Greg
Its always a struggle to ponder cheap verses expensive compared to quality and value my story I shall share has lead me to this, there are certain things in our shops you can get away with medium to low quality tooling & materials and times where only the best is mandatory.
Drill chucks happen to be one that needs to be in the best category, its a tool that gets used often, more than most in any shop, it provides a service which sets the path for other tooling to follow; its a tool that is relied upon to be used quickly.
Jacobs as already stated make a low to medium quality product but in my opinion there quality units are not up to par.. there design is out dated and flawed in its action, they too have farmed out the production to Inconsistent manufacturing companies and for value are overrated.The jaws get flat and the key action over time gets sloppy, a lot of moving parts, you put the key down and spend 5 minuets trying to find it, replacement jaws are an absolute fortune if you have the intelligent where with all to open the chuck up to install them.
Albrecht chucks are quality units designed and built for a lifetime of service, there key-less design is very smooth and positive, it grips the drill with an extraordinary force which through proper use ensures no slippage, the tolerances these chucks are made to are typical of German engineering; the overall feel, look and function are a delight to use. One slight twist releases the drill the smooth action is a delight to feel.
Costs... Albrecht is double compared to Jacobs. Unless you get
frugal ..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-5-8-ALBRECHT...SwB09YIhnO
No this item is not me its just being used as an example. You can purchase a second hand Albrecht for a reasonable price, i would rather spend the extra $50 more on a used chuck than a $100 for a new Jacobs.
To sum up purchasing a new Bentley for 1/2 million pounds sterling you get a Bentley, buying it for 300 thousand pounds used you get a Bentley.
The same philosophy applies to Collets and chucks not included are 3 and 4 jaw chucks, all measuring tooling excluding verniers, One lathe and one mill the rest you can make do with and the beer you drink.
There are other quality chuck manufactures out there i just have no experience with them so i cant comment. Hope this helps...
Anthony.
ieezitin, proud to be a member of MetalworkingFun Forum since Jan 2013.