Thoughts on keyed chucks vs non-keyed chucks

[William Whitfield]

What is your preference on chucks - keyed or keyless?

[Scott Hackler]

For a hand held, cordless drill... I want key-less. For the Jacobs chuck in the tail stock and drill presses, I want a key. There is way too much motor spinning things around for me to have to worry about the gripping power of the chuck.

[Ralph Lindberg]

Depends on the quality of the chuck.
Dave (D-Way Tools) recommends a particular brand (which I am now forgetting) of keyless chucks. They are robust, close down to a "0" size and aren't cheap.
I recently heard that some Woodcraft are now carrying this brand and that they have had a booth at a couple of national AAW symposiums

[Reed Gray]

So, chucks like drill chucks, or chucks like lathe wood holding chucks? For the lathe, I prefer the keyed chucks. Easier for me to control the pressure because, I think any way, they are lower geared.

robo hippy

[Jon Nuckles]

If you mean a jacobs chuck for the lathe, I wish I had bought a keyed chuck. My keyless chuck often loses its grip on the bit.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

For lower cost drill chucks (what are usually bought and used with wood production/turning), you would best get keyed chucks, as you can get more leverage with the key than twisting by hand, however there are keyless drill chucks (used in high speed and automated metal fabrication) that will hold just as well or better than a keyed chuck, but don’t think because it has a certain makers name on it, that it is the same as the high priced chuck they make, high quality material and precision design and build do cost much more $$ than run of the mill low cost products that are made all over in low cost country shops.

[Thomas Canfield]

The key chucks seem to always take up less space than the keyless, and definitely less cost for same quality. I have both, but usually use the keyed chuck on the lathe. I have a smaller keyed chuck that I use on my mini lathe just because of size due to short bed.

[Thom Sturgill]

Are you talking about drill chucks (Jacob 3 jaw chucks) or scroll chucks for holding wood? I used to use a keyed drill chuck and now use a keyless high quality chuck with no problems. It holds tighter than the MT does and I do not use a drawbar.

For scroll chucks, there are three choices - keyless chucks using 'tommy bars' which i do not like or own, and scroll chucks using either a geared key or a hex wrench key. I have both and prefer the hex wrench. In fact I sold off my Nova G3 chucks and bought Nova SN2s so they were all alike, though I still have some PSI chucks with special jaws that I keep. If I ever convert my SN2 to quick change I will buy more jaw sets and get rid of the old PSIs with their geared key.

[Hayes Rutherford]

I use a Hilti branded keyless chuck quite often and always grip it while drilling or retracting applying both twist in a tightening mode, and some force drawing it into the taper. Bits that get off center will cause some vibration that can cause a chuck to loosen or the morse taper adapter.

I often drill and retract the bit by sliding the whole tail stock instead of cranking. Keeping some tension on the chuck/adapter assembly is something I quickly learned the first time a morse taper bit was left in a spinning piece. The safety police will probably come get me now.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

They would have to come after me also Hayes, sliding the tailstock back and holing the chuck while you do that is a good idea, it prevents the chuck from coming loose/out, you can then retract the shaft and slide it back in all the way, you would do that as well if you need to drill deeper than the will move, keeping the tailstock more compact will also have a stiffer and more thread contact in the tailstock, which is better IMO