Jacobs Chuck History & Identification

[Beerhippie]

I have two Jacobs Hartford #33:









Calipers say the collar OD is 1.795" Capacity is 5/64" - 1/2".

Both have been apart and deep-cleaned and lubed. They run smooth as silk.

 

[AntiqueBen]

I have two Jacobs Hartford #33:









Calipers say the collar OD is 1.795" Capacity is 5/64" - 1/2".

Both have been apart and deep-cleaned and lubed. They run smooth as silk.

Those chucks are sweet! Ready for service for another 100 yrs

 

[Beerhippie]

Something I didn't notice until I looked back at these pictures:



F 84. The other chuck is D 84. Manufacture dates? These came with my Darra James 300 drill press, which I'm pretty sure is much earlier than '84.

 

[Beerhippie]

The key that came with one of them:



Fits "tighter than a bull's *** in fly time".

 

[Beerhippie]

A handy tool if you have a drill press with the collar for removing (or locking, depends) the chuck, but don't have the pin spanner to fit:



Draft Beer Faucet Wrench. $7 from Amazon.

 

[AntiqueBen]

Something I didn't notice until I looked back at these pictures:



F 84. The other chuck is D 84. Manufacture dates? These came with my Darra James 300 drill press, which I'm pretty sure is much earlier than '84.

It would be nice if there was a reference somewhere that made it easier to date these older Jacobs chucks. Seems like you always have to be satisfied with a vague date range based on scattered information.

 

[AntiqueBen]

A handy tool if you have a drill press with the collar for removing (or locking, depends) the chuck, but don't have the pin spanner to fit:



Draft Beer Faucet Wrench. $7 from Amazon.

Now that's thinking outside the box

 

[Beerhippie]

Now that's thinking outside the box

I do work in a brewery maintenance shop and built all the draft delivery systems for the pub here and several others in the area. I was cleaning a system the other day, looked at that pin spanner and thought hmmm, might fit.... I took a die grinder to it to open it up a little and now it fits perfectly.

 

[AntiqueBen]

I do work in a brewery maintenance shop and built all the draft delivery systems for the pub here and several others in the area. I was cleaning a system the other day, looked at that pin spanner and thought hmmm, might fit.... I took a die grinder to it to open it up a little and now it fits perfectly.

Innovation at its best. Sometimes I've figured out that something works perfectly on something that it was never intended for. Some of the best inventions came by accidental means. Having the right thought at the right moment ends up being genius sometimes.

 

[FrankLee]

Use a pin spanner only for a Jacobs Safe-Lock chuck. Use wedges for the separate thrust nut.

 

[Beerhippie]

Use a pin spanner only for a Jacobs Safe-Lock chuck. Use wedges for the separate thrust nut.

The spindle of my DP has a male J3 taper and the collar is there to push the chuck off of the taper. The chuck is not attached to the collar. The spindle doesn't have a slot for a wedge like a Morse taper tool.

 

[FrankLee]

The Morse wedge is different than the Jacobs wedges.
Jacobs wedges are usually use in pairs between the thrust nut and the chuck for early pre-’51(?) chucks.

 

[FrankLee]

New Member / First Post - Jacob Chuck removal on 1954 King Seeley Benchtop Drill Press

Hello, New member - I was watching a youtube channel of Jeff's Shop as he was rebuilding the same benchtop drill press I have and he mentioned this site as a good resouce. Hoping someone can offer a tip from experience - I have the threaded collar backed all the way down to the Jacobs chuck -...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Beerhippie]

So, what is the problem with using the "thrust nut" (which bears no thrust on this DP--there's a thrust bearing above it) to push the chuck off? I learned this technique from reading posts here. I can't see any other purpose for the nut.

 

[Beerhippie]

I'm not being sarcastic. I really do want to know.

 

[Joe Huld]

Don't know that I can add much to this discussion, but the attached pictures are of the earliest Jacobs chuck in my collection. It is a number 3 with a capacity of 1/2 inch and is threaded for a 3/4 -16 arbor and has no patent dates so may predate the 1902 Jacobs patent. I have some earlier drill chucks with patents in the 1890s. The Jacobs design quickly overwhelmed the competition and by the end of WWI the Jacobs design was predominate.

 

[AntiqueBen]

Don't know that I can add much to this discussion, but the attached pictures are of the earliest Jacobs chuck in my collection. It is a number 3 with a capacity of 1/2 inch and is threaded for a 3/4 -16 arbor and has no patent dates so may predate the 1902 Jacobs patent. I have some earlier drill chucks with patents in the 1890s. The Jacobs design quickly overwhelmed the competition and by the end of WWI the Jacobs design was predominate.

Nice chuck Joe. My Jacobs chuck that I posted pics of in post #37 actually does have a model number. I missed it up to this point. Right before the 1902 patent date in very small font is "No. 3." I've never seen a no. 3 marked this way. It also has fully knurled collar like yours.

 

[FrankLee]

So, what is the problem with using the "thrust nut" (which bears no thrust on this DP--there's a thrust bearing above it) to push the chuck off? I learned this technique from reading posts here. I can't see any other purpose for the nut.

The thrust nut does bear thrust when using wedges.

Many times, the thrust nut will force the chuck off the taper. @Beerhippie's photo is a good example of why it's not a good idea.

Assuming the nut is in contact with the chuck, there are 3-4 threads of the thrust collar exposed. That means there are only 2-3 threads remaining on the thrust collar that overlap threads in the thrust nut. Many times, it takes considerable force to get the chuck to pop off the taper. There is a high risk of damaging the threads on both the collar and the nut. It's really a matter of using the right tool for the job.



Here is a link to more detailed info.

Spindle Thrust Nut vs. Chuck Safety Collar.pdf

drive.google.com

I'm working on a drill press right now where a previous owner must have use a retaining compound on the taper. This is a 633C Safe-Lock chuck where a pin spanner is required. I used as much force as I dared and that chuck did not budge. I used an easy to make homemade pin spanner which, imo, is far superior to anything off the shelf.

Another time, I had the thrust nut completely unscrew off the collar before it contacted the chuck. There were no threads overlapping.

 

[FrankLee]

There is some interesting info to be found searching for "jacobs chuck" in Google Books. Here are a couple hits:

Machinery

www.google.com

Popular Mechanics

books.google.com

 

[Beerhippie]

Thank you, Mr. Lee!

 

[Stubby1743]

Jacobs chucks were also made in Sheffield, England.

 

[Stubby1743]

Three small chucks. From left to right; #1A made in Sheffield; #1A made in Hartford; #1B made in Sheffield.

 

[AntiqueBen]

Jacobs chucks were also made in Sheffield, England.

According to Jacobs website, looks like the Jacobs Sheffield plant was founded in 1949.

 

[682bear]

I have a couple of older Jacobs chucks to contribute to the discussion...

First, I have a No. 20 Superchuck...







This chuck is currently mounted on a MT4 arbor and installed on my camelback drill press... I found it laying on a shelf in HGR's Birmingham warehouse and took it home for $20 + tax...

Second, I have a No. 3...







This chuck came to me along with a Hendey Tie-bar lathe... it is still mounted on the #2½ Hendey-Morse taper arbor... which was proprietary to the Hendey conehead lathes.

Both chucks are in very good mechanical condition... the #3 seems to be saturated in oil... it seeps constantly. I'll disassemble it and clean/ lube it eventually.

-Bear

 

[Junebreeze]

I can't answer your questions about the rarity or dates certain models were made but I thought I would interject here. You'll understand why shortly.
I started with Easco/KD Tools in May of 88. When the owner changed the name to Danaher Tool Group (1991) was near the time when we took over Jacobs Chuck. I had to go to the Clemson SC plant with our QA manager to learn as much as possible in three days. I had to learn to do repairs and certification processes for the Percission chucks which were manufactured by a company in Spain called Albrecht. It was a very interesting experience. The average employee there had 25 to 30 years seniority I was told. This building was built for Jacobs and had two additions to the building since then. This place was running three shifts back then.
All of the manufacturing stayed in place at Clemson when we took control of Jacobs. All we were doing was packaging and distribution of the Jacobs product from our distribution center here in Maryland. By 2010 when Cooper had bought out Danaher, a plant in China was opened to manufacture all of the Jacobs chucks and Clemson was closed.
I want to make a point here about things you read on the internet. There is a lot of misinformation out there. The current Jacobs website even has dates that are completely wrong. The site has a timeline that I disagree with. When I was down there I was told that manufacturing was moved from Hartford CT to Clemson in 1948. The website has the year as 1959. It also has the date of 1986 for the Danaher takeover which is not at all possible when Danaher Tool did not even exist until '91.
Moving right along, I wanted to show you all this cool crate I got at an auction about twenty five years ago. No lid for it unfortunately.

Hi. I am a previous Jacobs Chuck employee @ the Clemson, SC plant. I started in 1987 and left in 2000. I was the buyer for all MRO supplies. When I started, Danaher had just took over Jacobs Chuck from Chicago Pneumatic. Danaher then created The Danaher Tool Group in 1991 and that is when Jacobs started supplying chucks to the Danaher Tool Group instead of individual distribution companies etc.

 

[AntiqueBen]

I got lucky today & found a huge Jacobs 18N chuck for $10. I forgot to take before pics, but it cleaned up nice. Operates smooth & has perfect jaws. The taper is gigantic. I'm curious to know when Jacobs made these Ball Bearing Super Chucks. I think Jacobs came out with them in 1942, but how do you tell the difference between older versions from the newer versions?

 

[paulsomlo]

The taper is gigantic.

That's a #5 Morse Taper - that came out of a large drill press.

 

[AntiqueBen]

That's a #5 Morse Taper - that came out of a large drill press.

From the size of this thing I figured it came of of a really big lathe or drill press.

 

[Beerhippie]

That's a #5 Morse Taper - that came out of a large drill press.

Looks to me like the chuck is a #4 Jacob's Taper with an adapter for the Morse #5.

Sweet score!

 

[AntiqueBen]

Looks to me like the chuck is a #4 Jacob's Taper with an adapter for the Morse #5.

Sweet score!

I was glad to find it. Must have been a huge machine that would use such a big chuck & taper

 

[Provincial]

Likely used in the tailstock of a large lathe. It is useful for drilling center holes in shafts, as well as regular holes.

 

[Straightgrain]

Jacobs chucks were also made in Sheffield, England.

I never noticed until just now that my 1951 Delta DP220 drill press has a Sheffield chuck.

 

[leg17]

How did the 'Jake' brake on trucks get its name?

 

[Provincial]

How did the 'Jake' brake on trucks get its name?

Here is the Wikipedia page on engine brakes, which answers that question.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compression_release_engine_brake

 

[genog]

It was kind of gloomy this morning and it rained a tiny little bit, so I scrubbed my plans to go to the College Flea Market....
The sun poked out around 9, so Why the Heck Not, I'm going

I've told myself that I'm not buying any more stuff that I can't use or if I have it already
I maintained discipline for 20 minutes or so.....until I found three Jacobs chucks in very nice condition

The 33BA in the middle is a half inch chuck but threaded at 5/8-16
Is it a Drill Press chuck?
Big brute Hand Drill?

 

[Steve from Socal]

I got lucky today & found a huge Jacobs 18N chuck for $10. I forgot to take before pics, but it cleaned up nice. Operates smooth & has perfect jaws. The taper is gigantic. I'm curious to know when Jacobs made these Ball Bearing Super Chucks. I think Jacobs came out with them in 1942, but how do you tell the difference between older versions from the newer versions?

Ball bearing supper chucks are far older than 1942, I think the first patent is 1902? The older supper chucks don't have the band at the top of the sleeve and are knurled or ribbed like the other chucks.

 

[Kudzuman]

Hello all. Long time lurker, first time poster. Jacobs chuck history is a personal fascination. I worked at Jacobs Clemson from 1969 until 1985. I got out just before Chicago Pneumatic was taken over by the Rales Brothers, spun off 4 years later as Danaher. I was a toolmaker. My best friend, also a toolmaker there, was the son of the Manager of Engineering, R.F. Bock. The Bock family moved from Hartford to Clemson in 1959 when the plant opened.
I can shed some light on date codes: stamped on the nose OD, visible under the gearteeth (sometimes you have to rotate the sleeve back and forth a little) are a letter and 2 numbers. A is January, B Febuary, and so on. The numbers are 20th century year numbers backwards. C48 would be March 1984. This numbering system goes back at least until 1939. (I have a 32B stamped F93).

 

[paulsomlo]

I started with Easco/KD Tools in May of 88. When the owner changed the name to Danaher Tool Group (1991) was near the time when we took over Jacobs Chuck. I had to go to the Clemson SC plant with our QA manager to learn as much as possible in three days. I had to learn to do repairs and certification processes for the Percission chucks which were manufactured by a company in Spain called Albrecht.

I believe the Jacobs Precision chucks were made by Llambrich (in Spain), rather than Albrecht, which manufactures in Germany.

 

[Kudzuman]

At least through the early ‘80s Jacobs was the American importer for Albrecht. I remember well that old man Albrecht could not meet the American demand for their fine product and repeatedly refused to put on a second shift. Jacobs was forced to go to Spain for the knock-offs.

 

[paulsomlo]

At least through the early ‘80s Jacobs was the American importer for Albrecht. I remember well that old man Albrecht could not meet the American demand for their fine product and repeatedly refused to put on a second shift. Jacobs was forced to go to Spain for the knock-offs.

So, the Jacobs Precision Keyless were made by Llambrich? I've got one that's stamped "spain", a JKP 130-33 - runout measures slightly over 0.001" with a dowel pin in the jaws; while not an Albrecht, I don't know that I'd be inclined to call it a "knockoff".