Keyless drill chuck function....

Tipton1965

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When I bought my 833TV I also purchased PM's high precision keyless drill chuck. At the shop I worked at all drill chucks were keyed, so this is my first keyless as far as working on a milling machine. How hard should it be to turn one of these keyless drill chucks? I've used plenty of cordless drills with keyless chucks and they spin really easy. The one I got from PM is rather stiff.

 
It should require the same to slightly more effort to rotate the chuck when compared to a keyed chuck. Does it seem like there are tight spots or the effort to rotate it 360° is the same no matter how far the jaws are opened or closed?
 
My PM keyless chuck was initially very stiff. After a while, (and now) it is fine. Had a tough time moving it at first, it was jammed tight.
 
I've got a Bison, a Glacern, & a couple of Albrecht keyless chucks, all of them spin easily & smooth.

I do have a 5/16" capacity Jacobs Italy keyless chuck that is tighter than I like it to be, especially during the colder season. If it's been sitting for a while, if I run the jaws in & out a few times it loosens up. This tells me it's time for a cleaning & need replace the old grease. I don't use it that much so I haven't had the motivation to take it apart yet.
 
Sometimes my import ones tighten up when I manually tighten them with pliers. If I loosen the bottom ring a bit they turn freely.
 
One other possible issue is how it's being used.

They can be self tightening, and things like interrupted cuts and reduced shank tools can put extra tightening torque on the chuck.

-brino
 
If it’s like mine, it’s not hard to release a bit, there’s just a lot of internal drag. Mine is clearly due to the grease in it as it’s much stiffer in the cold; the motion is very smooth just requires a lot of torque.
 
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