Pin Chuck

[Mrs C]

Hi,
I am looking for a pin chuck to hold drills of less than 3mm in my pillar drill.

Can anyone recommend a decent make? Everything I have found looks cheap and nasty. Are they called something else as I can’t find one in Axminster?

Thanks

 

[gregmcateer]

I just googled 'micro chuck' - lots of suggestions that might fit the bill.
HTH
Greg

 

[ColeyS1]

Pin vice

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Cheshirechappie]

For donkey's years, the 'go to' pin chuck (not to be confused with pin vices) was the Eclipse 160. Not cheap, but good. They're still available new - here's one example

https://www.cromwell.co.uk/shop/hand-to ... CL5530049A

and if you look for a second-hand one, make sure it has the additional collets with it.

 

[Mrs C]

Fab, thank you all

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My two Jacob's chucks are 1mm - 10mm and 1mm - 13mm .......... how much smaller do you need for woodturning?

 

[AES]

+1 for the excellent Eclipse. I inherited one from my Dad and it's still going strong. Lovely tools.

But you will need to be a bit careful here Mrs. C. As already mentioned above by others, pin CHUCKS and pin VICES are (supposed to be) different animals, and if you look at the 1st lot of pix below (linky) you see loads of what I was told to call pin CHUCKS.

In the second load of pix (linky) you'll see what I was told to call pin VICES, but it's only when you get down quite a few rows that you'll see "real" pin VICES - the first several rows are IMO pin CHUCKS and indeed look the same as the pin vices in the 1st linky.

But if you want to put small drills, (say 2 or 3 mm and below) into your vertical drill stand then you don't need either of the above, as they are both, ordinarily speaking, hand tools only (you "twiddle" them). What you need is a "small drills chuck" and in the last linky below you'll see many - my own looks exactly the same as that in the 1st pic, top LH. Generally not all that expensive either.

Note that pin CHUCKS work on the collet system and so you'll need several collet inserts to cover a range from, say, 0 to 3 mm with one tool. Pin VICES have a larger opening range but as you'll imagine from the pictures of those "lumpy" tools half way down the 2nd link, they're not really suitable for use in a pillar drill since especially with small dia drills you'll be using high rpm. That's why the small drill CHUCK (3rd linky) is what you need - AND they'll cover a good opening range - something like 0 to 3 mm, if like mine.

Suppliers of small drill CHUCKS include Arc Eurotrade and Cromwell, and I guess, Axi. Links to Arc and Cromwell are in the sticky at the top of the General Metalworking section here, and I'm sure you know Axi.

Pin CHUCKS:
https://www.google.ch/search?q=pin+chuc ... 66&bih=622

Pin VICES:
https://www.google.ch/search?q=pin+vice ... 66&bih=622

Small drill CHUCKS:
https://www.google.ch/search?q=small+di ... 66&bih=622

Hope the above is not a "lecture", just trying to be sure you get what you want. (BTW, a pin vice or pin chuck IS very useful it you ever want to put small - to - tiny holes into sensitive materials by hand).

 

[ED65]

Give me three-jaw chucks over one that takes collets any day of the week. Much less faff and IME tend to grip bits more tightly, not less, despite some sources claiming the opposite.

So small chucks over pin chucks would be my vote. But either way if you're buying new both types are widely available on AliExpress for less than the price of a posh coffee.

 

[AES]

Not sure I agree 100% ED65. Certainly a three jaw gives you the full range without changing any internals, but the collet types do grip very well indeed if properly made to their correct tight tolerances. The only "problem" is that to cover a range like 0 to 3mm you need 3 or even 4 inserts for the collet type, whereas the three jaw does the lot.

But tighter? I'm not so sure, I have two separate 0 to 3mm three jaw chucks, one with a "fine feed" fitting for the lathe (round spindle) which has a chuck key (Jacobs type) and one with a hex spindle but only a keyless chuck (for my pillar drill) and I THINK (note please, I cannot prove it) that my collet type pin chuck grips at least as well as, if not better than my keyed 3 jaw chuck (and I'm pretty sure "definitely" grips better than my keyless 3 jaw chuck).

And if we're talking machining on the (metal) lathe and if I want real repeatable concentricity, then it's a collet type chuck every time - but before you say it, I agree, I'm getting off topic - the OP was talking about drilling small holes on her pillar drill!

Horses for courses I guess

 

[ED65]

My experience drilling holes from 3mm down to the smallest sub-mm bits I own is that with the three-jaw keyless chuck I don't get slipping if I tighten properly, and this is a drill that spins up to 20,000rpm. But I have regularly had slipping of bits held in collets in pin vices, no matter how much I tighten, where I'm drilling at maybe 100rpm :lol:

It must be admitted that my pin vices aren't all great quality but I have enough of them, five or six, each with two double-ended collets (steel if that matters), that there's a decent sample size. In addition I've had two cheaper mini drills that use collet chucks (brass collets primarily) and had gripping problems with both. So it seemed to identify it as a general problem.

 

[loftyhermes]

When I use sub 3mm bits in my pillar drill I use the chuck taken out of an old egg beater drill, Faithful I believe. It has a plain shaft that goes into the pillar drill chuck and closes to zero.
Steve

 

[AES]

OK Gents, I guess it's just "you mileage may vary"

 

[oakmitre]

What are you drilling into and how deep.

A needle ( not a pin ) in a chunky pin vise can quite easily and cleanly go through most materials less hard than oak in a couple of seconds and doesn't make any noise or mess. Stab a piece of wax, or wipe the needle with oil (to prevent tearout when removing the needle). Gently apply pressure whilst rotating the needle left and right.