EPAIII
Diamond
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2003
- Location
- Beaumont, TX, USA
I just watched a Haas Automation video about tool holding.
YouTube
Now, almost everything on his table, and there were a bunch there, is probably beyond my reach unless I suddenly get a rich uncle with a habit of walking on banana peels, but...
He talked about keyless drill chucks and said that the advantage that they have is better runout. He did not mutter a single word about ease of use or no lost keys or better grip or anything except better runout: according to him, that is the reason for having a keyless chuck. Specifically he said that they (all keyless chucks?) have a runout of 0.0015" or less. He also did not mention ball bearing chucks vs. non ball bearing ones. The ones he had were apparently Albrechts which can be somewhat expensive but not the most expensive that I have seen. Now, putting aside the quality level of construction, the design differences that I see between keyed and keyless chucks are two: first, the obvious key vs. no key. And second, the keyless chucks will have a finer thread on the barrel because they are to be tightened by hand, not with the mechanical advantage of a key.
So, if a keyed chuck were made to the same quality level as a keyless, then just why would it not be just as good with respect to runout? I have seen keyed chucks that are quite a bit more expensive than many keyless ones. Is it just that no one bothers to make such a high quality keyed chuck in spite of the prices? Or is there some other difference that I am missing that provides this increase in accuracy (less runout)?
And can I expect that a lower priced keyless chuck would also have this mysterious quality advantage? I have some hand powered drills (egg beater style) with keyless chucks. I have never bothered to check their runout, but I highly doubt that it is all that great. Stated another way, just where can I expect to start finding this increase in quality in keyless chucks.
YouTube
Now, almost everything on his table, and there were a bunch there, is probably beyond my reach unless I suddenly get a rich uncle with a habit of walking on banana peels, but...
He talked about keyless drill chucks and said that the advantage that they have is better runout. He did not mutter a single word about ease of use or no lost keys or better grip or anything except better runout: according to him, that is the reason for having a keyless chuck. Specifically he said that they (all keyless chucks?) have a runout of 0.0015" or less. He also did not mention ball bearing chucks vs. non ball bearing ones. The ones he had were apparently Albrechts which can be somewhat expensive but not the most expensive that I have seen. Now, putting aside the quality level of construction, the design differences that I see between keyed and keyless chucks are two: first, the obvious key vs. no key. And second, the keyless chucks will have a finer thread on the barrel because they are to be tightened by hand, not with the mechanical advantage of a key.
So, if a keyed chuck were made to the same quality level as a keyless, then just why would it not be just as good with respect to runout? I have seen keyed chucks that are quite a bit more expensive than many keyless ones. Is it just that no one bothers to make such a high quality keyed chuck in spite of the prices? Or is there some other difference that I am missing that provides this increase in accuracy (less runout)?
And can I expect that a lower priced keyless chuck would also have this mysterious quality advantage? I have some hand powered drills (egg beater style) with keyless chucks. I have never bothered to check their runout, but I highly doubt that it is all that great. Stated another way, just where can I expect to start finding this increase in quality in keyless chucks.