Keyless vs. Keyed Chuck?

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Philadelph

Joined
May 23, 2008
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So besides the obvious difference in terms of speed for bit changes, would you go for a keyless or keyed chuck for a drill press? A cheap drill press. I need a new one and as much as I'd love a mill/drill I really can't/shouldn't afford it. Anyway, I've heard keyless chucks have a tighter radius with less run out which doesn't really make sense to me as to why. Any pros/cons for going one way or the other?
 
Keyless. It's worth the $$. Plus you won't accidentally start the drill with the chuck key still in the chuck and put your eye out!
 
I just found the key to my new drill press after being lost for months. Keys are a PITA. I was looking at keyless but there seems to be cheap ones and expensive ones. I have used good ones at the machine shop in college and they hold excellent. I am going to go keyless next time for sure but just realize you get what you pay for.
 
the Rohm sold thru enco is worth the price. It is typical German quality, yet less than 60.00!!!

go to use-enco.com
 
Take a magnet and stick to the top of your drill press, or where ever is handy, this is now your key holder.
 
I vote for a key-type chuck. The keyless ones are fine for handyman type stuff, but my experience is that they do not hold tight enough for machine shop work.

But in the end, you are the only one who has to like it.
 
I like the keyless chucks for smaller bits but when going 1/2" and up I want the old hand tighten w/ key type. I have 4 keyless, 1 keyed.
 
I have never noticed keyless chucks having less gripping power than keyed, though I seldom drill larger than 1". I do think keyless has less runout, though I don't know the mechanics behind it.

I mostly use Albrecht keyless on all my personal stuff and for most of the stuff in the shop where I work, though we also have some Technics which are almost as good, and about half the price. The better chucks are between $300-$500 per.

The shop where I work is pretty modern and has some nice tooling, and there is only one keyed chuck in the shop. I can think of about a dozen keyless.

One nice thing about a key chuck is it is easier to turn it loose of a bit, thought I don't normally see that as a big deal. Oh, and you can run them backwards. You can't do that with a keyless. Doesn't come up much, unless you tap with it, in which case you're going to hell...
 
Honestly,i have never had my keyless slip on me,where i have with keyed chucks.keyless seems to hold tighter from my experience.but as said,i generally dont use anything larger then a 5/16" drill.and i dont tighten my keyless very tight,you can barely tighten it and i'll bet ya $5 it aint going to slip.;)
 
I run a machine shop and have had key less chucks come loose while running but my key less has a small handle that will allow you to tighten it beyond standard for those applications that need it. The circumstances where it came loose were extrema and very rare and I would still suggest a key less chuck for a drill press. Buy a good one!!!
 
Hmmm...

I guess I am about the only one who doesn't like keyless for a drill press.

My reasoning is that there is no brake on the press, so I can't tighten to my satisfaction.

All of my chucks on my mill are keyless though, Rohms and Albrechts.
But my mill has a spindle brake.
 
IMHO, keyless is OK for hand tools, but for my drill press I like a key. Plus, my key has a spring loaded center pin so it can't be accidently left in the chuck.
 
clw3 said:
Keyless. It's worth the $$. Plus you won't accidentally start the drill with the chuck key still in the chuck and put your eye out!
Click to expand...

at my work if someone leaves a key or wrench in a chuck, lath head, or mill draw bar they are instantly sent home for the day no questions asked. I love keyless, now only if someone could invent a 4 jaw lath keyles chuck :eek::rolleyes:.

balibalistic said:
Honestly,i have never had my keyless slip on me,where i have with keyed chucks.keyless seems to hold tighter from my experience.but as said,i generally dont use anything larger then a 5/16" drill.and i dont tighten my keyless very tight,you can barely tighten it and i'll bet ya $5 it aint going to slip.;)
Click to expand...

ya i dont use them for anything over close to half inch. if I need to do major drilling or want to make sure i have very little run out i use a collet.
 
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