Keyless Chuck Drills... grrrrrrrrr!

[SARGE..g-47]

I have a Ryobi.. Bosch.. Hitachi 3/8" drill. All are keyless chuck. All will let the bit slip at some point and it will slide farther into the chuck. I have never had a keyless chuck that didn't do it as I personally can't get the chuck tight enough to avoid that. I have a strong grip and I have no intention of using a set of channel locks to tighten down. So..

Does anyone know of any brand.. any 3/8" regular, corded hand drill that uses a chuck key? I went looking last night and Milwaukee has a 3/8" with chuck key in their line-up.. but 1-1200 rpm and not 2800 variable. Go figure!

I love my Hitachi 3/8' drill with the above mentioned exception. And that is an exception that brings it from a 10 rating to about 6 1/2 with me. My Hitachi 1/2" with chuck key is the best 1/2" I have ever used and that's a few. But no variable.

I would love to have a Miwaukee as my 3 1/2 HP and 2 1/4 HP are suberb and their Sawzall is great. But no beans with what I need. I continue to look. Anyone with a clue who might?....

[Rand]

You can buy a replacement keyed chuck for most drills.

Check here
http://www.jacobschuck.com/product_details.asp?pid=120

or do some googling

[niki]

Hi SARGE

I also don't like the keyless chucks but maybe instead of "buying all the cow for a glass of milk", you can buy only the chuck and change it. I changed it on my Hitachi

http://www.thehardwarecity.com/thc/?sku=4232757

http://power-tools.hardwarestore.com...ll-chucks.aspx

niki

[SARGE..g-47]

Rand and Niki...... thank you both for pointing to the obvious. If I wasn't so stupid, I should have thought of it to start with as I have bought and replaced a ton over the years on a DP. But.. the thought didn't even cross my mind on a small portable drill. I had a Craftsman 1/2" I bought around 1973and no need as I gave it to my BIL still working fine about 6 years ago. Bought a Hitachi 1/2" to replace it and it has a keyed chuck as most 1/2".

I've had several 3/8" as I just get rid of them when they go down as the price of a 3/8" makes them a commodity and not worth repair unless just brushes. So.. in reality, I just never crossed that stream and got caught up thinking about everything else going on down in the shop.

Yep.. it was such a simple solution and a case where I twisted it and created un-needed complications. Guilty as charged your honors...

Thanks again guys for bringing me back to reality of just how simple life can really be. And best to keep it that way, IMO.

[twistsol]

I have a Ridgid cordless hammer drill, RIDGID R8411503B, it has a keyless chuck that I'm very happy with. I takes very little effort to tighten it and I've never had anything slip in it. I

[leehljp]

Taking this the other way - Have any of you purchased a great keyless chuck to replace a chuck you already have on a drill/drill driver?

My 18V Ryobi's plastic grip keyless chuck is hard to hold at times (slippery), and it does not hold anything 1.5 mm or 1/16 and less. I often need to use those smaller bits and have to use a corded drill for those.

[John Hunter]

I have had just the opposite problem on my 18V Ryobi drill. The keyless chuck has gotten so tight that I had to get some channel locks to open it!

[cabinetman]

Taking this the other way - Have any of you purchased a great keyless chuck to replace a chuck you already have on a drill/drill driver?

My 18V Ryobi's plastic grip keyless chuck is hard to hold at times (slippery), and it does not hold anything 1.5 mm or 1/16 and less. I often need to use those smaller bits and have to use a corded drill for those.

I did. I'm a flea market and garage sale junkie. And maybe like you I have a problem with my fingers and hands. My first experience was a DeWalt 3/8" VSR drill, brand new I found at a flea market for $10.00. Heck, that's one you can't walk by. Anyway, it was a keyed chuck. So I hotfoot over to HD and pick up a keyless chuck that just threaded on. Came with easy installation instructions. Works great, no complaints. Another key I don't have to deal with.
.

[jackellis]

Seems like there ought to be a standard for shanks that are some shape other than round at the base. I have a bunch of brace bits like that and the set of fastener driver bits I bought at the local hardware place has square shanks. Why not drill bits, or am I overlooking something stupidly obvious?

I've had the chuck on my drill press slip, but it needs to be replaced or repaired anyway.

[Stytooner]

Most of my chucks are like this as well. I did buy a nicer keyless chuck for one of my DP and it merely takes just two fingers to tighten.
I usually buy certain sized bits and when I do, I order the kind with three flats on the shank. No problem with these chucks then.

If I am using just a standard drill bit, I will put on a leather gloove. That pretty much doubles the torque I can apply. So much that it takes a gloved hand to open it again. These are my work arounds and it did stop all that automatic drill bit shortening.

[leehljp]

I didn't make my first post above real clear. Actually I have two problems with it.

First, the plastic grip is too smooth now. I could rough it up with some course sand paper or use some gloves that grip. This problem is a minor pain, but I can deal with it. IF I did change chucks, I would want a metal knurled chuck

The Second problem and main problem is that when the chuck is in fully closed position, it was machined to hold nothing smaller than 1/16 bits. Most of my other drills and drill drivers chucks are machined to hold down to almost zero size. This is the main reason I need a new chuck. If I change it out, I want a metal knurled one and will be looking to pick one up when in the States next month.

[TheRic]

I have a Ridgid cordless hammer drill, RIDGID R8411503B, it has a keyless chuck that I'm very happy with. I takes very little effort to tighten it and I've never had anything slip in it. I

I have the Ridgid R8411501B Cordless Hammer Drill. Never had problems with this one, had problems with other keyless chucks.

[JimD]

I use my DeWalt keyed chuck corded drill if I really need the bit not to slip. I have successfully drilled holes in steel with a 1/2 inch bit with my Ryobi but it slipped some doing it. I usually use a keyless chuck, for most things it is OK but for big holes in tough material, I switch. I have a second DeWalt with a keyless chuck for when both Ryobi batteries are depleted. It slips at least as easily as the Ryobi.

I have heard of keyless chucks that ratchet tigher but I have never used one. Maybe they hold as tight as a keyed chuck but a keyed chuck has got to be cheaper.

Jim

[Schleeper]

The problem with most keyless chucks is, there's only room for you to use the index finger and thumb of each hand. It's hard to generate the required torque that way. (And if you have large hands, it makes matters worse!) That's one of the things I like about my new 18v B&D drill; the grip on the chuck is long, and there's plenty of room for both hands.

Hank, instead of searching for a chuck that will hold a 1/16 inch shank, have you tried using one of those "quick-change" type bits? (see picture) The hex end is meant to be slipped into the quick change adapter, but it'll work just fine in the chuck on it's own.

[jonmulzer]

What kind of projects do you do where you need to drill anything that small leehljp? The bits smaller than 1/8" in my drill index are still brand new. I cannot remember ever using a bit that small. You have more patience than I if you tackle projects that intricate.