1950s Made in America vs NEW Made in China

We're comparing a vintage, American-made, Jacobs Ball Bearing Super Chuck with a brand new one made in China -- both model 14N . We'll also take a look at an American-made model 11N Jacobs Ball Bearing Super Chuck, and compare these with super cheap drill chucks from HHIP and Colton.

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*Tools Used In The Video:*

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*Timestamps:*

00:00 Intro
00:50 Jacobs Compared
01:18 Methodology & Testing
03:47 Disassembly & Servicing
07:30 Reassembly & Testing

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#tools

[ShopHumor]

Thanks for watching! More links in description:

[jonesingaround]

Do i own a quality drill press? No, do I do any quality drilling? No, Did I watch this whole video fully invested in which is the better chuck? Yes.

[HAWKCoinMillionaire]

Jacobs Chuck was actually located in Seneca SC. And the ground water is still poisonous there till this day because of the dry cleaning fluid they used to wash the parts.

[GodofGHz]

You can absolutely get good quality stuff from China IF youre willing to pay for it, same as anywhere else. The difference is China also has cheap, cheaper, and cheapest options as well with corners cut. So many manufacturers outsource the production to a cheaper process and keep prices the same, but the quality is much worse. Thats how they maximize profits

[catlady]

1:55 Everyone loves the Mr. Project Farm guy! ❤️

[rm]

Wow, a shout out to Mr Project Farm! VERY IMPRESSIVE indeed!! 😊👍🇺🇲

[arachnid]

China doesn’t mean bad quality. It really depends on the manufacturer’s contract with them. If they pay them to make high end stuff, they will.

[Chris-bgmk]

I used to rebuild these and they’re really nicely made. At one point I had found a new old stock Jacob’s Chuck repair kit, which had a bunch of tools and replacement parts in a nicely labeled metal box probably going back about to the day I was born.

[saywhat]

The Chinese are not to blame, it's the American companies that go there for higher profit.

[don-cwyz]

I put a pool fence around my pool about 10 years ago. You had to drill holes in the concrete pad around the pool to install the fence & magnetic self-closing locking gate. The drill bits were 23" long and the bit end drilled a 1/2 hole. You had to drill about 5" into the concrete fence pad. I had to drill around 40 holes. You used this drill standing up. The company that sold me the fence had a deal that they sent you a big hammer drill to do the job and you returned the drill when you were completed. That drill worked like a charm and that hammer drill worked perfectly. I actually marked down the name on the drill. It was made in China by the Zhejiang Zonk Tai Tool Company. The other name on the drill was Zhongtai. Yes, I was that impressed with how that drill worked I wrote down the name. They can make some very good tools in China.

[gtman]

I've argued the point repeatedly. Chinese manufacturing will make what you buy. They are capable of making top quality goods, and oddly enough the cost will be similar to the "standard".
They aren't building the good stuff using harbor freight tooling. They have and use manufacturing tooling that is the same high level as other manufacturers in the U.S. or Germany or wherever, when it is required. If anyone wants to place the blame for inexpensive poorly made goods then it would be on the consumer wanting the lower price point for a given item.

[shaunfogarty]

I could not help but chuckle at the made in China pin used for the accuracy testing.

[KorbenDalasCZ]

I have seen interviews with several business owners who have their components manufactured in China, according to what they said, apart from the product, they also order quality, both in terms of material and quality of production. The product will always look the same, but the price and quality will differ. for example, you have a drill machine completely manufactured and you want the price to be 20 USD, so you will get inferior quality, but for 80 USD you will get top quality and top components and materials. It all depends on what you order. China can produce very high quality things if you ask for it and pay for it.

[trleith]

Yes, when you get poorly made stuff from China it's because the US importer wanted a cheap price, full stop. Don't blame the manufacturer, blame the importer/integrator.

[David_Best]

I went through the same tests, disassembly-reassembly you did on Jacobs Super, Vertex, Llambrich, Shars, and Precision Matthews chucks. I ended up standardizing on Vertex for my keyed chucks throughout the shop.

[marcseclecticstuff]

I've been using Jacobs chucks in my home shop for 40 years. Way back in the late 70's thru the early 90's, I'd run across them at garage sales and flea markets. Got a box full of super chucks when I bought my first mill, a clapped out Bridgeport Round Ram, probably worth more than the mill was. Once the internet thing caught on, I've picked up some nice stuff on Fleabay for peanuts. I now use vintage Jacobs Super Chucks pretty much exclusively in the shop, all have under 0.002" of runout after servicing, a couple required new jaws and/or arbors. I've got a few junkers too that I couldn't get the runout decent on, one looked just about new but had clearly suffered some sort of crash that distorted the body. With cleaned & lubed Super Chucks, I can just hand tighten them when using smaller drills without the drill slipping. Regarding arbor presses, I've always been a big Dake fan, have a model 1 1/2 in the shop. If you plan on doing broach work, extra ram clearance height is needed for larger broaches.

[Geenimetsuri]

Man, never thought I'd say this, but that vintage Jacob's chuck is an absolutely gorgeous item. I don't even have a drill, but the sheer machining quality makes me want to own one!

So, thanks for the vid!

[miscbits]

The thing about "Made in China" is that you get what you pay for

You can get utter garbage from China - and the USA, but you can also get worldbeating quality

"Chinesium" is a product of buyers racing to the bottom, not makers doing it

[DataWaveTaGo]

*Absolutly top notch tear down, refurbish and testing of a beautiful piece of technology! Thank you!!!*

[Hey_Its_That_Guy]

Tom Lipton (Ox Tools) has a couple videos restoring and testing a very rough 18N with good details, specifically about jaw timing. Look for "Zombie to Lazarus Chuck Restoration". You might be able to find new old stock parts to fix up that 1990's chuck you have, if it's worth it to you. Side note: I'm old enough to remember when stuff coming out of Japan in the 50's-70's was considered "crap" by most people.