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How to fix a Albrecht drill chuck

jodifu6274

Plastic
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Location
Connecticut, USA
Hi again. I was here a few weeks ago with a project that I needed help with. My "new" Albrecht drill chuck unfortunately has a few thousandth of run out when it's 1/2" Arbor is snugged up in my toolrooms 3C collet nose. Somebody mentioned that it might be the Jacobs brand 2J arbor, or that it needs to be removed and reinserted. The problem is, I don't see any way that a wedge could get any traction on this. Also, any advice on what & where I should look & buy to replace this arbor with something of high quality? As soon as I can get home, I'll submit some pictures. I can't seem to do that on my phone.
 
I removed two of mine that were on Moore taper adapters with a wedge some time ago. Wedge works. I always put mine back together with heat. Heat the chuck to a couple hundo degrees F in the oven and then plop it gently onto the new adapter with a thunk on the bench. Seems to do the job for me.
 
Here is a link to the Albrecht chuck catalog. You will see information on the chuck construction and their removal tool. file:///C:/Users/Big%20Dell/Downloads/Downloads/Albrecht%20chuck%20catalog%202021.pdf

I have not had one apart for years, but I think unscrewing the chuck body and removing the jaws and other inner parts allows you to directly press out the Jacobs taper arbor.

Wedges work if the arbor has a shoulder at the base of the Jacobs taper. If there is no shoulder because the arbor is smaller than the taper, you can drill a cross hole through the arbor near the chuck base and insert a hardened dowel pin. The wedges can then fit between the chuck base and the cross pin and try to remove the arbor. Usually, arbors are stuck really hard and are very difficult to remove.

A totally different approach is to tighten the chuck on a true hard shaft held in an accurate lathe collet and turn the arbor straight and true. The arbor will be a little smaller than before, but you can turn it to 31/64" and it could still be held in a 3C collet.

Larry
 
Thank you, guys! Here is a picture of the chuck. Right now, there is about .004 runout an inch in front of the nose of the spindle, measured with a DTI, on a 1/2" pin mounted in a 3C collet. I'm hoping that the MT3 to 3C adapter is bad (it doesn't have a shoulder, for some reason, suggesting it was lopped off). Here's a picture of the chuck:drill.jpg
 
See Larry's post.

There's no shoulder because the beginning of the taper is the largest diameter.

Are you sure that the source of runout is the chuck? Larry posts a method for finding out....
 
eKretz is correct about using heat. In my time I have installed and removed quite a few taper mounted chucks with great success. To remove the chuck just heat it up. To install it, heat it up and drop it on your taper. No need to do anything else. Once you get the chuck off then the obvious thing to do is indicate the arbor to make sure it isn't bent. Arbors bend. Sometimes you bend them on purpose. I have had less then stellar chucks that I had to give the arbor a whack to get them to run true. When you go to install the chuck just make sure everything is nice and clean of course and check for any burrs.
 
I have used the tap/nudge a few times on chucks to straighten them out also. Works a treat. And yeah it's a little tough to use a wedge with no shoulder. I think Larry might be right about being able to knock the arbor out from the front after the chuck is disassembled. But that's a chore in itself, you'll probably need to make a few things to manage it.
 
Are you sure that the source of runout is the chuck? Larry posts a method for finding out....
That is a good question. It might not be at all, or only a contributor. I can't help wondering if there's a problem with the MT3 to 3C adapter. I'm getting about .003 runout when I use a DTI on a pin about an inch in front of the spindle, on a gauge pin mounted in a 3C collet, which is mounted in an adapter for the spindle's MT3 taper. The adapter has been modified, so I'm thinking that this may be the problem. I can't think of any other way to verify that, than by replacing it.
 
Did you check the I.D. of the spindle nose? The adapter may be part of the problem, or not correctly seated. Pull it and check for dirt, chips or burrs. All that said, .003" runout isn't the end of the world for a drill chuck. A few judicious nudges or taps as mentioned earlier might fix that right up.
 








 
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