT CLAMPING the socket. Just supporting it, minimal play. Now, hold the drill by the chuck, over the work bench, but above it, so you're ONLY supporting the drill with your hand, and only by the chuck, Then, a couple of good sharp hammer thwacks on top of the driver. You're using the driver like a nail set to drive that screw home....

Third step... Go back to the removing of the locking screw as you normally would. Start gently and escalate slowly. If it gets to where it's just not gonna go, no way, no how... Use that torx head on the screw as a pilot, and drill the head off.

Fourth step, go back to what I said before, and allen socket and a small impact wrench, or the allen key and the BFH to unscrew the chuck.

Fifth step, if there's a drilled off stump of locking screw in there, because you excercised restraint and drilled it before it broke..... There's a little tiny stump sticking up. If it's not locktited, it's unloaded, it'll come out by hand. (They always loctite 'em...). Or You can safely warm the "spindle" enough to soften the loctite that's got it stuck in there, and pliers will unscrew it. It is a left hand thread.

As for the new chuck that you're gonna get- I'm not going to be a huge help here, except to temper your expectations. The old drill chucks of days gone by that would clamp so tight they'd put their own three flats on a round drill.... Those days are gone. Materials and batch production processes have made drills harder (not as hard as the business end, but harder), and the drill motors themselves, they have so much more torque than the same thing from years gone by... It's an apples to oranges comparison to the drills that were equipped with the chucks we all remember, that were faultless at the time. That said, there are some better and some worse. OK, yeah... The big old all metal drills that weighed ninety pounds, had no torque, but thirty pounds of motor and gear reduction all in rapid motion... They won't hold a modern drill bit either. You'll never wear the (keyed) chuck out, but it won't hold the bit. Find a drill bit as old as the drill, and you're back in business (until you break your arm), but they don't like modern bits either.

So... Basically, your drill chuck is going to be fairly flat backed, although there's a very good "counterbore" before the threads start, which makes it kinda particular, but pretty well out there in all the usual places. Grainger, Mcmaster, MSC, Shars, etc. The bad thing is this. If you want a GOOD drill chuck... It's out of your price limit


Everybody has their own accounting system, I'd have a hard time spending past half of that number for a "decent" chuck... Personally, I'd be inclined to look into an old timey keyed chuck. (And did on one of my drills of another brand). They're not keyless, and the "keeping track of the key" habit takes a couple of searches around the shop to become ingrained into muscle memory again, but you won't be bracing the drill between your legs and yarning on the keyless chuck with channel locks any more... Fair swap for me. Probably not for everybody, but at least worth "considering" in the mix, given what's out there.
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Thank you Jake.
Your method worked like a champ!
 
At this point, I'm inclined to just replace the drill even though I just need the chuck.
Does anyone know if the Milwaukee is better than the Dewault??

I've been switching over to their products. I like the brushless M18 platform.
I have their 1/4" impact driver. I love it.

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Janderso said:
Does anyone know if the Milwaukee is better than the Dewault??
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I will & always say yes & no. It depends on your needs. With all the major brands it's always a back & forth game, one will have better specs, the other will beat them, then repeat. Dewalt seems to always play catch up compared to MW. Dewalt currently has a few tools that beat MW right now but it took them a few years.

Me personally I don't think I will ever buy Dewalt again. I had their Dewalt XRP NiCad, then switched to their Lithium when my batteries died. I was never really happy with anything Dewalt I've used. They feel good in the hand though. Now I'm heavily invested in Milwaukee, I prefer the M18 line. I do have a couple of M12 tools but I hate the ergonomics of M12 tools. I'm not a MW fan boy & I do have gripes about MW in general but I've been happy with all the stuff I have. If I were to change plaforms I'd probably switch to Makita but in terms of selection of tools availability MW is pretty much on top.

All the major brands will serve you fine. Unless you are a specs numbers chaser. :) I would just stick with whatever battery platform you are on now. If you aren't heavily invested in a battery platform or don't care about that, perfect time to switch to whatever puts a smile on your face.
 
darkzero said:
Yeah those screws are on/can get pretty tight. You could try reaching in there with a soldering iron to try heating it up..... if you have something like 40W or higher, a 15W iron for PCB work might not be hot enough. Might not get good good heat transfer but might be able to heat it up just enough.

Yup, holidays are coming up, good sales around Thanksgiving as you know. A Rohm was $50 pre-pandemic so I assume it may cost more now. If it does then I hate to say it but a new one is probably the better option especially if that drill is kind of old. I hate to to get rid of working tools/stuff in this throw away world we live in now but if it's more cost effective then I'll go with it.

If you decide to get a new one, who knows maybe in the future you may come across a good chuck or use that drill for parts or a project. I still have my old Dewalt nicad, I bought an adapter for it to use MW M18 batteries but I still don't use it. I planned on making a tool post mounted drill with it for radial drilling on the lathe but that will probably never happen. :)
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All the ones I have removed have Loctite, your idea is good I would heat up a 1/4: steel rod to cherry that gets the heat in real quick, works for me.
 
@Jake M : Thanks for the really excellent recipe for getting these chucks off. Even though mine do not have busted chucks, now I know how!

Of course, getting a replacement chuck then becomes the problem. This kind of kit is priced high enough that the ability to easily repair/replace parts should be an option, yet the clear business model is to discourage such attempts. Even when it's only the most short-lived bit that one expects will fail, a replacement battery pair can cost nearly, or more, than the deal to get a whole new drill. We end up with a box full of hardware like I have!

Once the chuck is off, the game becomes finding something that is mountable in it's place. I would guess that in design, every attempt is made to have them be "incompatible". If you have a "dead collection" like mine, you might be tempted to take off all the chucks, to discover if any might do transplant fit.

My thing, for a while, was removing old NiCads, and changing the technology to Li-Ion. I had been all the way with Ni-Cad rejuvenation, and stopped doing it. The trick can be done, but to be effective, the time and cost far exceeds the price of new with drill included. So far, I have not succeeded with Li-Ion either. Li-Ion cell sets each need their little management chip monitor electronics working, or you risk the whole lot catching fire. Lithium on fire is not the sort that can easily be put out.

Basically, cordless power tools start out with a high environmental cost to manufacture, and then deliver a designed limited life before becoming "stuff to be disposed of". These bits can't easily be recycled. They need to keep working for a decade or two.
 
After doing some research on the Milwaukee, they have the same Jacobs 4000 chuck as the DeWALT.
Another throw away tool.
Dang it.
 
Have you looked at Bosch or Metabo?

All my battery stuff is Hitachi/Metabo and I’ve been very happy with it. Definitely recommend one vendor for this stuff for battery compatibility.

You might need to order several different brands to see which one you like best then return the others.

John
 
Janderso said:
After doing some research on the Milwaukee, they have the same Jacobs 4000 chuck as the DeWALT.
Another throw away tool.
Dang it.
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Sounds like the one you are looking at is a much older or lower model Milwaukee. Those have plastic collar chucks & are non ratcheting lock.
 
darkzero said:
Sounds like the one you are looking at is a much older or lower model Milwaukee. Those have plastic collar chucks & are non ratcheting lock.
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Hmm,
My source was a google search for a replacement chuck for the Milwaukee.
You are probably correct sir.
I’ll keep looking.
 
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