Keyless drill chuck function....

I have one on a lathe, it's great, save for the extra room it takes up.

On a mill, I guess one gets used to it. Have to agree on the contortionist finger move you need to do, it's not very natural. On the other hand, not having to worry about where the key is, really is a good thing. Those keys seem to have little legs...
 
My chucks don't require you to hold the collar to remove and replace a drill. The hood spins with one hand to move the jaws and the other hand holds the drill to get it in or out of the chuck. The chuck doesn't rotate while this is happening.

If you are having this kind of trouble then no wonder why you're so disenchanted with keyless chucks. Get get yourselves an Albrecht or Rohm chuck and I think your issues will go away.
 
@mikey does your mill have a spindle lock? My PM25 doesn't and apparently @Tipton1965's PM mill doesn't. That's part of what makes these particular keyless chucks a little tricky. If there was a spindle lock, this wouldn't be an issue. Or if the hood spun easily relative to the spindle. But this style chuck does not spin easily. By design it appear to be smooth but very viscous. It requires far more torque to open or close the chuck than to turn the spindle.

It isn't horrible, but it could be a heck of a lot easier to use.

The Rohm keyless chuck on my lathe is really nice. No problems at all with it. If I found either an Albrecht or Rohm, I wouldn't hesitate buying it.
 
mikey said:
Nope, no spindle lock and no problems.
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When you say the hood spins are you talking about the knurled collar area? And that area turns free enough to not have to worry about a spindle lock? Are you in a low gear when you tighten? My machine is belt driven with a VFD so I don't have the luxury of switching to a low gear to tighten my chuck.
 
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WobblyHand said:
The Rohm keyless chuck on my lathe is really nice. No problems at all with it. If I found either an Albrecht or Rohm, I wouldn't hesitate buying it.
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If that same Rohm chuck that you have on your lathe was used on your mill would you still have issues? Is it easier to tighten than your PM chuck?
 
Here's a video of a Grizzly keyless chuck with the upper collar. The guy is able to turn the collar with his thumb easily with one hand. Now that kind of smooth function would be way different that what I am experiencing with my PM chuck.
 
Tipton1965 said:
When you say the hood spins are you talking about the knurled collar area? And that area turns free enough to not have to worry about a spindle lock? Are you in a low gear when you tighten? My machine is belt driven with a VFD so I don't have the luxury of switching to a low gear to tighten my chuck.
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The hood is the larger knurled structure up front that turns when you tighten the chuck and yes, it turns freely to loosen and tighten the jaws. Most of the time, I don't even grab the collar to tighten or loosen the chuck. I just give the hood a quick turn to lock or loosen it. My mill is belt drive so no gears but so is my drill press and my Albrecht chuck works the exact same way.

Believe it or not, the chuck does make a difference, as does the grease you use inside of it.

Here is an example of a chuck I would consider. You can see the knurling is not beat up from some bozo grabbing it with pliers, the hood shows no signs of the chuck being crashed, the jaws meet together as they should and the jaws are pristine. The seller is asking about half what a new Spiro costs but I suspect he will go lower, like maybe $100-110 or so. It has a 1/2" straight shank that can be chucked up in a collet or you can pop it out and install whatever arbor you need. The Sprio is not as smooth or precise as an Albrecht but it is still better than most keyless chucks on the market. Run out is supposed to be around 0.004" or less.

This is what a decent used Albrecht looks like. The collar shows it was gripped with something but not too bad. You can see the knurling on the collar and the hood shows little signs of wear. The hood and body show almost no signs of use. One jaw has a little chip on it but that won't affect the function of the chuck. Note that the outer surface of the jaws are nearly pristine. Taken together, this is a low mileage chuck that should clean up and function just fine. A brand new chuck like this sells for over $400 and can go over $600 from some stupid sellers. If I wanted to buy this chuck, I would contact the seller and ask him what his rock bottom price is.

If I bought either of these chucks I would take it apart, clean it well and grease it SuperLube. I wrote up how to do that here.
 
@mikey thanks for the examples. I think the design of the PM keyless chuck is just to a different price point. It's ok, but not in the same league as the Rohm and Albrecht. And I do agree with Tipton1965, it is not that easy to use.

@Tipton1965, my Rohm lathe keyless drill chuck is smooth and easy to turn. It is an excellent chuck.
 
WobblyHand said:
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.
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This is my experience also with both the PM keyless chucks that I own. All good now.
 
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