Keyless drill chuck

Hi All i am looking to put a keyless chuck on my grizzly 20 inch drill press. (http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-Speed-20-Floor-Drill-Press/G7948)


The chuck on there is a J3 and its fitted to a Mt4 taper .

Have any of you got a recommendation for me to look at for a starting point in procuring a new chuck.

I have no clue except to know i want a chuck that will hold smaller drills better than the one on there and hopefully run true.

Open to being schooled thanks for any help and guidance you may offer.

Well.. hows your budget..

https://www.amazon.com/Albrecht-70090-C130-J33-Classic-Keyless/dp/B003V89X1U

http://www.jacobschuck.com/keyless-chucks

Okay.. back to reality. I've mostly avoided keyless on the cheaper chucks under the theory that they're harder to make for a reasonable price. I also think its harder to get a proper "torque" on larger drill bits. I reserve the right to be all wet on both theories (and know some people love the keyless chucks).

The chuck that's on there claims down to 1/64 which is in the "high precision" range, even the mid range Jacobs which is pushing $200 only goes to 1/32"
However.. the parts list
http://www.grizzly.com/parts/CHUCK-JT3-X-1-16MM/P7948091
shows it as 1mm-16mm which is more like 1/32" so.. truth in advertising?

Grizzly has some in the sub $200 range than go from 0 to ... I suspect that most of the stuff you'll find that's not Albretch or Jacobs isn't much different than their high end stuff (I replaced the chuck on my old Jet with a keyed "high precision" grizzly and was under 2 thou of run out as measured by my dial indicator.. after I reamed the MT on the headstock a smidge).

http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2018/main/672?p=673

Also not the max capacity on most of the "Starts at 0" keyless is relatively low so if you go that route you're looking at another chuck for closer to 1/2" bits.

Ryan's question about budget is a good one. Good keyless chucks can be very expensive. I replaced the one on my Delta DP a few years back and my main goal was to not have an Asian made one...I found LFA chucks at Amazon for what seemed to be a fair price (slightly less than Jacobs) and bought one of them. They are high quality and come in keyless versions (I think, I don't care for keyless). The small drill bit thing is a question in my mind. When you say hold better, do you mean "smaller", or better grip on the 1/64" or so bits. Mine grips the 1/64" quite well, but that is the smallest it will take.

I use this - works GREAT

You don't need to change ANYTHING at all - just use it.
You simply hold it in your current chuck.
Take it out when not using it.
It as difficult as changing a drill bit.

https://www.mcmaster.com/#drill-chuck-adapters/=1be7cjp

I had an issue with the chuck that came on my Rikon 17" DP - the chuck (a 3/4") would not hold anything smaller than 1/4'. I went looking all over for a replacement, but they were rather expensive. After a bunch of dead ends I found this one from The Little Machine Shop in Pasadena CA. Half the price of many others and I have been VERY satisfied with its performance. It is a 1/2", rather than the 3/4" I had, but seriously, how many of us need a 3/4" capacity chuck in their shops? It is keyless and holds any bit from my smallest 1/16" up to 1/2".

Rennie Heuer said:

I had an issue with the chuck that came on my Rikon 17" DP - the chuck (a 3/4") would not hold anything smaller than 1/4'. I went looking all over for a replacement, but they were rather expensive. After a bunch of dead ends I found this one from The Little Machine Shop in Pasadena CA. Half the price of many others and I have been VERY satisfied with its performance. It is a 1/2", rather than the 3/4" I had, but seriously, how many of us need a 3/4" capacity chuck in their shops? It is keyless and holds any bit from my smallest 1/16" up to 1/2".

Click to expand...

That's the one I have, too. When I installed it, I checked runout, and it was just under 0.002". I've had it for about ten years now, and I really like it.

I have run one from Woodcraft for a decade or so. It is the spitting image of the Little Machine Shop one and cost about $35 back in 2005 or 2006. It has worked great on everything from 1/16" bits to 3" Forstners to circle cutters. Good grip without having to apply your super-strength. Like any chuck it will get sluggish after awhile. I used to remove it and soak in mineral spirits to clean it up. Now I just put a soup can under it, lower the quill, fill the can with mineral spirits and work the chuck around till its clean and moves freely. Cut my cleanup routine time way down.

Thank you all for the help and feedback.

Your replies have had me take a step back and think.

I think I am first going to go back and check the runout on the quil and then the taper in the quil and the a piece of thin rod in the chuck.

I had the whole lot out and apart for cleanup and it improved but Ryan your post got me thinking that plus the price of a good keyless chuck [emoji6]

Déjà Vu again on buying machines and fooling oneself that the accessories which in most cases are NOT accessories but in essence parts sold separately in order to reduce the sticker shock factor and sucker you in.

Problem I have lately is determining quality on stuff like this. Price is no guarantee of the quality.
I have seen imported stuff from East selling at high prices and trying to be passed off as good stuff and then you get the prices little machine shop are selling their chuck at.

I think I am going to back off this issue until spring when I get the metal lathe setup and then do some dial indicator checks on the spindle taper and take it from there.

I was hoping you folks would be raving and selling the merits of a keyless chuck as a improvement to runout.

Thank you for each and every contribution.

Other thing I will do is get link belts for the drive.


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The other thing I found was that good bits made a huge difference in drilling quality so those are definitely worth splurging on. The Lee valley brad points make super clean holes, some others I've used tended to wander a bit which made the run out look worse than it was.

For metal proper center punching and drilling technique will actually reduce run out to less than the drill chuck has.

I answered your post directly without offering an opinion.


I have one a keyless chuck from McMaster Carr for over 30 years. Way too long ago to remember what I paid. I have never checked runout as I never felt I had the need to. If I was into metal working, I might have a different opinion, but I work in wood mostly.

Where I would most notice run out would be in chamfering a hole. The that not been an issue to date.

As for the really small diameter bits, I am with Leo and have a smaller chuck that I chuck up in the drill press chuck. That happens so rarely that I would not consider a chuck's ability to handle really small bits as part of my buying decision.

Bottom line. I love my chuck and would not be without it.