Milwaukee keyless chuck

Zorba

Zorba

"The Veiled Male"
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I inherited a not very old Milwaukee 3/8" variable speed drill (Corded) from my late father. Nice drill - but shortly after, the variable speed went away and it was just an on-off tool. I sent it in to Milwaukee for repair - they ended up sending me a brand new, very similar drill. Unlike the old one, this new one has a keyless chuck.

COOL! Thinks I.

Not so fast - unlike the many Makitas I've used over the years, this keyless chuck will NOT hold if there's much vibration or length of use - it just comes loose.

I'm about to just replace the chuck with a keyed Jacobs - but I do like the keyless feature. Any suggestions?
 
I hate keyless chucks. They slip when you need them to hold the most. That’s mostly all I’ve got now although my drill press is keyed. The belt will slip before the bit does. They do make drill bits that are three sided which solves the slipping.
 
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Cycle the chuck open and close a few times while blowing it out with an air nozzle. Maybe there is some debris keeping it from snugging up tight? If this is a new drill has it always been this way? You could also just remove the chuck and install a different one. A replacement chuck will cost you $50.
 
Having had both Milwaukee and Makita I have to agree with you, but I think it may be partly because the Milwaukee chuck is harder to grip. My Milwaukee M-28s would come loose a lot, and the outer surface of the chuck was hard and slick, they also had replacement jaws for the chuck which I did once. If hammering and the chuck comes loose it can break or damage the jaws. After going through 2 M-28s I finally switched to Makita and don't have that issue anymore.
The very best keyless chucks are made by Albrecht and I have one on my drill press and really love it. But I don't think you'll find an Albrecht for a hand drill. They are popular with machinists for lathes and drill presses. Quite expensive but I was lucky enough to find a used one on ebay for $100.
 
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JP_in_STL said:
Cycle the chuck open and close a few times while blowing it out with an air nozzle. Maybe there is some debris keeping it from snugging up tight? If this is a new drill has it always been this way? You could also just remove the chuck and install a different one. A replacement chuck will cost you $50.
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Yea, that's the way I'm leaning right now, just replace the thing with a keyed Jacobs.
 
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I had an old Milwaukee cordless drill that the keyless was almost usless. I used to tighten it with a Channel Locks if I really needed it to hold.
My newer cordless drills I've never had any issues with them.
I don't know which chuck you should get, but they ain't all created equal.
I've been spoiled and would prefer not to go back to keyed though.
 
I like most milwaukee tools but agree that their drill chucks are shit. Many galled drill shanks because of their cheap ass chucks.
Makita keyless drills never give me any problem.
 
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Farmergreg said:
I like most Milwaukee tools but agree that their drill chucks are shit. Many galled drill shanks because of their cheap ass chucks.
Makita keyless drills never give me any problem.
Click to expand...

Its probably next to impossible to put a Makita chuck on a Milwaukee drill - I've never had any problem with Makita's chucks either.
 
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