Delta Drill Press

[Tim Goins]

I have a Delta Floor model drill press 17-965. And I would like to ad a keyless chuck is this hard to do? I don't know the taper of chuck. And Delta doesn't give the taper Or do I remove the taper from the present chuck. And ad it to the keyless chuck, once I find out what I need. Thanks

[Bill Dufour]

This site says it is a standard male JT33 on the machine. I would expect the chuck to say the taper somewhere.
Bill

https://www.ereplacementparts.com/ch...y-p-83102.html

[Andrew Seemann]

I've got that model as well. The chuck says JT3 which should be a #3 Jacob's taper. If you get a keyless chuck, make sure it is strong enough and geared appropriately for large bits. Jacob's tapers aren't meant to be swapped out on the fly like a Morse or B&S taper.

There is no guarantee they used the same chuck for the whole production run of the machine, so check the chuck itself. It should have the taper listed on it; something like JT3, JT33 (different size), JT4, etc.

[Bill Graham]

It's not hard to do, you'll need a pair of chuck removal wedges for the taper on your press. They're just simple steel wedges with a slot in the middle that goes around the arbor, around $10 from McMaster-Carr, Grainger or MCS. You put them between the chuck and the spindle and drive them in from opposite sides. Two hammers, a couple of taps and you're done. Be sure to put a piece of wood or a folded towel under the chuck to catch it when it comes loose.

The taper on a drill press is precision ground into either the interior or exterior of the spindle, it is what it is and there's no changing it. All the old Delta presses I've seen used a JT33 taper outside grind on the spindle but they could have changed that after they got bought and sold a couple times. As Andrew said check your chuck, it should be stamped with the taper.

Keyless chucks: The more you pay, the better you get. The larger the capacity, the more you pay. If you don't need to chuck 5/8 shank drills(and what woodworker does?), a 3/8" or 1/2" chuck will save you a wheelbarrow full of pennies. Expect the cost to be in the $150-200 range for a decent import 1/2" keyless chuck, a lot more if you want a premium brand like an Albrecht or Jacobs. Yes, Amazon will sell you a 1/2" keyless for $60. If you don't mind your 1/4" holes coming out at 5/16, go for it. I've had good luck with MSC's Accupro chucks, had one for my Jet press and another for the old Delta 15". I ended up with an Albrecht and the improvement was minor but noticeable. But when you're talking about drilling minor, noticeable improvements are really good things. It's not like buying a cheap router bit that you'll use for one job and sand out the imperfections, this is something you'll use every time you use the tool.

I don't know if this link will work but it's a search on MSCdirect.com for keyless chucks in JT3 and JT33 tapers: https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/...=keyless+chuck

Well, fry me for an oyster. It worked!

HTH

[Bill Dufour]

I have 5/8" chuck on my drill press and it can not hold small drill bits. Something to consider since most woodworking bits will have a max shank of 1/2" on a Silver & Deming drill.
I have a 3/4 drill chuck on my lathe with the same problem. Luckily it is easy to switch tailstock chucks, no tools needed. If I need a big drill I can get one with a morse taper so no chuck need to be too big.
Bill

[John K Jordan]

...And ad it to the keyless chuck, once I find out what I need. Thanks

I use three keyless chucks and like them, but there is one thing that annoys me. When tightening, those I have rotate the working end of the chuck including the jaws. This is no problem except with some of the quality bits I use that have three flats ground on the shaft to prevent slipping. If the jaws rotate when tightening it is more effort to align the bit to the jaws than if the jaws don't rotate, especially with smaller bits.