Jacobs Industrial Keyless Chuck in a DP

[kcleere]

Greetings....

I've been lurking here forever and this is my first post. I've primarily been a hobby woodworker and have always been interested in lathes...mills...fabricating etc. A buddy of mine is a 30 year machinist so he has kept me interested.

To my question....I recently installed a Jacobs industrial keyless chuck on my drill press. I've never had a keyless on a DP and this one has be a bit puzzled. No matter how hard I turn it to tighten it soon lets go of the bit.

I'm actually in a wheelchair and I don't have a great deal of hand strength but I have enough for what this should take.

This is the chuck:

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?P...PMAKA=319-3124

So my question is how heavy do you need to lay on this thing to lock it? Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance for your reply...

Ken

[nheng]

Welcome Ken and hope you enjoy it here !

Several thoughts come to mind since you mention wood, but you are here

If you are grabbing a woodworking bit with flats, be sure you are on the flat and jiggle it a bit while tightening.

If a drill has a soft shank, it could get scraped up a bit and slip or loosen as the jaws imprint in the shank.

The keyless should tighten itself and is sometimes harder to remove because of that. Many keyless chucks have a hole for a tommy bar to assist tightening/loosening? If the Jacobs does, you might try it.

Den

[kcleere]

Thanks for the Reply...the bits I'm using are Norseman Super Magnum bullet points. Not soft...no flat spots and no pry rod hole in the chuck. DP turns the right direction also.....still puzzled.

[nheng]

Just recalled this thread:

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/sho...t=jacobs+china

Notice the 4th post by a respected regular here. His 14N, a historically great chuck, was made in China and not performing. Other posts give even more graphic and disgusting detail of another American company sucked up and spit out.

Hopefully not the case for your chuck ... but the timing does not sound good.

Enco is great on returns and I would give Bison a try. My last chuck was a 1/2" Bison, quality construction, holds well and was $80 from New England Brass and Tool. Bison has consistently good metallurgy, fit and finish (so far, knock on wood).

[davidh]

enco has a excellent return policy. call them, tell them of the problem, they will send you a new one and pick up your old one. . . . no charge. it could easily be the chuck is not up to par. . . . .

[Paul Alciatore]

I don't like keyless. Chucks are "supposed" to have keys - that get lost. But at least you can tighten them.

I think we "improve" things that really don't need improving. Like motorized car windows. And motorized wrenches. And motorized carving knives. The list goes on and on.

Now they are improving TV. Instead of free, over the air TV, they want to put it all on the internet and charge you for every bit of it. New and improved. Yea. Unha. Sure.

OK, rant mode off. Everybody have a good day.

[Carld]

Ken, I like keyless chucks and have two Albreights. They usually tighten as you drill with them but vibration will loosen them. I have had them come loose.

What about your machinist friend, has he tried using the dp with the keyless chuck?

[torker]

I agree with Paul.. I hate the keyless chucks I've owned. Never had a good really good one but the ones I have had soured me.
Get a LFA chuck...you can easily run 1/2" endmills in them and mill real metal.. I just found that out yesterday... NO!!! Don't try it.. I made a mi, mi, mi...error.

[nheng]

Paul, not only will you pay for every bit but your large screen TV is built with lead free solder (driven primarily by the EU), to consumer assembly standards for a 3 year life. I can hardly wait to find out how much fun (and expense) it will be to have your automobile electronic problems fixed if you keep it for any length of time. Show me a module that does not cost at least $400 and MUCH more, plus labor, to replace.

We have had technology shoved down our throats and then made to obsolete itself within a year so we can buy all the crap again and again. Mark my word, as soon as the cell phone market saturates, you will see monthly charges for service revert to the old 1970's message rate billing methods.

The old buggy whip does not work as an example of why we need change here. "Necessity is the mother of invention" does not apply anymore. It's more like "Corporate greed is the mother of invention". That last phrase has an expletive and a patent attorney, deleted.

[kcleere]

Thanks for all the replies...the only reason I bught this particular chuck is that the spindle on my DP is a "fixed" J33 male taper and I needed a 5/8" chuck. This was about the only one I could find that was "supposed" to be a quality chuck that had a female J33 taper and was 5/8"...I think I'm going to let Enco have this one back and keep looking...OR...go ahead and invest in a grown up DP with a removable taper so my choice of chucks is not so limited.