Accurate/precise R8 keyless chuck?

[HellawellCustoms]

Anyone know of a half decent keyless chuck with an r8 for my mini mill? I've heard the ones that grizzly sell have run out. My first thought was to buy from precision Mathews where I got my mill. It looks like it's well made and precision made. However I'm Canadian and the exchange rate already sucks and it's 50$ to ship. Is there another source maybe in Canada? Not looking for something cheap but at the same time not looking to pay half the price of the item in shipping.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Hi HallawellCustoms,
i have both cheap and good keyless chucks for my bridgeport.
both have runout, the better one has less the .003" TIR, the cheap one has almost .005"
i don't really think about the TIR when drilling anyway.
get the best chuck you can afford, IMO
it should not matter too much to get a chuck with a little bit of runout- unless you are working on ultra precision pieces

 

[Buffalo21]

I must be the only one, who hates keyless chucks, after a couple of no-names, an Albrecht and a few Rohms, it it wasn’t tight enough to keep the bit from slipping or so tight you almost needed a pipe wrench to get it open back up. I went back to a keyed Rohm and Jacobs chucks, and haven’t looked back.

 

[ConValSam]

I am very pleased with the Vertex integrated I purchased. Mine happens to be MT3, but have no doubt the business would be as functional on an R8 model.

 

[HellawellCustoms]

Hi HallawellCustoms,
i have both cheap and good keyless chucks for my bridgeport.
both have runout, the better one has less the .003" TIR, the cheap one has almost .005"
i don't really think about the TIR when drilling anyway.
get the best chuck you can afford, IMO
it should not matter too much to get a chuck with a little bit of runout- unless you are working on ultra precision pieces

I bought a mill to start making folding knives. Almost every video I've watched to learn about it constantly talks about precision and flatness. So just hoping to buy a half decent chuck but nothing to crazy. I'm new to machining so not aware on what to look for or any certain brands. I can't find any chucks on any of the Canadian websites

 

[Ulma Doctor]

don't get too caught up , you can spend a lot of money and still have a drill spin on you
that's just a fact of life.
a keyed chuck will offer great holding power.
another consideration to ponder-
an ER system chuck, like an ER32 or ER25
you can get collets that will grip irregular sizes like for drills or for regular sizes like endmill holding.
an ER collet will have considerably less runout than all but the most expensive keyless chuck.
but the ER's do have drawbacks, they are slightly slower than a keyed chuck to change great differences in tool sizes.
but the good part is that you could buy one tool and exchange the collets in and out for just about any tool that would be useful in a mini mill
i'm not a paid spokesperson of the ER collet system, but they are really cool

 

[HellawellCustoms]

don't get too caught up , you can spend a lot of money and still have a drill spin on you
that's just a fact of life.
a keyed chuck will offer great holding power.
another consideration to ponder-
an ER system chuck, like an ER32 or ER25
you can get collets that will grip irregular sizes like for drills or for regular sizes like endmill holding.
an ER collet will have considerably less runout than all but the most expensive keyless chuck.
but the ER's do have drawbacks, they are slightly slower than a keyed chuck to change great differences in tool sizes.
but the good part is that you could buy one tool and exchange the collets in and out for just about any tool that would be useful in a mini mill
i'm not a paid spokesperson of the ER collet system, but they are really cool

Where can I find information about these at collets? They fit on the r8 taper?

 

[petertha]

I have the PM chuck with integral R8 shank for my RF 45 mill. Its a nice chuck, quite accurate. I don't have TIR numbers in front of me, but I'm happy to measure if you like. I also have a Jacobs precision (different size range) & seem to recall they were quite comparable 1-2 thou range mean average across different pin diameters. You are right, sometimes the currency/shipping etc. does not warrant the expense shipping to Canada, sometimes it does. Always check around.

I'm pretty sure PMs is the same (or comparable to) other Taiwan tooling you see under various names. Have you checked out GS brand through Sowa? They have CDN reps. You are in eastern Canada, you probably have several. I have some other GS tooling like ER holders & they are very accurate & decently priced.
http://www.sowatool.com/Product/8/312/1338

They also rep Rohm & Jacobs, but check the PN against other CDN vendors like Travers & KBC. I had a Rohm & thought it was pretty decent but its all about the guaranteed TIR & what day it was assembled
http://www.sowatool.com/Catalogue/8/312?Drill+Chuck+Type=Keyless+Chucks

Seems to me the PM keyless chuck tightens with a single knurled body action. That's means you need to be in low gear or some kind of spindle lock. The Jacobs has an upper knurled ring so you kind of twist the 2 against one another to tighten. I kind of prefer that but its not a biggy. I have never had keyless chucks loosen unless something else was amiss like tip profile digging in or off center. I really like keyless for convenience.

Also the chuck runout is one thing, your arbor is another. Of course with integrated arbor supposedly the manufacturer has that figured out, but if you buy separately of course you need comparable quality. A 0.000" chuck against a 0.005" arbor gives you 0.005" at the drill. I

 

[HellawellCustoms]

don't get too caught up , you can spend a lot of money and still have a drill spin on you
that's just a fact of life.
a keyed chuck will offer great holding power.
another consideration to ponder-
an ER system chuck, like an ER32 or ER25
you can get collets that will grip irregular sizes like for drills or for regular sizes like endmill holding.
an ER collet will have considerably less runout than all but the most expensive keyless chuck.
but the ER's do have drawbacks, they are slightly slower than a keyed chuck to change great differences in tool sizes.
but the good part is that you could buy one tool and exchange the collets in and out for just about any tool that would be useful in a mini mill
i'm not a paid spokesperson of the ER collet system, but they are really cool

I think I seen a guy on YouTube use these on a tormach. I can get all kinds for each drill bit eh?

 

[Ulma Doctor]

yes sir,
i'll get you a couple links- stand by!
edit, see mksj below !