Extend the quill and see if there is a slot in it – if so then it will be 2MT and need a tapered drift to push the 2MT shank out of the quill shaft. If not then a Jacobs Taper in the chuck, the chuck may have this fact marked on it. Gentle heating and a forked drift should get it off, patience is needed. Good Luck. Noel.

Dominic, whilst I would expect it to be a JT I have seen ones with an internal thread, I bought one in the early 70s to fit a Myford, but it told me the thread – you say yours has no info. Noel.

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On 24 February 2025 at 13:22 spencerd72 Said:

It says it’s British made, in Sheffield, shows the capacity and says it’s a Jacobs number 34.

Thanks again from the reply.

Dominic.

No. 34 indicates a chuck with a J6 taper IIRC. If it were screwed it would be 34B.

A long time ago I removed my taper mount Fobco chuck very quickly by trying to use the machine as a vertical mill!

Most would consider any drill press with the chuck taper integral with the quill as something your not going to be changing drill chucks very often. Yes it can be done but is it really worth it? And given the age, condition and amount of use that chuck seems to have had, it’s highly doubtful much can be done to improve it’s run out. It’s not just jaw wear, it’s also the internal wear on the ground internal surfaces most have no way of correcting or regrinding.

While I own some very expensive key less drill chucks, there most definitely not for everything that might be used as a cutting tool on a drill press due to there built in self tightening design. Albrecht are quite specific about never using any cutting tool with a larger diameter than the shank size the chuck was designed to accept. S & D reduced shank drills, hole saws etc are not to be used for very good reason. As the cutting diameter increases so does the torque. As that goes higher, a key less chuck self tightens to prevent any slip between the chuck jaws and the tool shank. If the torque on the tool gets high enough, the chuck will continue to self tighten to the point of starting to temporarily or permanently cause deformation within the chucks internals. There’s even a few older posts on the Practical Machinist forums mentioning this exact issue, and with some admitting to permanently locking up even high end Albrecht chucks to where no amount of force will open the chuck again. Turning a $300+ chuck into scrap makes a pretty expensive day. I use key less chucks on both my lathe and mill, but for any cutting tool larger in diameter than it’s tool shank, I switch to ER 32 or 40 sized collets. Strangely this well known issue seems to be hardly ever mentioned on the more hobby level forums. Used within there limits, key less drill chucks are extremely nice to use and I certainly wouldn’t enjoy not having mine. But they will not tolerate any abuse very well.