[nblumert]

Want to change out the 1/2" drill chuck on my craftsman drill press for a 16mm chuck. The model number to the drill press is 315.219140. It's a 12" craftsman bench top drill press. What morse taper do I need? What are the differences in a chuck that is $50 to a chuck that is $150
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Nick

 

[Dave Paine]

Your manual should state the Morse Taper of the quill. If you do not have a manual, remove the quill and measure, then compare the measurements to this diagram.

http://www.drill-hq.com/2012/04/morse-taper-dimensions-chart/

A less expensive chuck may be made to not so stringent quality standards with perhaps not the best materials.

The 3 jaws may not meet perfectly in the centre, which would cause drill bits to not run true.

The $50 chuck is more of a risk than a $150 with respect to tolerances. Some $50 will be fine, others not so good.

Pays your money and takes your chances.

 

[nblumert]

Couldn't find it listed in the manual, thanks for the link on how to actually figure it out
Nick

 

[Fred Hargis]

I recently changed the chuck of my Delta DP. I needed to change it because it had one of the less expensive chucks; and the jamming, excessive run out they tend to have. I started out looking for a Jacobs (USA) and they aren't all that available (though I did find Grainger carried them). I found this LFA chuck instead. Not a well known name, made in France, but very high quality for a little less money. Now, to be honest I did buy the 5/8" (16MM) size, but didn't use it. I returned it and got an LFA 3/4" chuck. I've never needed more capacity, but figured if I was spending the money, might as well do it up. I was a little surprised at how much that 1/8" added :laughing:. That's my Delta 5/8" next to it. Oh yeah, you'll need to make sure the new chuck has the same taper as the old (or a new arbor). Those are called Jacobs taper, and my 5/8" had a #3 JT. The new chuck works very smoothly, and I now have .004" of run out (it was .015")

 

[ercrwe]

I have the same drill press did you ever figure out the right chuck size to fit this press?

 

[Brian(J)]

Want to change out the 1/2" drill chuck on my craftsman drill press for a 16mm chuck. The model number to the drill press is 315.219140. It's a 12" craftsman bench top drill press. What morse taper do I need? What are the differences in a chuck that is $50 to a chuck that is $150
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Nick

Machinists need accuracy woodworkers don't and often pay up for an ALBRECHT keyless chuck. If you have one it is very difficult to go back to chuck keys and sloppy chucks. They are in the $400 range but you see them on Ebay for ~$100 and there are knock-offs for less.

Here is a very nice Rohm (German) chuck:
http://tinyurl.com/y9lhdfwk

 

[Catpower]

I have used a few of these and the ones I got had less than .001 run out

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Drill-Chuck-1-32-5-8-JT3/SB1372

I also have an Albrecht keyless chuck for my Bridgeport, it is a good chuck, 0 runout, never slips,but I have to use channel locks to open the chuck after use, a $400 chuck shouldn't have to do that

 

[FrankC]

I have the same drill press did you ever figure out the right chuck size to fit this press?

The link in post #2 still works, just remove yours and measure the opening and go from there. That will give you the # Morse taper for your drill press.

Depending on the chuck you get it may or may not come with an arbor, if not then you will need to get an arbor with the taper for your drill press on one end and the correct taper for the chuck on the other.

 

[Larry42]

I would be very surprised if a Craftsman drill press had a Morris taper! Look on the existing chuck for a taper ID. Why a 16mm? I've got a #3 Morris taper keyless chuck on my lathe. It is actually pretty nice and will close down to a smaller bit size than many of the 5/8" chucks. It hand releases fine but it also came with a spanner for opening it if it got too tight. It is Chinese, but much nicer than another Chinese chuck I have. It was also more expensive! Really nice chucks are ball bearing & cost hundreds of $! You can buy repair kits for the expensive chucks.

 

[Brian(J)]

I have used a few of these and the ones I got had less than .001 run out

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Drill-Chuck-1-32-5-8-JT3/SB1372

I also have an Albrecht keyless chuck for my Bridgeport, it is a good chuck, 0 runout, never slips,but I have to use channel locks to open the chuck after use, a $400 chuck shouldn't have to do that

In three years I've had to use a tool to open my Albrecht chuck with a tool once. There are notches on mine that a collet wrench fits into so it was a non-event.
You definitely should not be using or having to use channel locks on a chuck, there is something very wrong somewhere. Albrechts can be dismantled and adjusted or repaired:
http://www.machinistblog.com/rebuilding-an-albrecht-drill-chuck/

 

[nblumert]

I don't remember why I wanted a different chuck for the drill press, I don't think I ever replaced it.

 

[ercrwe]

I found out that drill press uses a JT33 chuck.

I also found a 3/4" key less chuck on eBay for $85 with a run out of .002 or less, as well as a 6" rotating milling vise for $88. I also found some Chinese brand end and face mills for .10 cents on the dollar that hold the same quality carbide tips the expensive brands do, and since the carbide tips do all the work they are the only place I would invest the $8 each compared to .30 cents for the Chinese knock off in order to get a quality milling product that will function when needed. Now I have been able to turn that used Craftsman drill press I got off Offerup.com in perfect condition for $100 into a poor mans milling machine by saving all that money using many Chinese parts where the whole mill ended up costing me less money than what 1 American made face milling bit would have cost me. It wont be accurate enough to make parts for the aerospace industry but it only cost me around $300 in total (which is less money than a local machine shop would charge me to fabricate even 1 part for) and now I have my own small mill that works great for being able to make home repairs and fab up my own parts when needed. People will talk crap about "Chinese" parts and how it's all junk unless you pay top dollar for everything but then turn around and can't make an accurate part to save their lives. The skill and accuracy comes from the ability of the machinist and not the equipment. I saw a guy using an old Bridgeport Mill that had so much slop in the adjusting wheels you could nearly turn each dial 50% around in either direction before it grabbed and made any adjustment to the machine where each line on the dial represented .001 of an inch, yet he could still make parts that were within the blueprint tolerances of .003". If all you can afford or care to invest puts the Chinese tools in your budget and not top of the line versions then buy them. 98% of the time they will work fine for you and you will never know the difference, and over all you will find that saving 75% on your tool cost will mean you can buy 75% more tools over all. In the long run you will find that to be more valuable and work out better for you. Then in the future if you find out that you have turned your hobby into a business and used that Chinese tool so much it has worn out maybe at that time you will find it worth it to buy the top of the line model. But don't let some of these online prudes (who most likely don't even own any of the top of the line tools they are here posting about) make you feel that you have to spend more money then you want to in order to get a decent tool that will work for you fine as the week end warrior making home repairs. As someone who went to school as a precision machinist and used equipment from the Chinese knock offs to half million dollar CNC machines the true test to a tools quality and ability to function comes from the guy using them. Unless you are making a career out of your equipment that will demand perfection from you day in and day out for years to come. Buy what you can afford and feel comfortable spending money on based on your budget and Chinese or not you will find that 98% of the time it will work out great for you and in the long run you will find that having a Chinese knock off will prove more valuable then not having any tool at all because you were led to believe if it wasn't the most expensive then it was worthless so it kept you from being able to afford anything at all. I would rather have a shop full of Harbor Freight Chinese tools in my shop and find that to be the most valuable in the long run then only a couple of the most expensive American made tools cuz now I was broke and couldn't afford the complete set or even no tools at all because I couldn't afford the most expensive brands to begin with. I started my business when I was 22 in 1996 buying what ever brand tools I could afford Chinese or not then over the years upgraded those to newer and better models where needed. But after 20+ years I still find I have many of those same Chinese made tools that still work perfectly I bought back in the day since it was all I can afford and find they were the best investment I could have made then and now.

 

[FrankC]

I found out that drill press uses a JT33 chuck.snip

Most likely the chuck attached to the arbor had a JT33 taper, nothing to do with the drill press.

 

[ercrwe]

Want to change out the 1/2" drill chuck on my craftsman drill press for a 16mm chuck. The model number to the drill press is 315.219140. It's a 12" craftsman bench top drill press. What morse taper do I need? What are the differences in a chuck that is $50 to a chuck that is $150
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Nick

If you read what the original post was about Nick asked about the chuck size of his Craftsman drill press model# 315.219140. So my reply was it uses a JT33 which was a direct answer to the original poster's question. This thread has just gotten way off top from people leaving posts that had nothing to do with the thread.

 

[FrankC]

If you read what the original post was about Nick asked about the chuck size of his Craftsman drill press model# 315.219140. So my reply was it uses a JT33 which was a direct answer to the original poster's question. This thread has just gotten way off top from people leaving posts that had nothing to do with the thread.

Kind of like post #12. :smile3: