Drilling: Three jaw chuck or er32 collets?

great white

great white

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This might be my inexperience talking, but I’m wondering why drill presses have three jaw chucks instead of the more inclusive gripping of a collet chuck.

I can see ease of changing sizes if you have to drill several holes of increasing diameter.

But wouldn’t a collet matched to the drill size offer a more solid grip in the drill shank? I also believe a collet would be more “on center” than a 3 jaw drill chuck.

I’m considering using collets in my drill press to possibly reduce the chances of spinning the drill shank and ruining the drill bit. More drilling accuracy would also be welcome, keeping in mind the quill runout limitations already present on most presses. Taking a little extra time to match a collet to the drill shank isn’t a big concern for me becuase I just plink at stuff in my own garage. But spinning a drill bit in the chuck is a major pita as I don’t have dozens of spare bits to replace spun ones. I can dress the burrs off on a grinder, but I’d be happier if it didn’t spin in the first place. Not to mention, I seldom find the shank is really “round” again after grinding off burrs.

In all fairness, i spin more drill bits in those horrible hand drill chucks (I find dewalt drill chucks absolutely horrible) and try to have a separate set to use in those “burr generators” hand drill chucks.

So is it a convenience reason to use the 3 jaw in a drill press or are there other reasons I’m not seeing/understanding?
 
A collet for every drill size ? Uh , no . Buy a good drill chuck . The larger drills are available with 3 flats ground on them . If you spin them , you are doing something wrong ! :grin:
 
The drill press is not meant to be a precision machine, It's like the bench grinder, does well at what its for.

You want a precision hole, ctr drill, drill, and bore on your lathe or milling machine.

When I expect a well drilled hole from my drill press I make a jig with a drill bushing.
 
great white said:
This might be my inexperience talking, but I’m wondering why drill presses have three jaw chucks instead of the more inclusive gripping of a collet chuck.

I can see ease of changing sizes if you have to drill several holes of increasing diameter.

But wouldn’t a collet matched to the drill size offer a more solid grip in the drill shank? I also believe a collet would be more “on center” than a 3 jaw drill chuck.

I’m considering using collets in my drill press to possibly reduce the chances of spinning the drill shank and ruining the drill bit. More drilling accuracy would also be welcome, keeping in mind the quill runout limitations already present on most presses. Taking a little extra time to match a collet to the drill shank isn’t a big concern for me becuase I just plink at stuff in my own garage. But spinning a drill bit in the chuck is a major pita as I don’t have dozens of spare bits to replace spun ones. I can dress the burrs off on a grinder, but I’d be happier if it didn’t spin in the first place. Not to mention, I seldom find the shank is really “round” again after grinding off burrs.

In all fairness, i spin more drill bits in those horrible hand drill chucks (I find dewalt drill chucks absolutely horrible) and try to have a separate set to use in those “burr generators” hand drill chucks.

So is it a convenience reason to use the 3 jaw in a drill press or are there other reasons I’m not seeing/understanding?
Click to expand...
Some DeWalt chucks need to have the knurled sleeve turned back after tightening until a click is heard to lock the chuck.
A keyless chuck will tighten onto the drill shank as the torque increases, so you will not be limited to the power from a chuck key. An occasional tweak with a strap wrench or similar is a small inconvenience to preserve your drill shanks.
Try removing burrs from the shank of a damaged drill shank with a flat file instead of a grinder.
 
As noted buy a quality keyed chuck like a Jacobs keyed chuck, not a POS Chinese made one; I have spun few drills with a drill press with proper tightening.
 
Parlo said:
Some DeWalt chucks need to have the knurled sleeve turned back after tightening until a click is heard to lock the chuck.
A keyless chuck will tighten onto the drill shank as the torque increases, so you will not be limited to the power from a chuck key. An occasional tweak with a strap wrench or similar is a small inconvenience to preserve your drill shanks.
Try removing burrs from the shank of a damaged drill shank with a flat file instead of a grinder.
Click to expand...
I dunno about that. Many a time I’ll tighten the keyless chuck on my dewalts only to find half way through the chuck has opened right up halfway through the hole.

Thats for hand drills, never had that problem on my keyed chuck drill press. Which is getting a Jacob's 16N superchuck in the very near future.
 
mmcmdl said:
A collet for every drill size ? Uh , no . Buy a good drill chuck . The larger drills are available with 3 flats ground on them . If you spin them , you are doing something wrong ! :grin:
Click to expand...
I’ve already got the collets up to 5/8 in 16th increments sitting on the shelf for the er32 chuck I often use on my lathe.

I’m hooped for 32nd or 64th sizes should I need those holes though.
 
Collet chuck on a DP is lipstick on a pig. A decent drill chuck is as accurate as you can expect from a DP and much more convenient.
Do you want to change the collet every time you change drill size? That would get old fast.
 
great white said:
I dunno about that. Many a time I’ll tighten the keyless chuck on my dewalts only to find half way through the chuck has opened right up halfway through the hole.

Thats for hand drills, never had that problem on my keyed chuck drill press. Which is getting a Jacob's 16N superchuck in the very near future.
Click to expand...
Perhaps your Dewalt chucks don't have the locking function.
 
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