Keyless chuck and Lasers for drill press

[Ken Deckelman]

I've been thinking of getting a keyless chuck, and possibly a laser for my Grizzly drill press.
So searching around I found this at Woodcraft:
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=4851&mode=details#tabs

Can this be for real? A real Jacobs for $25 or $30 bucks? I guess I know they are referring to the taper-but it sure doesn't read that way to me...Maybe I am just stupid:confused:


Be seriously, any thoughts on the lasers like these?
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=5475&cs=4851&pcs=fam

[Thom Sturgill]

Not sure about the chuck, but I tend to think that the laser is a gimmick that could cause more problems than it solves. If it ever got out of adjustment and you became too trusting of it, you would blissfully drill the hole in the wrong spot :eek:

[John-Paul Murphy]

I purchased 3 keyless with #2 morris taper adaptors for about 60 bucks. I was suspicious but they are of very nice quality.They were called Jacobs in the add but did not have the Jacobs logo on them.
I have a laser on my drill press but do not use it. each time you change the height relative to the laser you must realign....:mad: it looks similar to that but not exactly the same. Those might be different.

[Aaron Beaver]

I have one of those laser and love it. It did take a bit to set up but that's expected if you want it to be right on, just takes some tweaking. Once I got it installed I never have had to move it or recalibrate it. I not sure about John's drill but I can move my table up, down, sideways, whatever and the laser still points at where the drill will hit.

I still mark where my holes need to be, but I can just turn on the laser, line up and I am good to go. Speeds the process up of lowering the bit down just to check if you are in the right spot.

[Greg Pavlov]

Not sure about the chuck, but I tend to think that the laser is a gimmick that could cause more problems than it solves. If it ever got out of adjustment and you became too trusting of it, you would blissfully drill the hole in the wrong spot :eek:
Why? Wouldn't you still check that you were coming down where you wanted? The laser saves me time because I can place the wood without running the drill up and down, but I still check that the bit is going where I want it to when I get to that stage; I suspect most reasonably intelligent folks would do the same.

[Bill Huber]

I can't address the chuck but on the laser....

I have had one for awhile now and as Aaron stated, I love mine.

It comes with a rod you chuck in the drill and set it up with it. It took be a little bit to get it set but once I did it worked great and I have not had to readjust it, I do check it now and then just for sure.
The only bad thing is it does not turn off by itself so you need to keep a 9v. battery handy, its only happened one time for me so far.
No matter where the table is the X marks the spot.

[Greg Pavlov]

I have one of those laser and love it. It did take a bit to set up but that's expected if you want it to be right on, just takes some tweaking. Once I got it installed I never have had to move it or recalibrate it. I not sure about John's drill but I can move my table up, down, sideways, whatever and the laser still points at where the drill will hit.
Same is true in my case (the setup work and not having to recalibrate it for height).

[John W. Willis]

Don't know on the chuck BUT I have a laser on mine and won't give it up, very nice to have.

[Matt Meiser]

I got the laser free with my Steel City DP. At first I was going to Ebay it but decided to give it a try and it turns out I really like it. It looks identical to the Woodcraft one but came with an AC adapter so no dead batteries. The keyless chuck is on my wish list but its not a must have so I've never gotten around to it.

[Brad Townsend]

As for the laser, I too find it useful. I don't use it as a locater for really exacting work, but sometimes, just getting it close is very helpful. As to the battery issue, it's easy to convert your battery powered unit to AC by wiring up an old discarded 9V adapter to it. (I have a box full of old AC adapters of various voltages from small electronic devices that were long ago thrown away.:D)

[Don Bullock]

I guess I'm going against the grain of posts on the laser. Maybe it's because I'm old or that I haven't fiddled with mine enough to "get it right." On my Delta 300L the laser always seems to be in need of being adjusted, especially when I change the height of the table. Being from the "old school" I just find it a lot easier to lower the drill bit down close to the wood. Perhaps if I spent a little more time adjusting the laser it would be better. When I get some time to mess with it I'll have to see if I can get it set up right. The problem may also be in the design of this particular laser/drill press combination.

Again, perhaps it's my age, but I don't mind using a key for the chuck. The chuck on the delta has a spring it it that "prevents" the key from being left in the chuck (something I've been very guilty of doing in the past). I also have the key attached to a retractable cable so I can't "misplace" it.;) At the point where I am with my tool purchases, buying a keyless chuck would be a luxury that I don't "need."

[Ron Hedrick]

I'm going to have to step in on the side of those who have had a difficult time with the laser. I have adjusted mine multiple times according to the directions. This is the second drill press that I have installed it on. My first was a Delta 12" bench top. The second is the Craftsman 17" floor model. Yes, I got one of the $179 deals. The laser is a Steel City model. I adjust it and get it dead on. I raise or lower the table and it is out of adjustment. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

[Matt Meiser]

On the Steel City, the key to adjustment seems to be adjusting the laser line to line up exactly with the line scribed on the alignment pin that you get with the kit. If the line isn't perfectly set, the X will wander on the table as you move it up and down.

[Bill Huber]

I will agree with Matt on that point, on any drill press you have to get the laser lined up just right on the rod or it will never work right.
It may sound dumb but I use a flashlight to set mine and it helped, the laser looks smaller and I could get it set on the line easier.