Drill Bits Falling Out of Chuck...

[tbellemare]

I keep reading on this Forum about how drill bits fall out of the chuck on Festool drills.

I use Festool drills a lot. I don't use them as much as certain pro's, but I use them a lot.

I would seriously like to know, under what circumstances, a Festool drill's factory, keyless, Jacob's style, chuck drops a bit...

I'm not kidding. I keep seeing people talking about how the current chuck is somehow lacking or doesn't work right.

I suspect it's operator error but i want to know what I don't know?

I have had customers (and friends) that thought that the proper way to tighten up a bit in a keyless chuck was to just run the drill with their hand holding the chuck until it stopped. That is NOT ENOUGH! You have to grab the chuck and forcefully turn it clockwise until you can't turn it any farther.

After "setting the chuck", it won't drop bits. Oh, and if the bit has a hex shank, you have to adjust for that also.

Tom

 

[harry_]

I keep reading on this Forum about how drill bits fall out of the chuck on Festool drills.

I use Festool drills a lot. I don't use them as much as certain pro's, but I use them a lot.

I would seriously like to know, under what circumstances, a Festool drill's factory, keyless, Jacob's style, chuck drops a bit...

I'm not kidding. I keep seeing people talking about how the current chuck is somehow lacking or doesn't work right.

I suspect it's operator error but i want to know what I don't know?

I have had customers (and friends) that thought that the proper way to tighten up a bit in a keyless chuck was to just run the drill with their hand holding the chuck until it stopped. That is NOT ENOUGH! You have to grab the chuck and forcefully turn it clockwise until you can't turn it any farther.

After "setting the chuck", it won't drop bits. Oh, and if the bit has a hex shank, you have to adjust for that also.

Tom

Tom,

I have yet to have an issue with a bit falling out of the keyless Jacob's style chuck.

Keeping a centrotec bit to stay in the offset chuck is another matter entirely!

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Wasn't it because the bit was too small?

the eccentric chuck works better with a regular hex shank bit holder/driver.

 

[harry_]

Wasn't it because the bit was too small?

the eccentric chuck works better with a regular hex shank bit holder/driver.

It is a nearly non-existent problem when driving a screw. However when I am actually drilling, unless it let the bit 'loiter' in the hole for a second or two it will remain in the stuck when I go to pull the bit out

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Wasn't it because the bit was too small?

the eccentric chuck works better with a regular hex shank bit holder/driver.

It is a nearly non-existent problem when driving a screw. However when I am actually drilling, unless it let the bit 'loiter' in the hole for a second or two it will remain in the stuck when I go to pull the bit out

Never had to drill a hole with it, I use grk screws man!! [big grin]

 

[HowardH]

Use the centrotec bits and it won't ever be a problem.  +1 on GRK.  Love their products. 

 

[AlexThePalex]

I had this happen a couple of times when I just used my T15 the first week I had it. After that I realised you have to tighten the chuck with a lot more force than I was used to with my previous DW drill and it didn't happen anymore. But it feels a bit like you need to use too much force to be comfortable. Not good at all.

I'm glad Festool now has a new chuck on offer with the locking mechanism. I've seen how it works on my nephew's Protool drill and it's just so much better. I do think Festool should offer the new chuck to current drill owners with a good deduction. The old chuck is certainly below the standards you expect of Festool and the price you have to pay for it.

 

[jmbfestool]

I had this happen a couple of times when I just used my T15 the first week I had it. After that I realised you have to tighten the chuck with a lot more force than I was used to with my previous DW drill and it didn't happen anymore. But it feels a bit like you need to use too much force to be comfortable. Not good at all.

I'm glad Festool now has a new chuck on offer with the locking mechanism. I've seen how it works on my nephew's Protool drill and it's just so much better. I do think Festool should offer the new chuck to current drill owners with a good deduction. The old chuck is certainly below the standards you expect of Festool and the price you have to pay for it.

I totally agree! They should do some discount because I try and avoid using my chuck on my festool as I dont like using it I dont like feel of it and I hate it when the bit falls out and it always does as some point during the day.

It definitely NOT human error like Tom said.  Its not a very good chuck at all its rubbish!  It requires about 4 times more force to guarantee a bit not to fall out than any other drills with chucks.  I when I bought the drill when it first came out in the UK I started to look at the protool Chucks as they fit the festool T15 and they have 2 or 3 types I think cant remember but they all have a ratchet/locking mechanism so you hear those lovely clicks as you tighten the chuck slightly any way I never got round to buying one because my milwueakee has a ratchet/locking mechanism so I use that instead.

Here is a video I made a while ago its kinda rubbish!!  Its when I first started on this forum but is shows the bit falling out of the drill lol!

FESTOOL T15+3 32mm Drill Bits In OAK!

JMB

 

[jmbfestool]

I keep reading on this Forum about how drill bits fall out of the chuck on Festool drills.

I use Festool drills a lot. I don't use them as much as certain pro's, but I use them a lot.

I would seriously like to know, under what circumstances, a Festool drill's factory, keyless, Jacob's style, chuck drops a bit...

I'm not kidding. I keep seeing people talking about how the current chuck is somehow lacking or doesn't work right.

I suspect it's operator error but i want to know what I don't know?

I have had customers (and friends) that thought that the proper way to tighten up a bit in a keyless chuck was to just run the drill with their hand holding the chuck until it stopped. That is NOT ENOUGH! You have to grab the chuck and forcefully turn it clockwise until you can't turn it any farther.

After "setting the chuck", it won't drop bits. Oh, and if the bit has a hex shank, you have to adjust for that also.

Tom

A good chuck!  (NOT FESTOOL CHUCK)   You can just hold the chuck and run your drill which is enough to hold a bit all day long Guaranteed!! Unfortunately a festool chuck you can not you have to really grib tight and turn as hard as you can. Which is why I avoid using the festool drill with the chuck as I like just running the drill to remove and attach a bit quickly.

JMB

 

[jmbfestool]

Just did a quick Vid!   Sorry the quality isnt as good as usual normally my vids are 25MB so take 10 mins to load up but this one is a longer video so its 189MB way way to big so I converted it to AVI and now its only 6.3MB lol So lost alot of quality but you can still see everything.

I tighten both chucks just with my thumb and finger slightly just enough the hold the bit and you can see on the video the locking chuck on the Milwaukee holds so if you was to hold it with your hand and RUN the drill it would be even tighter so what you said Tom about its not good enough to run your drill is INCORRECT running your drill is more than enough for a DECENT chuck.  At the end you can see it takes little effort to release the Milwaukee chuck again so it never tighten during the drilling process.    As you saw at the start the Festool chuck failed to hold the bit even if I was to do it really tight if you was to use the drill all the day long at some point it will fall out as it has happened to me many of times  you have to admit festool made a lovely drill but a rubbish chuck!

P1010638

Edited:  Oh I used a round bit instead of a hex so you can see I did it tight enough because of it being a round bit if I had done it to loose the bit would of  spun in the chuck instead of drilling through the MDF.

JMB

 

[AlexThePalex]

so what you said Tom about its not good enough to run your drill is INCORRECT running your drill is more than enough for a DECENT chuck.

With my old DW I also just used to run the drill to tighten the bit, until you could feel it grab the bit and then it just needed a half turn with minimal force in your hand to fully tighten it. And JMB's video shows the same with the Milwaukee. Like he said, you don't need to tighten it with force with a good chuck. I also tend to avoid the Festool chuck as much as possible. Right now I only need it with stone bits and spade bits and I don't use those so much luckily.

 

[Rob-GB]

Just to add some balance to the thread, the ratcheting chuck that came with my T15 has never dropped a drill bit, round or hex shanked and I actually managed to drill a hole with it in concrete using a SDS drill bit for a shoot bolt. ( got lazy and could not be bothered to walk back to van for the sds drill!)

I think it may have been an issue prior to the ratcheting chuck but do not believe it is a current issue with the supplied chucks.

Rob.

 

[jmbfestool]

Just to add some balance to the thread, the ratcheting chuck that came with my T15 has never dropped a drill bit, round or hex shanked and I actually managed to drill a hole with it in concrete using a SDS drill bit for a shoot bolt. ( got lazy and could not be bothered to walk back to van for the sds drill!)

I think it may have been an issue prior to the ratcheting chuck but do not believe it is a current issue with the supplied chucks.

Rob.

What did your T15 come with the racheting chuck?!?!?!?!  That sucks! I want mine swapping for a racheting!!! I dont know why festool even made that non racheting chuck when the T15 came out most drills had racheting so why did festool go one step backwards with the chuck?!?!

JMB

JMB

 

[Rob-GB]

Just to add some balance to the thread, the ratcheting chuck that came with my T15 has never dropped a drill bit, round or hex shanked and I actually managed to drill a hole with it in concrete using a SDS drill bit for a shoot bolt. ( got lazy and could not be bothered to walk back to van for the sds drill!)

I think it may have been an issue prior to the ratcheting chuck but do not believe it is a current issue with the supplied chucks.

Rob.

I just checked my 3 T15 drills. 2 have standard chucks, these are the ones the bits fall out of.
1 has a ratcheting chuck. I do not recall bits falling out of this one.

Cripes man! how many hands do you have?  [laughing] ;D  I want a second one but it will have to wait a while, having just got the Kapex [smile]

 

[J.C.]

Anyone have a part # for the ratcheting chuck and can you buy it in the states?  The non-ratcheting chuck does kinda suck. 

 

[casper]

At first I thought the chuck was faulty as it felt that when fully tightened the mechanism inside the chuck had failed. The chuck does not stop like a normal one does but gets sort of soft in feel as the final tightening is done. To me it just feels plain weird but seems to work ok so I just tighten and forget.

 

[Daniel_n]

I have been using my 2 C12s for years, never had a drill fall out.

 

[peter halle]

Anyone have a part # for the ratcheting chuck and can you buy it in the states?  The non-ratcheting chuck does kinda suck.   

Looking up the chuck in the ekat it looks like the part number is 496905.  I can't tell you if that is a ratcheting chuck or not.  There is also not a price.  I can tell you that thee part number is different than the chuck for tdk12 which is not ratcheting.

Peter

 

[mouppe]

491350 is the ratcheting chuck part number according to Festool UK if you buy it separately. As a replacement part it is 496905. In the USA I think the drills are supplied with 490698, which seems to be the older non-ratcheting chuck. If I search for 490698 on the UK website, it lists the chuck as compatible with the older Festool drills such as the CDD so it seems as if this was a part supplied with the older drills.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

It happens to me almost every time I use my Festool drills.

I guess I am just to stupid to know how to tighten a bit in a keyless chuck.

Maybe you could make a video to show us the proper way to do it.

It happens to me too, and you are correct--it is from being stupid.  [big grin] It is not the chuck, it is the operator not inspecting the bit they just installed. Contrary to intuition, it is actually caused from the chuck gripping too well.

This happens with non-round shanks, like hex and tri-flat bits, and the operator closes the jaws by running the drill and holding the bit. The jaws have enough immediate grip that they will catch the lobes or points on the shank and begin tightening against them. A chuck with less immediate grip will allow the bit to slip a fraction of a turn to align the flats with the jaws.

If you have caught the lobes or points on the leading, or uphill side, the bit will stay locked in place while under load (e.g. while drilling), but as soon as the load is removed, the bit will relax in the jaws and re-seat the way it should have been set. This is what makes people think that the chuck suddenly let go of the bit--because it held it long enough to begin heavy drilling.

To stop this from happening, simply get yourself into the habit of looking at the flats of the bit as you begin to tighten the chuck.

P.S. The faster the drill is spinning while you are closing the jaws down (like going from a large shank to a small shank bit, and the drill is spinning really fast because you are too impatient  [big grin]) the closer to aligned the jaws can be with the flats, while still being non-aligned. The jaws grip so hard, so fast, that they can grip the bit just barely skewed off the flats. However, in these cases, the bit usually pops loose as soon as you begin drilling--not after a lot of drilling.

The image below shows the jaws gripping a hex shank bit, but gripping it on the points.

[attachimg=#]