Jacobs 14N 0-1/2" Super Chuck , made in USA vs made in Spain?

[Ken from ontario]

I'm looking for a replacement chuck for my Ridgid drill press , (5/8'' x JT3 Jacobs Taper Drill Chuck Key Type), I thought I'd get a Jacobs super chuck and be done with it until I saw their prices, there's a huge price difference between made is Spain and made in USA . eBay sells the genuine (14N super chuck) new old stock (made in USA) around $120 -$150, OTOH the ones made in Spain go for ~$70 or so , now I'm wondering if it is wise to save money here , or not.
Has any of you ever compared the two ?
There are a few used chucks for sale there also but I can not verify the condition of the jaw/internal parts so NOS or new is what I'm after.

Please let me know what you think.

 

[mikey]

Ken, I only have experience with the US-made one. Its a good chuck, good enough that I actually paid retail for it from Enco a long time back. Thing is, it mostly sits and my Albrecht is on the drill press, mill or lathe the vast majority of the time. I think a Super Chuck is great for bigger drills but I rarely use those; when I do have the need, I have morse taper drills that I use instead. My vote goes to a good Albrecht chuck.

 

[ddickey]

Or buy my Spiro for cheap.

 

[Ken from ontario]

My vote goes to a good Albrecht chuck

Or buy my Spiro for cheap.

Thank you guys for chiming in,
I didn't bother mentioning the reason for looking at Jacobs chucks ,the only reason is I know it'll work reliably for years, no more uneven gripping by the jaws, less chance of bits slipping , I've never owned one so I rely on others who swear by it being a well made chuck , in other words I do not have a brand loyalty to any of the chuck manufacturers.

The main thing for me is if the chuck is a good quality and has a JT3 taper mount, and based on how I use my drill press I have had better luck with key type chucks. other than that, any top brand will do.
Duane, I have not heard of Spiro before, maybe I'll need to expand my research.

 

[Bob Korves]

The Jacobs super chucks and the Albrecht keyless chucks are both very high quality chucks, and both are worthy of consideration. I think the thought for choosing between the one style and the other is how much heavy work you do, how many times you change the bit, and how big are the bits you use, on average, relative to chuck capacity.

Heavy work, leave the drill in the chuck for a lot of holes, use big drills (relative to the chuck size) a lot, choose the Jacobs super chucks.

Lots of drill changes, mostly lighter work, mostly smaller drills than the chuck capacity, choose the Albrecht.

Or, just get both, in all sizes and with tapers to fit all your machines... $$$$$$

I am lucky enough to have multiples of both, in various sizes. with multiple shank sizes, so I am also 'lucky' enough to spend way too much time choosing one for a given job. I have put together that collection over many years of biding my time and waiting for the right deals to come along. Patience, grasshopper.

With Albrecht chucks especially, I would stay away from one that has been really beat up and/or has marks from pipe wrenches and stuff from loosening the drill. Nice ones are nice, problematic ones can be problematic. Many issues with them are addressable by rebuilding the chuck, usually with the original parts, but you need to rebuild it properly. Mikey posted an extremely good 'how to' for rebuilding Albrecht chucks long ago on a different forum. It is the best one out there, better than Albrecht's instructions.

With Jacobs super chucks, again look for abuse and damage. They are damned stout, but not bomb proof. Only the Jacobs chucks that have the word "Hartford" stamped in them were made in the USA. Some others just say USA, but they are not... The "real" USA chucks are very nice, but the kits to rebuild them with are obsolete and getting hard to find and pricey, so watch out.

Buying used chucks off eBay or similar makes me cringe. I want to inspect a used chuck way better than that before buying it. Do you feel lucky?

The best thing is to mount the chuck and test it for runout on an accurate machine with multiple sized gage pins. I have never been able to do that until I got home after buying it. Dirty and/or dry chucks will not test at their best until they are cleaned up and properly lubed.

If I had to buy a new chuck today, it would be difficult to choose. Prices are quite high on the good ones, and quite low on Asian imports. I have a few imports that are decently good, and had others that have gone away. Do you feel lucky?

Edit: I also have two sizes of "Supreme" chucks, a 23T3 and a 14T33, made long ago in the USA that are very nice, high quality. The ones I have are in new condition. The 23T3 is about double the size of the 14T33, and is ball bearing, Both are 1/2" capacity.

 

[mmcmdl]

I have chucks coming out my butt ! What are you looking for exactly ?

 

[GL]

Just bought a new Jacobs 14N JT3-MT3. Made in China. Have not checked runout yet. Kind of disappointing.

 

[Downwindtracker2]

I remember reading a post on Canadian Woodworking, they have metal working section, about using various chucks in the machine shop he worked at. His recommendation was Rohm (sp) both for accuracy and durability.

On my Jet drill press I have Chinese Albrecht clone, one I picked up an sale no less, and have .010" runout. Every other chuck I tried has had more runout than that. . I would bet my spindle has .010" runout.

 

[mksj]

As far as I am aware, the newer versions of the Jacobs super chucks are made in China, most of the reviews have been disappointing. I would not recommend a new one, and finding a NOS or one in decent condition can be pricey. I would recommend looking at the Llambrich chucks which are made in Spain, I have a few of their integrated arbor chucks and very satisfied with them. The CBB-16 (5/8'' x JT3) is a ball bearing keyed chuck that I would look at. Vertex makes some decent ball bearing chucks that are less expensive. Some of these come up on Amazon, as well as other tooling at very low prices, example below. I would recommend the Llambrich if you can get it at a reasonable price.
https://www.amazon.com/Llambrich-Be...ie=UTF8&qid=1542647469&sr=1-5&keywords=CBB-16
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Vertex...1-32-to-1-2-Cap-14N-JT3-3193230-/332271467805

 

[Ken from ontario]

The Jacobs super chucks and the Albrecht keyless chucks are both very high quality chucks, and both are worthy of consideration. I think the thought for choosing between the one style and the other is how much heavy work you do, how many times you change the bit, and how big are the bits you use, on average, relative to chuck capacity.

Thank you Bob for your excellent post, as you might remember I did receive my first Albrecht chuck as a gift from Bill(bfd) and later on bought a good used one also but since they both had JT6 taper, I've been using them on my lathe and mill, so far they have not let me down yet but for my drill press use I think I am better off with a key type chuck for the same reasons you mentioned.

I have chucks coming out my butt ! What are you looking for exactly ?

Lol, good to know , what I'm after is a Jacobs 14N Super Chuck Ball Bearing Drill Chuck, but I'm open to similarly built chucks preferably with Ball bearing construction. with JT3 taper key type.
Thank you for your help.

Just bought a new Jacobs 14N JT3-MT3. Made in China. Have not checked runout yet. Kind of disappointing.

Hey GL, you don't know for sure whether you'll be disappointed with that chuck, after all it is a copy of good quality chuck , I hope you'll let us know it's pros and cons once you have used it extensively.