Shopsmith Forums

Well, I don't know if I did a good thing. With the gift of the shopsmith, I didn't get all the attachments but I have no complaints. Buying parts that I need at the rate I can afford will work well. So, as a eBay shopper for my missing parts. Since I didn't have a chuck, I bought a Jacobs chuck for the shopsmith. It was cheaper than the SS chuck which made me question the value of the Jacob's chuck. I know that Jacobs has been in business for about 100 years. Comparing pictures, the Jacobs appears to have more bite. I am wondering about your opinions from your experience if one is actually any better than the other. Also, the durability of these two products (SS and Jacobs). Any comment you have regarding these two chucks is welcome.


Also, wondering how to space between paragraphs on this forum. I can't figure it out.

Happy holidays to all.

The old swampgator in FL

swampgator wrote:Well, I don't know if I did a good thing. With the gift of the shopsmith, I didn't get all the attachments but I have no complaints. Buying parts that I need at the rate I can afford will work well. So, as a eBay shopper for my missing parts. Since I didn't have a chuck, I bought a Jacobs chuck for the shopsmith. It was cheaper than the SS chuck which made me question the value of the Jacob's chuck. I know that Jacobs has been in business for about 100 years. Comparing pictures, the Jacobs appears to have more bite. I am wondering about your opinions from your experience if one is actually any better than the other. Also, the durability of these two products (SS and Jacobs). Any comment you have regarding these two chucks is welcome.


Also, wondering how to space between paragraphs on this forum. I can't figure it out.

Happy holidays to all.

The old swampgator in FL

Hi Steve,

IMHO, ANY Jacobs brand drill chuck that will fit a ShopSmith will have been made in the US. If Jacobs is providing "over seas" chucks these days, they probably had discontinued making them for the SS before that happened. I have no clue as to the country of origin for the current SS drill chucks. US Jacobs chucks are rather well thought of, and I know of no problems with them, as long as they are maintained. Maintenance is not difficult: Inspect for foriegn matter and clean any of that out, and keep them lubricated. There is also a thread somewhere on these forums that illustrate exactly how to disassemble and reassemble a drill chuck.

Personally, I wood always choose the Jacobs brand chuck.

Thanks, Tim. Like you, I prefer to buy American products to support my countrymen. As a veteran of Viet Nam from 1968 to 1970, I get a little upset when I go to one of the big box stores to find hardware made in Viet Nam. That's all I going to say about that. I also try to avoid most of the other big box stores as Walmart, Target, etc. as so many of their products are from China. Well, everyone here will understand my position on this issue. With you, buy U S A made.

the old swampgator in FL:)

swampgator wrote:Well, I don't know if I did a good thing. With the gift of the shopsmith, I didn't get all the attachments but I have no complaints. Buying parts that I need at the rate I can afford will work well. So, as a eBay shopper for my missing parts. Since I didn't have a chuck, I bought a Jacobs chuck for the shopsmith. It was cheaper than the SS chuck which made me question the value of the Jacob's chuck. I know that Jacobs has been in business for about 100 years. Comparing pictures, the Jacobs appears to have more bite. I am wondering about your opinions from your experience if one is actually any better than the other. Also, the durability of these two products (SS and Jacobs). Any comment you have regarding these two chucks is welcome.


Also, wondering how to space between paragraphs on this forum. I can't figure it out.

Happy holidays to all.

The old swampgator in FL

I am confused. The only thing that I do to seperate paragraphs is to depress the "Enter" key on my keyboard twice. But my confusion lies with the fact that you must be doing that too, because your paragraphs look seperated to me already.

You are right, Tim. I also am on another forum and this one is the easy one. It is the other forum that I had confused. Sorry for the confusion. Once I get used to where I am, maybe, I'll know how to behave.

Merry Christmas to you.

The old swampgator in FL

Well, now that the weather is warm and I am trying to get my machine in working order, tried my purchase a few days ago and I am puzzled. The announcement on eBay said that this chuck fits a SS. My drive spindle is 5/8" and this bore on the chuck must be a tiny bit less than that. It starts on very well and about 1/4" on, it becomes snug. I've tried to remove and restart with the same results. I think it needs to be reamed out just a tiny bit, but then how do I make sure it true? Any ideas?

Thanks, BEEG, for point out what I forgot. I knew there was something else to include.

Forgot to mention that I have removed the set screw and the bore looks fine with machine marks where it spun on the lathe but it is smooth inside. It just seems to be too small. Wondering if I can have a machine shop bore it out or just buy one from SS.

swampgator wrote:It starts on very well and about 1/4" on, it becomes snug.

if it is going on easily that far, then it sounds like it is the right size but that something is dinged. if there is not a small ridge around the set screw hole, try looking closely at the spindle for dings or crud about that far from the end of the spindle.

if you have a good dial caliper, you can see if the hole is round and if it is the size that it is supposed to be.

1) Do all the arbors etc. fit properly? If so, goto 10)

2) Are there burrs on the 5/8" spindle. If so polish them away.

3) Check the size of the spindle. Should be 5/8"(0.625).

4) Is the spindle 'out of round'? If so polish off the high spots.



10) Is the chuck hole free of burrs? If so polish them away.

11) Does a 5/8" rod fit into the chuck? If not, polish the narrow spots.

Notice I said 'polish'. Do not be too aggressive or a sloppy fit will result.

If the chuck has a set screw with a 5/16-18 set screw with a 5/32 " hex then it was probably made for a shop smith. It will have either jacobs 3326 or jacobs multi-craft mc8k26. An older 3326 may have a 3/8-16 set screw.

If it has something else as a jacobs part number, it probably does NOT have a straight 5/8" bore.

BTW, IMHO, the 3326 chucks are slightly better than the multi-craft. I do not have enough experience with the 'shopsmith' branded chuck to have formed a 'judgement'.