What's With The Prices of Albrecht Chucks

[projectnut]

I was just reading a few new posts in the "What did you buy today" thread and noticed a discussion on Albrecht chucks. A few years ago I was at a used equipment dealer I frequently visit and bought a small 2 stage air compressor. I knew it needed some work, and it was prices appropriately. A few weeks later when I visited again I found a new in the box Albrecht 1/8 - 5/8 keyless chuck. I'm not a real fan of keyless chucks so I thought if I could pick it up for a few bucks I just might try it out.

Before I could ask the price the owner asked how the compressor was performing. I mentioned that I had installed a new valve kit and had to replace the original unloader (parts no longer available) with a "Load Genie". Nothing serious and was expected at the price I paid. I showed him a couple other things I was interested in and asked the prices. We agreed and moved on down an aisle. When we came to the chuck I asked the price. His response was "you can have it at no cost for all the trouble you had with the compressor". The response was totally unexpected, but certainly appreciated.

I never looked up the actual retail price of the chuck until today when I was reading through the thread. That particular chuck lists for $565.00, which was a real shock. I don't know if anyone actually sells them for that price, but that's what most vendors list them as.

Thus brings my question in the title. Looking at eBay and other auction and sales sites I notice the majority of similar size Albrecht chucks have an asking price of less than $100.00. Some were as low as the $20.00 mark, and not listed as "for parts only". Maybe it's just a fluke as to the places I searched, but why such a difference in asking prices between new and used chucks. Are they that expensive to rebuild? Do they often fail to the point that they're not rebuildable? What's the deal?

Comparing them to the older style Jacobs chucks (engraved logo and model number as opposed to etched) there seems to be a much greater difference in new and used prices. Most used Jacobs chucks in good condition are going for about half their original price while the Albrecht's are more like a third or even less.

Inquiring minds need to know.

 

[davidpbest]

I have several Albrecht chucks and like them for their low TIR (in comparison to keyed chucks). I buy mine from the UK and the one I got in April 2019 was about $250 delivered. That's for the 5/8" capacity with J6 taper. The same chuck sold by MSC at my discount is about $350 not including shipping. They can be rebuilt but the parts are not cheap. Video here.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

the albrecht's for $20 are wiped out or the seller has no idea what he has.
as mentioned above, folks (i included) love the low TIR's
newer or less used chucks also have better grip on drills
as far as i know they can be rebuilt many times, i'm sure you lose a bit of accuracy for each rebuild but can't say for sure as i never have had need to rebuild one- i go buy another if necessity dictates in a new york minute

like anything, if folks think something is more valuable than it really is, the sell price will reflect the ignorance

 

[projectnut]

I guess I never considered "accuracy" when drilling a hole. All my chucks are within .003 runout, with the best being in the .001 range. That being said if I'm interested in anything more accurate than that an inch or under, I drill or bore undersize, and ream to size. Larger holes get bored to size.

 

[mikey]

Most ebay chucks listed with a BIN price are used and abused by pro shops and the sellers are just preying on the uninformed. Albrecht chucks are the gold standard for good reasons but a chuck that has seen many years of use needs a rebuild to return it to good working condition. They are banking on the name to bring a good price and hope that the buyer is stupid enough to pay it, then also pay for the parts to return it to as-new working condition. It takes a savvy buyer to spot the good ones but they are out there.

I'm not sure how Albrecht determines pricing. Most high end manufacturers set the recommended retail price and the sellers add their cut on top of that. MSC, Travers and others do this. When they have sales, it is because the manufacturer is giving them a deal and they are able to pass that on but their cut remains the same.

I own one brand new chuck and have rebuilt about 10 Albrecht chucks so far so I know you can rebuild them to new condition; I still own 5 of them. Most parts are hardened and ground and there is a wear pin inside that breaks before you can truly wreck the important bits. The jaws are usually the parts that are trashed on these ebay chucks; while expensive to replace, they can restore a chuck quickly.

There are a lot of bozos out there who abuse these chucks and yes, most of them are in pro shops.

 

[darkzero]

Also keep in mind that there is inflation, unfortunately that's just life, cost of living goes up, prices for everything continues to go up. Also supply & demand which usually sets used market price. Rare & desirable items fetch higher prices if there is a demand for them. Smaller chucks like the one I purchased are not as popular as the more common 1/2" & 5/8" chucks. If they don't sell, reasonable people will lower the price to sell. People listing items that don't know what they are worth will look at other items being sold & set their price to be competitive/be able to sell.

As mentioned, some people don't know what they have & might sell cheap. Then there are those who have junk trying to sell for more than gold prices cause they are familiar with a brand name or product. Then there are good honest knowledgable sellers like the person I bought my baby Albrecht from.

Like my 3 Hartford 14N chucks, I paid $40-$50 ea for them yrs ago. I just purchased another Hartford 14N recently but had to pay $100 for it. But it was pretty nice & really I don't need to bother reconditioning it although it will get disassembled & cleaned. These days you can't even find one for $40 in decent condition, seen a lot more beat ones go for more than that.

 

[bill stupak]

I picked up an unused Albrecht 0-1/8" chuck at an auction once, it was in a box of misc machinist stuff and I paid about $25 for the lot. I was shocked when I found the price for a new one was $395

 

[mikey]

I have this warped view of ebay tooling sellers. I imagine some guy or gal sitting in an office who knows nothing about tooling being handed a beat up Albrecht chuck and is told to sell it on ebay. They look up what a new one costs, then look up what identical items have sold for in the past, pick the highest dollar figure in the latter group and then they list it as a BIN. All they know is that Albrecht has earned a solid reputation and their tools are in demand so this tactic works.

I'm probably wrong and the reality is that most sellers are shmucks who actually know they're selling junk for high prices and are willing to pass that junk on to unsuspecting hobby guys who want a brand name chuck. A used chuck in excellent condition is worth about 60% of its new value. One that is in okay shape is worth no more than 40-50% of new. The crap they're selling is really only worth about 20% of new but they price it so much higher, especially if the hood and collar are not all buggered up. You can tell these sellers when they do not show the jaws or show them opened up.

Warning to potential buyers. If the collar and hood show marks from a pair of channel-loks and the jaws are not shown, do NOT buy from that seller. I guarantee you that the chuck was locked up using a big drill and they had to force it open to get the drill out. After that, the chuck would not hold drills solidly so they retired it from use. The other sign to watch for is a chuck with damaged jaws. The most common problem is oil in the spindle, which leads to drills spinning in the jaws. This will gall even the hardened jaws of an Albrecht chuck and the repair costs will exceed $100 to replace them.

Sorry, guys. I get riled up by these ebay tooling sellers that think us hobby guys are stupid.

 

[Titanium Knurler]

Just a quick comment about Albrecht because they “done me right” not too long ago. I had a nearly new 5/8” Albrecht Chuck that I foolishly used to hold a hole saw. When I finished I could not get the chuck to release. Finally, using a lot of force and a strap wrench I got it to release it’s death grip. When I was finished it was obviously not working as before. I sent it to Albrecht for repair. After I told them what I had done they advised me to not use anything larger in diameter than the largest drill bit it is designed to hold and sent me a new replacement. So, even though it was my fault that the chuck had failed they sent me another. That is rare and worth a lot to me. In addition, like many here, I find it a pleasure to admire and use a superbly made tool. Albrecht chucks gems.