In the early 1700s, ‘chocks’ were a device for centering and clamping work in a lathe. By the early 1800s, the word had evolved to what is known today as the ‘chuck’, a device used for holding cutting tools and work holding.

Tired of bruising his knuckles on the old-fashioned spanner adjusted drill chucks, Arthur Irving Jacobs developed a chuck where the jaws moved axially in tilted slots. Not the first to invent this new kind of chuck, Jacobs’ Chuck replaced the earlier chucks that needed angled jaw movement and outer sleeve, which are now the basis of all modern drill chucks.

At Newland’s, we love seeing how far technology has advanced, noticing the progression from Mr Jacob’s Chuck design to our Australian made hydraulic chucks.