Bits Spin in Hand Drills

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SteveHGraham
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Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by SteveHGraham »

Here's a topic I haven't seen covered here: how to you prevent drills from spinning in hand drill chucks?

The chucks on my lathe, mill, and drill press are pretty good, but no matter how much I tighten hand drill chucks, drill bits tend to catch and spin, especially large bits. I use cutting oil and try not to apply too much pressure, but it happens anyway.

I assume the problem is that hand drill chucks are inferior.
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tornitore45
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Re: Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by tornitore45 »

Hand drill use the dirtiest cheapest chuck
They are usually keyless and the bulk of the drill make it difficult to tighten
If you have arthritis, like I do, is nearly impossible to tighten adequately.
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mklotz
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Re: Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by mklotz »

Buy drills with hex shanks

or, better,

replace the chuck with a good keyed chuck.

The chuck doesn't need to be super accurate. It's a hand drill; a little runout is no big deal.
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Magicniner
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Re: Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by Magicniner »

Never had the problem, up to 13.5mm drills.
What are you using?
If it's a key-less are you tightening with no drill once in a while to centre it properly?
You're not using cheap stuff are you? ;-)
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BadDog
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Re: Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by BadDog »

All my hand drill motors have had the chucks updated except my 18V cordless Makita. That last one is adequate to what I expect out of a cordless drill, and spins a lot more time with a quick attach hex driver in it that drill bits. And I've got selection of bits in 1/4" hex drive. Not worth much, but handy around the house, particularly with the quick change (locking 1/4 hex drive). My others have been refitted with NOS keyed Jacobs chucks acquired from Ebay over time. They will likely outlast me, and never spin a drill when properly tightened (I don't recall ever doing so). Hand drill cordless chucks always let me down, so I don't even try, other than the cordless where it's more about convenience than real hand drill work.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by SteveHGraham »

The drill which is currently annoying me is a Bosch corded hammer drill with a 1/2" keyed chuck. I don't know how to get the chuck off to replace it. I should look at it to see if it's possible.

You would think Bosch would make some effort to provide a chuck that works, since it's not Harbor Freight.

I also have a Ridgid Jobmax. I can't recall whether it spins bits.

Maybe the best solution is to rely exclusively on my $35 Harbor Freight drill index for the Bosch.

Funny thing; I had to drill a couple of holes in my mower deck the other day, and when I reached for a 23/64", I pulled out an 11/32". I figured I had them switched in their holes, so I put it back and took the bit out of the 11/32" hole. It was also an 11/32". I guess the factory in China ran out of 23/64" on the day they filled my index. I wonder if I have any other duplicates.
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neanderman
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Re: Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by neanderman »

SteveHGraham wrote:The drill which is currently annoying me is a Bosch corded hammer drill with a 1/2" keyed chuck.
I also have a Bosch hammer drill, and have the same problem. I love the drill -- never has it been this easy to drill clean holes in concrete -- but it sure is frustrating to have to constantly tighten the chuck. I wonder if it has anything to do with the hammer vibrations.

Suppose one wanted to reface the jaws, to make sure they are parallel? How would one go about that?
Ed

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Harold_V
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Re: Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by Harold_V »

One thing you can do is tighten all three holes, assuming you're talking about a keyed chuck. Because the scroll doesn't track dead center, while you'd think that tightening only one hole would work, it doesn't work well. By tightening each of the holes, the grip is tighter. May not prevent a drill from spinning, but it is better than relying on one hole only.

If you use a hand drill routinely, might be a good idea to cut flats on the shanks. Use an index head and cut shallow flats @ 120° intervals. They don't let the drill slip (assuming you tighten the jaws on the flats).

Resurfacing jaws in a drill chuck may not work well. In order for the jaws to load properly, they should be tightened on something. That something would likely prevent you from grinding the critical surface of each jaw.

H
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neanderman
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Re: Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by neanderman »

Thanks, Harold!
Ed

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tornitore45
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Re: Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by tornitore45 »

Hand drill have threaded chucks. If the drill is reversible, there is usually a LH screw at the bottom of the hole.
Funny thing, I have a Makita Hammeering corded drill and it the worst "spinner".
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BadDog
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Re: Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by BadDog »

Normal chucks on a "hammer drill" are a losing proposition. SDS+ gets you a very functional range of relatively inexpensive drills that work very well. I've got a Makita hammer/demo with mostly Bosch masonry drills along with some chisels and a demo point. SDS Max gets you into some light concrete demo range with heavier points and chisels along with spades for digging hard rocky ground. Never used one, but have certainly wished for one when digging in our near concrete Caleche. Beyond that you get into small jack hammers if more substantial concrete demo is needed. I had to borrow one of those when I needed to break up a 10" thick slab about 2' x 20' the previous owner had poured next to the house that was tilted INTO the house causing water intrusion. Nothing less would have been anything but misery.

I'm actually surprised the Bosch drill chuck is not acceptable. Everything I have with that name has been quite good. I wonder if you are tightening as Harold suggested. Any chuck that will see substantial torque (often on break through) should be tightened on all holes for maximum grip. The same would be true of the Jacobs chucks I have upgraded as well.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Bits Spin in Hand Drills

Post by SteveHGraham »

I have not tried tightening all 3 holes, but it should have occurred to me, given what I know about lathe chucks.

I have an SDS+ drill. Weighs about 10 pounds.
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