Albrecht Chuck, Loose jaws

The jaws of the Albrecht Classic 130 chuck on my drill press are loose. Which is to say, that with no drill being held in the chuck, I can move the chuck jaws in and out of the chuck about 0.040" with my finger.

This makes it a real pain on the drill press, because gravity causes the jaws to close slightly, and to put a drill in the chuck you're never quite sure how much the jaws have opened when you loosen the "hood" ... to get an accurate read on how open they are, you have to push the jaws open with a finger.

I have not dismantled the chuck, but from looking at the the parts breakdown, the only thing I can see which could cause this is would be wear in the center thread which moves the platform that pushes the jaws. Seems unlikely though, because the thread would have to be massively worn ... and the chuck is perfect in all other respects.

I'm hoping that one of you has come up with a solution for this, or can give me some insight.
Thank you,
... Gregg

Check for a gap below the knurled ring. It has a clamp screw and its position can be adjusted. The thread is usually a close fit and the slots at the base of the jaws are usually a close fit on the head of the threaded actuator.

Larry

Thank you, Larry. There was a bit of a gap which I adjusted out, but the 0.040" of slop in the jaws remained.

So, I removed the chuck from the drill press spindle and tried some experiments:

1. I inserted two 1/8" dia rods into the chuck with the jaws slackened off: one rod in though the jaws , and the other into the taper. The rods enabled me to push the actuator back forth ... and sure enough I found slop in the actuator's threads ... I can see movement longitudinally and radially as I push it around. Looking at it that way, the slop does not seem to be as much as the 40 thou I see at the tips of the jaws, but I can't see any other source of the movement.

2. I sat the chuck taper down on the bench and closed the jaws enough to have them sticking out about 1/2". I grabbed each jaw one at a time with needle nose pliers, and pulled them in and out (ie, the extent of the slop). doing this, I saw that no matter what, all 3 jaws moved together and by the same amount. That means they are a good fit in the platform of the actuator and the slop is elsewhere.

Sure seems to me worn threads on the actuator mechanism are the culprit ... agree?

.. Gregg

pull it apart and check it out inside, there are a few good videos on youtube for doing it.

climb-101 said:

pull it apart and check it out inside, there are a few good videos on youtube for doing it.

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That's sort of like doing open heart surgery without anesthetic. Pulling the chuck apart is simple, but lacking replacement parts, I'm going to have to wait till work slows down a bit before I can take the drill press out of service.

Interestingly, none of the videos deal with possible looseness of the actuator thread, not with doing any sort of diagnostics ... they're mostly simple dismantling/cleaning/lubricating videos. A worn thread seems unlikely, but all indications are just that.

I may just have to bite the bullet and replace the Albrecht with another chuck while I sort it out.
..Gregg

ill be curious to see what you find when you can pull it apart. i did mine a while ago and it only take about half hour to pull it apart, clean it and reassemble. thats providing parts arnt needed.

Servicing it does not bother me, it's just the idea of not having the replacement actuator on hand, and having to do the job twice. I just can't have the drill press out of commission ... I was hoping that someone would have been down this road before and had found something else.

I'll take pics and post them once I have it apart.
Thank you all who've shared their experiences,
.. Gregg

gregg-k said:

....I may just have to bite the bullet and replace the Albrecht with another chuck while I sort it out.
..Gregg

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Careful there!

If you chance to replace it with a LLambrich "Hybrid" you'll probably be happy to just bin the fossilized Albrecht, outright!

DAMHIKT...

I'd never heard of Llambrich, but they certainly seem to have some interesting products. Well worth checking out.
.. Gregg

gregg-k said:

I'd never heard of Llambrich, but they certainly seem to have some interesting products. Well worth checking out.
.. Gregg

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Some of the best chucks made. Anywhere. One of the several points John Welden and I agree on, actually - he having put several of us onto them as a source.



BTW: There is also a CHINESE firm making similar goods. The shocker is that they have a reputation for being of superb quality. OTOH? They are not cheap!

Seems to be some sort of connection there?

Whom, ever, wudda thunk THAT!

I ended up dismantling the Albrecht and inspecting it. The axial movement was due to wear on the threaded spindle and "body". Grease inside it, everywhere. I cleaned it out thoroughly, and despite the axial movement, it now works quite well.

I do see a Llambrich chuck in my future ...
.. Gregg