jacobs keyless chuck

[Logman]

I recall others having trouble with keyless chucks by jacobs but I thought i'd try one anyhow.
Worked well until bit jammed on breakthrough and ruined the chuck. So $140 down the drain pl;us the
problem of removing it !!! I've never previously had any trouble with their keyed chucks. I hope this is just a one off.
So who has the best KEYED chuck ???

[LuckyDuck]

The consensus is that Albrecht chucks, keyed or keyless, are best. Some bandy around Rohm chucks as second best. I have used Rohm chucks for decades. They're good, no doubt. However, I recently upgraded my drill press and decided it was time to get an Albrecht. I braced myself for enormous prices but was pleasantly surprised to find that Albrechts are only about 25% more expensive than Rohm chucks. I paid in the mid to high $300s (each) for a 0.5-13mm keyless Albrecht and a 3-16mm keyless Albrecht. These chucks are not just 25% better or even 100% better. In my opinion, they are in a class of their own. The mechanism is "meaty", super smooth, and releases a bit with minimal effort. In short, I'm utterly blown away by them.

Blackwoods sells them. The importers are Precision Tooling down in Melbourne. Yes they cost a lot compared to standard Chinese/Taiwanese drill presses. Worth it though.

Sorry, I'll stop going on about them now....

[Logman]

The consensus is that Albrecht chucks, keyed or keyless, are best. Some bandy around Rohm chucks as second best. I have used Rohm chucks for decades. They're good, no doubt. However, I recently upgraded my drill press and decided it was time to get an Albrecht. I braced myself for enormous prices but was pleasantly surprised to find that Albrechts are only about 25% more expensive than Rohm chucks. I paid in the mid to high $300s (each) for a 0.5-13mm keyless Albrecht and a 3-16mm keyless Albrecht. These chucks are not just 25% better or even 100% better. In my opinion, they are in a class of their own. The mechanism is "meaty", super smooth, and releases a bit with minimal effort. In short, I'm utterly blown away by them.

Blackwoods sells them. The importers are Precision Tooling down in Melbourne. Yes they cost a lot compared to standard Chinese/Taiwanese drill presses. Worth it though.

Sorry, I'll stop going on about them now....

Thanks for that, LuckyDuck. I'll check Albrecht out at Blackwoods.

[elanjacobs]

Thanks for that, LuckyDuck. I'll check Albrecht out at Blackwoods.

I'd be checking if you can find them elsewhere first, Blackwoods is notorious for overcharging.

[LuckyDuck]

I'd be checking if you can find them elsewhere first, Blackwoods is notorious for overcharging.

Normally I would agree, but when I called the importers -- Precision Tooling in Melbourne -- they confirmed Blackwoods prices for the German made Albrechts. I ended up getting a deal for the chucks when I bought my press (from Parken Engineering). Not sure, they might extend a discount to you as well?

Also, I bought the integrated arbor versions as I wanted to eliminate any chance of runout with the arbor, and did not require the added flexibility of changing arbors for using the chuck in different machines. I don't know how much more expensive the integrated arbor versions are...?

[Logman]

Normally I would agree, but when I called the importers -- Precision Tooling in Melbourne -- they confirmed Blackwoods prices for the German made Albrechts. I ended up getting a deal for the chucks when I bought my press (from Parken Engineering). Not sure, they might extend a discount to you as well?

Also, I bought the integrated arbor versions as I wanted to eliminate any chance of runout with the arbor, and did not require the added flexibility of changing arbors for using the chuck in different machines. I don't know how much more expensive the integrated arbor versions are...?

Thanks again LuckyDuck. Much appreciated.

[LuckyDuck]

No worries! If you end up with an Albrecht, I'd love to know what you think.

[Logman]

I certainly will !!!