Any way to fix this Albrecht chuck?

[Ultradog MN]

Was looking online for a keyless chuck then remembered this one I got in a box of stuff at an auction a couple of years ago.
Never even looked it over till today. Did a search for Albrecht Chucks and learned they are pretty spendy.
It has a bit of galling on 1 spot on the taper inside. Do you think a guy could grind that out with a dremel tool?
Feeler gage between the jaws says one of them is bent about .002 but further searching says new jaws are available though not at all cheap.
I would need to find a MT adapter for it. It appears to be a 2 JT.
If I put a 3 MT adapter on it I could use it in both my lathe and drill.
It turns very smoothly and is 1/16-1/2".
I could buy a cheap keyless chuck but I hate china stuff.
Is it a fools errand to fix this one?
Galling + arbor/adapter + new jaws?

 

[Tim in D]

If you spend alittle on that chuck now, you'll have a really fine piece of gear. I've had one that size, bought new some thirty years ago and it is still a joy to use.
Fix it!

Tim in D

 

[jwmelvin]

I bought one used here. The jaws were chewed up; I spent the $140 on replacements and it still has ~0.008” TIR. The hood has some signs of wear from the jaws. I made some shims so the hood would tighten to a different spot and the runout improved dramatically, but it doesn’t stay tight like it should. I’ve been wanting to buy a new hood for $150 but Albrecht (via Royal) will rebuild or replace them and caps the cost at $385.

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

I'd cut a tapered brass lap on the lathe and see if you can clean it up with some compound. I'd probably not mess with a Dremel for fear of causing more damage.

 

[Terry Keeley]

Did the gall take metal away from the taper or add to it? I think I'd try to blue it with a good arbor and see where you're at, if needed a little touch-up in that area with a dremel wouldn't hurt I'd think.

I got mine a few years ago and have been very happy with it, well worth the $$$.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Thanks fellas.
The gall added metal. I think if I ground it off I would still have about 95% of the taper left intact. I ordered an arbor from mmc so can use that to blue it. Good idea.
$35 with shipping. I can afford to gamble that much on it.
The truth is there were 2 Albrechts in that box. The small one is 0-3/8.
I don't remember how much I paid but it wasn't a lot.
Terry, very cool.
I have about .0004 RO on my drill. Not as good as yours but good enough for the girls I hang around with.

 

[gustafson]

I got some of those crazy die files in a bargain bin some years back, man they are great for this kind of thing

 

[cyanidekid]

wether its ok to use a "Dremel"type tool depends on your skill with it.

my approach would be to wrap a bit of 1500 paper around a finger and establish a basic "what's high, what's low" situation, and if its got some "buildup" or galling and furrowing, id hit that with a 180 grit rubber bonded abrasive point ( Gflex or rexcut ) in the flex shaft, only hitting the high areas, as much as possible. a creytex wheel on a deremel would work as well. recheck with the 1500 to confirm you got it all.

doing that, and avoiding the undamaged area completely, is how NOT to mess it up.

good way to mess it up? take a brass rod with compound, go in indiscriminately and screw up the original taper along with the high spots.

 

[CITIZEN F16]

I'd cut a tapered brass lap on the lathe and see if you can clean it up with some compound. I'd probably not mess with a Dremel for fear of causing more damage.

I second this motion, old fashioned valve grinding compound should do the trick.

 

[Ultradog MN]

wether its ok to use a "Dremel"type tool depends on your skill with it.

my approach would be to wrap a bit of 1500 paper around a finger and establish a basic "what's high, what's low" situation, and if its got some "buildup" or galling and furrowing, id hit that with a 180 grit rubber bonded abrasive point ( Gflex or rexcut ) in the flex shaft, only hitting the high areas, as much as possible. a creytex wheel on a deremel would work as well. recheck with the 1500 to confirm you got it all.

doing that, and avoiding the undamaged area completely, is how NOT to mess it up.

good way to mess it up? take a brass rod with compound, go in indiscriminately and screw up the original taper along with the high spots.

I agree with you and would not use the lapping method.
That will remove metal on the opposite side of the gall and make the taper out of round.
I will go with my first thought and use a dremel and just try to remove the bump as minimally as possible. A shallow spot in 5% of that surface is preferable.

 

[Terry Keeley]

good way to mess it up? take a brass rod with compound, go in indiscriminately and screw up the original taper along with the high spots.

That's what I did to my mill tying to fix it, ended up having to completely re-grind it to straighten it out.

 

[metalmagpie]

I have owned two Albrecht 1/8-5/8" chucks. Neither would reliably tighten. Let 'em go. Now I have a Rohm 1/8-5/8" chuck with terrible runout. I have bad luck with keyless chucks. I do love my old Jacobs keyed chucks, though.

metalmagpie

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

Have to change my mind that lapping is a good idea. IMO, it would work for a small bump and the bump would be gone long before any change was made to the basic taper, but if the damage is large and tends to be on one side, lapping is risky.

 

[MwTech Inc]

interesting you say that they didn't tighten......

I have used mine, same chuck, on hollow shank hole saw arbors and the chucks have crushed the arbor.......

to the OP..Buy parts and fix it......

 

[Ultradog MN]

Well,
I think? I fixed it.
I went at the gall with the dremel and a ball type grinding burr.
Tried to remove just the goober in there. Grind, blue. Grind, blue, etc.
A bit hard to work in a 2jt hole.
Had to grind out an area about 3/8 x3/8" around so removed maybe 10-15% of the taper.
Put the dial indicator on it in the drill and it is reading ~.0006 run out on the barrel of the chuck. Checked with the dial on a bit in it and am getting about .0016. I am actually very happy with those numbers.
The question is how much will the loss of that 15% affect the holding power of the taper?
Should I just run it as is or is there something like a loctite product I can use?
I'm glad to have you guys to bounce ideas off so thanks to all.

 

[eKretz]

I assemble all my taper fit chucks with heat. Drop the chuck in the oven without the arbor at 200°-225°F for an hour then grab it with an oven mitt and put it on the arbor with a quick rap against the end of the arbor against a block of scrap steel. Never had one come loose unintentionally after doing it that way.

 

[Scottl]

I'd cut a tapered brass lap on the lathe and see if you can clean it up with some compound. I'd probably not mess with a Dremel for fear of causing more damage.

And if you do decide to use a Dremel get one of those rubberized abrasive discs and try to polish that area as little as necessary.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Mods gotta meddle don't they...
Why change the title of my post?
My original question was if the chuck was worth fixing.
I did not ask how to fix it and if I Had asked how, I would have
phrased the question using proper English.
Scoff if you will but your change was petty and unhelpful.

 

[eKretz]

Mods gotta meddle don't they...
Why change the title of my post?
My original question was if the chuck was worth fixing.
I did not ask how to fix it and if I Had asked how, I would have
phrased the question using proper English.
Scoff if you will but your change was petty and unhelpful.

Seriously? If you'd like it titled differently, feel free to send a PM. I was only trying to help make the title more fitting to the subject, which is in one of the stickies at the top of the page... "Albrecht Chuck" isn't very informative. When someone does a search in the future, do you think that would be very helpful to the person deciding whether they need to click on the post? And you did kind of ask how you could fix it. "Do you think a guy could grind that out with a Dremel?"

 

[1yesca]

Any way to fix this Albrecht chuck? new will fix it ! there is someone or a co. that can and will for a price fix it and it will be right. as good as near new but more then likely there will be only one chance to do it right . the dremel idea as not a good one . if you can find a cutter grinding shop in your area that can or will regrind that tapper for you then you could give them the arbor and chuck body and have them do it right