It seems that any hand drill that I've bought in the last 20 years has a lousy grip on things or perhaps it's a Sears/Craftsman problem. I have a 3/8" & 1/2" 120VAC that I've broken several of the gear teeth off using a hammer on the chuck key to grip the bits tight enough. My most recent drill is a 14.4 cordless with a keyless chuck that I can't tighten enough. I'm using channel locks to hold the "keyless" chuck to put the extra squeeze on the bits. The chucks that I use on my Bridgeport mill and lathe tailstock don't seem to have this problem. Although, they're large chucks and comparitively large chuck keys. These are not large diameter bits with reduced shank diameters, but standard straight bits that I'm referring to. I have several large bits that are large diameter with reduced shanks and I expect problems with them. Several years ago, I was doing a job and bought a 11/16" Cleveland bit that had a 1/2" shank. It had flats on the shank at 120 degrees apart. I love this bit, but it's not always the right size for obvious reasons. It never spins in the chuck, but rather takes me for a spin if I have in my heavy duty drill with the 18" pipe extension levers. Can sets of drill bits be purchase that already have the flats on them? Do the rest of you have this annoying problem with the bits spinning in the chucks? If I had the time, I'd but all my bits in my 5C collet spin jig and grind flats on all of them with my surface grinder at 120 degrees apart. Just wunderin, Ken McWilliams
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