Keyless drill chuck function....

[Tipton1965]

If it’s like mine, it’s not hard to release a bit, there’s just a lot of internal drag. Mine is clearly due to the grease in it as it’s much stiffer in the cold; the motion is very smooth just requires a lot of torque.

Yeah mine is super smooth.....just takes more work than I think it should to operate it.

 

[Winegrower]

I have several lower priced keyless chucks, and as Brino said, they can tighten up to excess. That seems to happen on the lathe more than the mill, so I think a heavy lathe cut takes more torque than the mill might. I don't use keyless on the lathe anymore as a result, except for a preloaded chuck with spotting drill...that's a pretty light cut.

 

[Tipton1965]

I have several lower priced keyless chucks, and as Brino said, they can tighten up to excess. That seems to happen on the lathe more than the mill, so I think a heavy lathe cut takes more torque than the mill might. I don't use keyless on the lathe anymore as a result, except for a preloaded chuck with spotting drill...that's a pretty light cut.

I'm actually wishing I would have just purchased a keyed chuck. Old habits I guess.

 

[nighthawkFmobil]

My PM high precision keyless chuck is smooth and spins about how I think it should. Just doesnt have a whole lot of holding power. If I try and use the blue wrench it can help but it breaks free of the taper pretty easily. Not sure I should be using the wrench but if my drill keeps slipping I do. Good for tapping I suppose...

 

[Tipton1965]

So what's a good keyed drill chuck with a 1/2" round shank that's pretty accurate? That's another thing I don't like about my keyless is the integrated R8 shaft. You have to raise the head high to change it out.

 

[brino]

Good for tapping I suppose...

Tapping with a keyless chuck is a whole new issue......they self-loosen when used in reverse.
I find my keyless chuck to be useless on the lathe for tapping (when turning the spindle by hand).
Every time I reverse to break chips the chuck lets go of the tap.

....and please no comments about not using a tailstock chuck on taps.....I know that should not be done, blah, blah, blah.
Lacking a decent and quick alternative, I will continue to do it.

-brino

 

[WobblyHand]

My PM precision keyless chuck has smoothed out considerably. My guess is they pack it with grease that is for higher temperatures, and it gets stiff at lower temperatures. My shop has been below at or below 60F for the winter. Consequently the chuck has been harder to turn. The colder it has been the stiffer the grease.

As an experiment, try warming it up with a hairdryer, warm, not hot. Does it get easier to turn? If so, maybe it needs a more appropriate grease for the bearings.

My keyless chuck holds ok. Haven't spun any drill bits yet. (Unlike my old keyless chuck that I had on my Craftsman hand drill.)

All that aside, if I were to do it again, I'd get a keyed drill chuck. Why? If your mill doesn't have a spindle lock, (PM25) you need a wrench to hold the spindle to tighten the chuck. It kind of defeats the purpose of a tool-less chuck. My keyless chuck is stiff enough that tightening the chuck causes the spindle to rotate.

 

[Tipton1965]

All that aside, if I were to do it again, I'd get a keyed drill chuck. Why? If your mill doesn't have a spindle lock, (PM25) you need a wrench to hold the spindle to tighten the chuck. It kind of defeats the purpose of a tool-less chuck. My keyless chuck is stiff enough that tightening the chuck causes the spindle to rotate.

That's yet another reason I want to switch to a keyed chuck. The same scenario is required with my 833TV.

 

[darkzero]

if I were to do it again, I'd get a keyed drill chuck. Why? If your mill doesn't have a spindle lock, (PM25) you need a wrench to hold the spindle to tighten the chuck. It kind of defeats the purpose of a tool-less chuck. My keyless chuck is stiff enough that tightening the chuck causes the spindle to rotate.

Valid point & I can relate but keyless chucks come in different configurations. Integral arbor keyless chucks often don't come with the collar grip. I'm assuming that's what you have.

When I was tooling up my mill I bought an integral keyless chuck from Glacern. Because it doesn't have the collar it's shorter so I figured that would allow me to have more Z capacity & being an integral arbor in theory it should have less runout than a chuck with a seperate arbor. I have a gearhead mill so most of the time I would put it in low gear & just tighting the chuck by hand would suffice since a keyless chuck will grip tighter as it's drilling. But sometimes I would need to hold the spindle nose by hand to tighten. This was before I got a spindle lock.

Eventually I got sick of it. I do have a spindle lock now but long before getting it I bought a "regular" Glacern keyless chuck with seperate arbor so I could have the grip collar. Sold the integral chuck & couldn't be happier (that is until I was given a Albrecht). That was the first time I've ever bought/used an integral, I'll never buy an integral again if I ever need to buy another drill chuck.

In the end, runout was not any worse & I still haven't had an issue with running out of Z due to the slightly longer chuck. Integral chucks are great for the tailstock in the lathe though. Even having a spindle lock on the mill I still prefer not to have an integral chuck because of the lack of the collar. There are those who don't like em but I prefer to use a keyless chuck, it's what I'll grab first. I do still use keyed chucks too sometimes though.

Here you can see the difference.

 

[macardoso]

All of my chucks have come greased with stiff grease. Over time they will loosen up, or you can open them up and clean.

A leather belt on the knurling used as a strap wrench works well.