What's new
What's new

Trouble with hand power tools, chucks in particular

garyhlucas

Stainless
Joined
Oct 17, 2013
Location
New Jersey
When I bought my first 18v drill about 20 years ago I spent several hours comparing different brands in Home Depot. From years of experience with corded drills I knew that a good chuck was just about the most important component. Based on that I wound up with a Dewalt with a keyless chuck that has a Hex protrusion on the body and the jaws have carbide inserts. That chuck was fabulous, never slipped even driving taps, and it worked well for about 15 years. I stayed with Dewalt at home primarily because they offered an adapter for their lithium batteries that will power the other older tools.

At my job that have all Ryobi tools which are garbage. Drills with chucks that can't hold anything. I convinced my boss that for the work I do I needed better tools and I bought a Milwaukee brushless drill, 1/4" impact wrench, and saber saw. I feel so ripped off especially after having to get permission for better tools. The drill chuck is so bad that it is destroying our entire set of drill bits from slipping. The impact wrench has gone intermittent, sometimes it runs well, sometimes it won't hammer. The saber saw is not bad except they really could have geared it down more so you can cut metal without burning up the blades. It is variable speed but difficult to hold the trigger consistently for lower speeds. Not to mention a small fortune in batteries.

I started at looking for new chuck for the drill. I see McMaster sells what looks like the chuck on my older Dewalt 18v. 1/2-20 thread like most drills, except the bastards at Milwaukee used a 9/16-18 thread!

So what now? I have two Dewalt drills at home and the chucks are way better. Switching would mean getting all new tools, but at this point I don't see another answer. Working on custom built machines we drill holes with a pistol drill constantly every day. We have a drill press that we use when we can.

Years ago my dad used the Albrecht chuck on my drill press and he says "Man that chuck is great! I have to get one of those for my pistol drill." I said it ought to be great, it's about $300, for your $50 drill!

Suggestions?
 
...Years ago my dad used the Albrecht chuck on my drill press and he says "Man that chuck is great! I have to get one of those for my pistol drill." I said it ought to be great, it's about $300, for your $50 drill!

Suggestions?
Albrecht chucks do not work in reverse, so they are not useful on modern reversing drills.

You can buy sets of drill bits with three flats on the larger diameter bits so they will not slip in a chuck.

Larry
 
From what I've read on various forum posts elsewhere Gary, Dewalt has apparently started adding what most think are now pretty much worthless chucks to there drills. Fwiw my 10+ yr old 18V Dewalt came with a 1/16"-1/2" keyless Rohm manufactured drill chuck with the Supra name roll stamped on it. No idea if Rohm still manufacturer's the exact same chuck today, there website indicates they do, SUPRA-Series - Rohm clamping devices : drill chucks, lathe chucks, HSK tools but mine is the best I've ever used on any hand drill. And it works just as well in forward or reverse and never a problem getting it to release by hand or releasing on it's own in reverse. Rohm make some top of the line products in both drill and lathe chucks from what I understand, but they also seem to have at least 3 tier and price levels from DIY consumer and up to a full industrial grade. I've handled a few in our Canadian version of Harbor Freight with that exact same Rohm roll stamping on them where it seems pretty obvious there made at a dirt cheap off shore price and really shitty quality. I doubt Rohm have anything at all to do with there manufacturing other than maybe getting a licensing fee, or for all I know there outright counterfeits. So that Rohm name isn't any real guarantee for what you might get. I did buy what I think was a mid range priced ($70) Rohm keyless that seems ok for rougher work on my lathe, but my Albrecht is in a whole different class than this one for sure. It would be at least comparable to what that Dewalt came with.
 
FYI: MIllwaukee stopped making anything in the USA several years ago.
I love there old all metal keyless chuck not sure who made it.
Bil lD
 
With the modern garbage drills I’ve found the drill bits with three flats the best option, nearly all the chucks are out of China and that includes the “German” ones, they just assemble there these days, quality is measured in dollars not microns I think, best Chuck I’ve got is on a hilti drill, where I think it’s Austrian or Swiss, metabo not too bad, early Milwaukee ok, new broom sweeps clean perhaps, later the things aren’t so good
Mark
 
When I bought my first 18v drill about 20 years ago I spent several hours comparing different brands in Home Depot. From years of experience with corded drills I knew that a good chuck was just about the most important component. Based on that I wound up with a Dewalt with a keyless chuck that has a Hex protrusion on the body and the jaws have carbide inserts. That chuck was fabulous, never slipped even driving taps, and it worked well for about 15 years. I stayed with Dewalt at home primarily because they offered an adapter for their lithium batteries that will power the other older tools.

At my job that have all Ryobi tools which are garbage. Drills with chucks that can't hold anything. I convinced my boss that for the work I do I needed better tools and I bought a Milwaukee brushless drill, 1/4" impact wrench, and saber saw. I feel so ripped off especially after having to get permission for better tools. The drill chuck is so bad that it is destroying our entire set of drill bits from slipping. The impact wrench has gone intermittent, sometimes it runs well, sometimes it won't hammer. The saber saw is not bad except they really could have geared it down more so you can cut metal without burning up the blades. It is variable speed but difficult to hold the trigger consistently for lower speeds. Not to mention a small fortune in batteries.

I started at looking for new chuck for the drill. I see McMaster sells what looks like the chuck on my older Dewalt 18v. 1/2-20 thread like most drills, except the bastards at Milwaukee used a 9/16-18 thread!

So what now? I have two Dewalt drills at home and the chucks are way better. Switching would mean getting all new tools, but at this point I don't see another answer. Working on custom built machines we drill holes with a pistol drill constantly every day. We have a drill press that we use when we can.

Years ago my dad used the Albrecht chuck on my drill press and he says "Man that chuck is great! I have to get one of those for my pistol drill." I said it ought to be great, it's about $300, for your $50 drill!

Suggestions?

Use a drill that does not need a chuck, one that uses a Morse Taper drill ?

Like the Bosch GBM32/34 or the Bosch GBM 23-2


GBM 32-4 Drill | Bosch Professional



Fein also makes drills with Morse taper. So does Milwaukee.
 
I've found the current Milwaukee chucks to be great on the M12 line. You can really crank them down and can easily grab a 1/4-20 tap without slipping. They're metal and nicely cut to be grippy even with slightly greasy hands.
 
Must admit I’m having good luck with Milwaukee kit, I actually sprained my wrist in the bedroom with one, ok I was drilling a steel plate joining girder trusses no beating the meat, damn nearly broke somthing, torque on the m18 is quite severe, should have fitted the “silly” long side handle, I’ll never need that, oh how wrong I was, yet again
The 12v ones are just right for working off a ladder not too heavy, I like them
Mark
 
I know about tightening the chuck by hand against the brake. I am an old fool that reads user manuals!

The crap chuck on this Milwaukee is a Rohm. With the 9/16-18 thread I can't find any other chuck that will fit. My personal Dewalt DC989 has a Jacobs series 700 chuck which works very well. If you want drill that REALLY drills well the DC989 is the one to get. The body style is like a corded drill so you can hold it between thumb and forefinger while pulling the trigger with your pinky. This allows you to push like hell straight in line with the bit so it doesn't walk or bend the bit. It has a 3 speed gearbox, but isn't brushless and takes the old 18 volt batteries, except I have the adapter and use the 20V lithium batteries.
 
I know about tightening the chuck by hand against the brake. I am an old fool that reads user manuals!

The crap chuck on this Milwaukee is a Rohm. With the 9/16-18 thread I can't find any other chuck that will fit. My personal Dewalt DC989 has a Jacobs series 700 chuck which works very well. If you want drill that REALLY drills well the DC989 is the one to get. The body style is like a corded drill so you can hold it between thumb and forefinger while pulling the trigger with your pinky. This allows you to push like hell straight in line with the bit so it doesn't walk or bend the bit. It has a 3 speed gearbox, but isn't brushless and takes the old 18 volt batteries, except I have the adapter and use the 20V lithium batteries.

I have a few hundred O E Milwaukee chucks with both 9/16 and 1/2" threads. All brand new never used, 20.00 each. Quantity discounts available.
 








 
Back
Top