Miniature Drill Chuck

GeneT45 said:
I purchased that exact product not long ago. In my searching it was absolutely the least expensive sensitive drill attachment + chuck that I could find. The chuck was a bit 'gritty' at first, but cleaned up pretty well. It'll never be an Albrecht, but the whole thing is pretty well made for the price and does the job.

I have used mine only in the mill, with a 1/2" collet, but I wouldn't hesitate to clamp it in my drill press chuck. I have a small-ish Rohm chuck that I routinely stick in the drill press chuck with no ill consequences.

GsT
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I saw that on Amazon, but the reviews were only 3.6 stars out of 5. The LMS one does look a lot better made, but at 3X the price.
 
I only needed it for a small project (bit of a pun there...) and not having needed one in the previous 25 years of turning perfectly good metal into worthless chips, I didn't want to spend much on it. Amazon returns are easy, so I decided it was low risk and I could order a different one if it didn't pan out. If I were going to be using one all the time I'd look for something better - or maybe finally get around to doing something with those pillar-tool castings...

GsT
 
If your not going to use it much, an alternative is an old cordless drill chuck and shaft. I have been using one for years. I used to chuck it up in the drill chuck, but found that I got less runout with an R8 collet on my mill. You want an old low battery voltage cordless drill. In most cases the battery went bad before any wear on the chuck. I have a couple here and will use one for a micro drilling attachment in the lathe.

Everything is relevant. I just spent $70 on a 0-3/8 precision chuck for my wife's bench motor. She will be working with #80 drills and larger and can't have any runout.
 
If keyless my personal choice is Albrecht
Have 2 0-1/8” best out there. 30 plus years and still going strong
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For the true cheapskate in the house:: several times in the past, I simply took the insulation off of some copper wire, wrapped the copper wire around the tiny drill bit and then chucked it up in the drill press.
 
Mitch Alsup said:
For the true cheapskate in the house:: several times in the past, I simply took the insulation off of some copper wire, wrapped the copper wire around the tiny drill bit and then chucked it up in the drill press.
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I like your idea, but I'm not sure that will work when working on clocks. I think I need more precision.
 
devils4ever said:
Maybe I'll spring for the LMS one.
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I have one that I either got from LMS or a similar one from elsewhere (IIRC it cost in the $125 range a few years ago, and like the LMS is unbranded; Jacobs chucks with a sensitive adapter are going in the range of $300+, and Albrecht are more):

Miniature Drill Chucks.png

The lower chuck is an unbranded J0 chuck with a 3/8" arbor that I use with the 3/8" ID x 1/2" OD DOM [Drawn Over Mandrel] tube on the right as a small sensitive drilling setup in the lathe (see Joe Pie - Stop Breaking Small Drills).


[Edit - re-cropped photo to eliminate white space]
 
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Working with metal (ZAMAK, a "white metal") models, a Nr 30 drill is about as large as I go. Nr 80 gets used sometimes but not very often. Hence I am always on the lookout for small chucks that will work "better" than what I have. I would love to find a 0-1/8 Albrecht that I was willing to pay for. But the folks selling them are right proud of what they have. Rightfully so from what I am told. . . I have a number of "pin vises" that have chucks, probably from China. They work fine by hand but do have some runout under power. One on my desk as I write has a Nr 72 drill mounted.

One of my "standards" is that almost any tool I buy must be capable of multiple or different uses. Such as the Amazon sensitive drill with a 3/8 straight shaft. Mostly it is used on a HF MiniMill with an R8 to 3/8 milling adaptor. But if/when the need arises, it will also fit the lathe(s), large drill press, and other machines. Probably the most "expensive" adapter I have. . .

On the other end of the spectrum, there are the "cheap" 0-1/4 chucks that have a hex drive so they will fit battery screwdrivers. Just how accurate they are in terms of TIR varies from chuck to chuck. But most of them are not all that good. When I can find them, I usually buy five at a time just to have on hand if I need one. I used to pay about a dollar ($1) each, recently they have gone up more than double. But I haven't had a need for any recently and still have a couple on hand.

The nice thing about them is the hex drive shaft(?) that is threaded in to the chuck and forms part of the closing mechanism. With care, the chuck can fit any threaded rod or shaft that fits. The old ones were 1/4-28, I think, the newer ones are an odd metric size. Probably 7mm. . . I have found a very old one that was 5/16-24.

I once modified a "child" size brace that used a clamp screw, threading the end of the shaft to fit whatever size fit that particular chuck. As the kid (not mine, barely teen) grew up and acquired a full size brace of his own, the small one was returned and now hangs on a peg for the next kid. He was fascinated with the physics of a "Slinky", so I figured was worth the trouble.

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If you're after quality and precision, I would stick with German keyless chucks. You can buy Albrecht chucks from RotaGrip in the UK for about half what they cost here in the USA (including shipping). This is one of the small Albrecht chucks I own, and after you remove the VAT tax and have it shipped, it costs about US$170:


I have that chuck combined with a Royal Micro Chuck adapter:

 
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