Albrecht Chuck for Drill Press - Bad Choice??? (seeking opinions)

[davefr]

I bought a brand new Albrecht 1/2" Chuck with MT2 shank for my DP. Now I'm questioning if it's really the best chuck for a general purpose drill press. I can still return/exchange it to Enco.

It doesn't seem to tighten enough and when the drill bit slips in the chuck, the jaws of the chuck really tear up the shank of the bits. It seems like slippage is more common then I've seen with keyed style chucks.

The other issue is that this chuck pushes the bit outward as you tighten the chuck. Sometimes I want more shank in the chuck and less of the bit protruding beyond the chuck in order the minimize flex. (especially with small bits)

The chuck is very well balanced with negligible runout and very convenient to use. I just wonder is this style chuck is really the best choice for a DP??? I'm thinking about exchanging it for a ball bearing keyed chuck.

Any opinions??

[J Tiers]

My preference in a DP is for the drill to be very tightly held.... or be a taper shank.

I really HATE the chuck spinning on the drill, it tears up the drill, forces you to file off the raised divots, obliterates the size marking, makes it run wobbly forever after.......... do I need to say more?

I'd likely ditch it for a good keyed chuck in a heartbeat, very good chuck brand or not.

Still, none of that stuff SHOULD happen if the chuck is tightened correctly..... They ARE good chucks, maybe that one has a problem?

[dalee100]

Hi,

Yeah Albrecht is a generally pretty good chuck. It is possible to get a not so good one sometimes I suppose. I do wonder what size of drill are you experiencing slippage with? Short of a dodgy chuck, a good quality 1/2" keyless should hold up to 1/2" drills without too much danger of slippage.

On the other hand, I find when trying to hold over 1/2" drills in a chuck it's often asking for trouble. At that point I switch to taper shank drills. Silver & Demming drills are handy and convenient, but I have found over the years that they are the ones that will slip in a chuck and cause grief.

dalee

[lakeside53]

I have about 7 Albrecht chucks of all sizes. Slippage is never an issue with HSS bits in my mill or tailstock, and....if they are tearing up your drill shanks you have bad jaws. I'd send that back to Enco and complain.

The ony place I use a keyed chuck is on my tailstock with a Jacobs 20N (3/4 ) on my tailstock. Decent chuck, but not the same quality as the Albrecht.

[Rosco-P]

I bought a brand new Albrecht 1/2" Chuck with MT2 shank for my DP.

Is this a genuine Albrecht or a keyless "albrecht type" chuck? If it's the real deal, I'd be containing the manufacturer with my concerns. Otherwise, I'd return it to Enco for a good quality keyed chuck. In a MT spindle I prefer to use taper shank drills (even for the smaller sizes) whenever possible. Mixed "box lots" of used taper shank drills on fleabay are usually a bargain.

[Arthur.Marks]

From your description, you are likely not using it correctly. You mention that as you tighten the jaws onto the drill, it pushes the drill outward. What this means is that you are bottoming the drill on the central screw which tightns the jaws. The design of these is such that the drilling pressure actually causes the jaws to tighten by unscrewing a central part which contains the jaw guides. By bottoming out a drill on that central piece, you are setting up a confliction in the mechanics of how the chuck tightens on the tool shank. The drill is being pushed down (outward) as the screw is butting up against the end of the tool shank. What you end up with is one of the following: a lightly gripped drill shank which slips, a badly marred shank if the jaws hold while the tightening screw compresses on the end of the drill, or a broken chuck. All not good.

Start fresh with a new twist drill. Open the jaws of the Albrecht and insert the drill until you feel it touch the bottom of the chuck. BACK OUT the twist drill shank a short bit---say, an eighth of an inch. Tighten the chuck on the shank here. No need to try and wrestle it closed. Hand tight snug is appropriate. Now drill a hole. You should encounter no problems, although I would be worried you already marred the jaws from your earlier technique. That would mean they won't make full contact on the shank if they are gauged and might cause a problem same as any other chuck...

One note worth mentioning for the 1/2" chuck. I have the same exact chuck, BTW. For a 1/2" drill or very near it, it is adviseable to drill a pilot hole the width of the chisel edge. A drill of that size exerts a terrible amount of force to push the material with the chisel edge. Unless you have an incredibly rigid, heavy and solid drill press, this is the one area where I would say the keyless chucks need a little help (by drilling a pilot hole).

Let us know how it goes and good luck!

[davefr]

From your description, you are likely not using it correctly. You mention that as you tighten the jaws onto the drill, it pushes the drill outward. What this means is that you are bottoming the drill on the central screw which tightns the jaws. The design of these is such that the drilling pressure actually causes the jaws to tighten by unscrewing a central part which contains the jaw guides. By bottoming out a drill on that central piece, you are setting up a confliction in the mechanics of how the chuck tightens on the tool shank. The drill is being pushed down (outward) as the screw is butting up against the end of the tool shank. What you end up with is one of the following: a lightly gripped drill shank which slips, a badly marred shank if the jaws hold while the tightening screw compresses on the end of the drill, or a broken chuck. All not good.

Thanks, this was very helpful. I was inserting the drills until they bottom out in the chuck and then tightening. I'll give them some clearance next time.

I also noticed that the jaw area has a lot of blue grease inside the chuck which doesn't look right. I thought the jaw area should be dry. I think Albrecht got too sloppy with the grease.

So it sounds like an Albrecht chucks is not really a poor choice for a drill press. The problem I had was with smaller bits (3/16" approx.) drilling brass which tends to want to grab.

[Carld]

I have two Albrecht chucks I use in my mill and my experience with them is they tighten if the drill or tap slips as long as the tap or drill is not bottomed out in the chuck. In fact they get so tight I have to wrap the chuck with leather and use large slip joint pliers to loosen it. If I am drilling and power tapping I use a large Jacobs ball bearing chuck.

[davefr]

Should the jaw area have grease inside??

I can't image that grease oozing onto the jaws is a good thing for tightening.

[Arthur.Marks]

That shouldn't really be an issue, although I do not remember my new chuck having as much as you show. Your photos show more than I would expect from a new chuck. The manufacturer instructions make clear that the thread on the central part should be kept clean and unlubricated. I couldn't tell you, though, the exact reason why. No way to tell if there is grease on that thread without complete disassembly. I use TapMagic a lot when drilling, so the thread inevitably does get some oil on it. I always very lightly grease the alignment slots on the jaws themselves and the back, tapered portion when I disassemble + clean my keyless chucks. If there is any grease on the gripping face of the three jaws, that can't help matters.

[lakeside53]

The gripping face is tiny so high pressure - grease won't affect it materially. I often oil my chuck internals with no detriment. Grease between the body, guides and the jaws is good - let's you transfer all the force to the jaws.

The caution about no oil on the body threads is to stop them coming undone.

What's the minimum gripping diameter specified on the side of the chuck? Any chance you are using colbalt drills? They are difficult to grip hard to in any chuck.

[macona]

So it sounds like an Albrecht chucks is not really a poor choice for a drill press. The problem I had was with smaller bits (3/16" approx.) drilling brass which tends to want to grab.

Albrechts are great on everything.

Brass need bits specially sharpened so they dont grab and pull:

http://www.listoftools.com/grinding_operations/sharpening_twist_drill_drilling_brass.html

[macona]

Should the jaw area have grease inside??

I can't image that grease oozing onto the jaws is a good thing for tightening.

The grease will not make one bit of difference at the pressures that are involved in a chuck.

[uncle pete]

I wish I was wrong, but there isn't a manufacturer today that doesn't turn out the odd lemon. My 1/2" Albrecht is complete overkill since it's mounted on a MT 1 arbour and used on a Emco compact 5 lathe. There's never been a problem, and I would never hesitate to buy another one despite their realitivly high cost. A simple half hearted twist on the OD locks and unlocks it every time without any real effort. I've never had a twist drill or even taps that have ever spun in this chuck.

To save more than a few bucks, I bought three 1/2" capable Glacern integral shank keyless chucks. Other than the outside colour, I really can't see or even feel any real difference between an Albrecht and these. Mine spin any item as well as I think my lathe mounted Albrecht would. Buying 3 chucks and having them average less than .002 runout is pretty damn good in my opinion. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Glacern. In fact I happen to think their highly underpriced. Possibly a true Albrecht would maintain it's accuracy longer under commercial use?

Weirdly? I once bought a 16" 16 spd Crapsman drill press with a cheap 1/2" chuck. funny enough, no matter what the drill size was, it would spin them well under .002.

Pete