Never start the lathe before checking that the chuck is completely screwed on. Unfortunately, I did just that with my PSI chuck on my Jet 1442 lathe. When I started the lathe, the chuck spun hard against the spindle seat and seized; it is almost as if it welded the two together. I have soaked the parts liberally with WD-40, attached a 12" piece of pipe to the handle, hammered on the pipe, tapped firmly on the chuck itself in hope of the shocking the chuck free, but it refuses to budge. OK, I'm an idiot, but does anyone have any suggestions?
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HELP! Seized chuck
- Thread starter Michael Kuehl
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- May 16, 2005
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Doesn't this belong in the "locked threads" thread?
It was a whack that overtightened, it should be a whack that loosens. Does your chuck have an insert? If so, get a thin wrench or set of channel locks that will get ahold of it, grip, and smack smartly.
Use your opposite end to hold the spindle, or the spindle lock, though I have loosened my chuck for years (just tightened) against the inertia of the belt/spindle.
If you can't find a way to grip the adapter, you may have to put a key into the body of the chuck and give it a good smack by putting a stick on the end and rapping the other end of the stick with a mallet.
Last resort is a strap wrench and slow, grunting pull against a locked spindle. You can lock it in extremis with an opposing strap wrench on the shaft or pulley.
It was a whack that overtightened, it should be a whack that loosens. Does your chuck have an insert? If so, get a thin wrench or set of channel locks that will get ahold of it, grip, and smack smartly.
Use your opposite end to hold the spindle, or the spindle lock, though I have loosened my chuck for years (just tightened) against the inertia of the belt/spindle.
If you can't find a way to grip the adapter, you may have to put a key into the body of the chuck and give it a good smack by putting a stick on the end and rapping the other end of the stick with a mallet.
Last resort is a strap wrench and slow, grunting pull against a locked spindle. You can lock it in extremis with an opposing strap wrench on the shaft or pulley.
Doesn't this belong in the "locked threads" thread? - Best quote of the day MM!!
MM is right in that the smack of the chuck hitting the end of the threads is what has seized it and that is the type of force needed to remove it.
Does the Jet 1442 have a spindle lock? If not you are going to have to rig a way to keep from turning. I have done this on the farm equipment by just wrapping a rope around the spindle on top of itself and tying it off to prevent spindles from turning.
Try opening the chuck jaws enough to put about a 2 or 3 foot piece of 2x4 in them sticking out to the side after you lock off the spindle. Hit the end of the 2x4 - may take a pretty hard shock depending on the speed you were running when you let it spin onto the spindle.
Good luck!! Hopefully you can break it free without breaking something.
MM is right in that the smack of the chuck hitting the end of the threads is what has seized it and that is the type of force needed to remove it.
Does the Jet 1442 have a spindle lock? If not you are going to have to rig a way to keep from turning. I have done this on the farm equipment by just wrapping a rope around the spindle on top of itself and tying it off to prevent spindles from turning.
Try opening the chuck jaws enough to put about a 2 or 3 foot piece of 2x4 in them sticking out to the side after you lock off the spindle. Hit the end of the 2x4 - may take a pretty hard shock depending on the speed you were running when you let it spin onto the spindle.
Good luck!! Hopefully you can break it free without breaking something.
Thanks- gives me a couple things to try. I'll thread my way through them.
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
MM and Wilford are correct. Something that might help. Use a penetrating oil instead of WD-40. It is more likely to get into the recess.
It is off, after several failures. I finally put that 12"-inch piece of pipe crossways between two jaws, put a vice-grip onto the spindle between the back of the motor housing and the wheel, wedged against the bed, and whacked the end of the pipe with a small sledge. I think I'll be really carefully when I attach the chuck in the future.
Thanks to everyone; I thought I was screwed, but now I'm unscrewed.
Thanks to everyone; I thought I was screwed, but now I'm unscrewed.
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If you want to "idiot-proof" it, you can buy one of the nylon spindle washers sold by Packard or Craft Supplies USA for this purpose. You can also make your own using the (mostly) flat side of a thick plastic container (like a liquid tide or motor oil bottle).
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Penetrating oil won't help. The whack did it and will undo it to most lathes. It's the normal discourse of the threads from adapter to spindle which causes this problem. We want them to be loose enough to put on by hand, but not bind. The whack causes the threads to ride up and onto another land in the threads. Almost being cross threaded. The slack we love so much is our enemy. The plastic washer buys us that 1000th of an inch of play we need to free it. The second problem is that we don't treat the back of our chucks with any reverence. We drop it on the lathe bed, with sharp corners, put it on the workbench with tolls under it, etc. By polishing the facing (the part that binds against the boss of the spindle) you can reduce some of the binding. Use 400 grit paper in a sanding disc rig and polish it off.
Whatever you do, never apply heat.
Lessons learned from a very old machinist.
Whatever you do, never apply heat.
Lessons learned from a very old machinist.
Dang it! I was all ready with my torch to the chuck, gum removal spray (liquid nitrogen) to the spindle plan.
Wonder if that would actually work. Pity that, since I have a plastic washer on mine, I'll never get to find out. Any volunteers out there?
dk
Wonder if that would actually work. Pity that, since I have a plastic washer on mine, I'll never get to find out. Any volunteers out there?
dk
I'm not volunteering-been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
I do not know where I heard the story - But someone told the story of a huge pattern lathe with a huge faceplate. They used a crane to hold the faceplate up to the spindle and then turned on the power to the spindle to have the faceplate thread on the spindle. It went on too fast and got jammed on the spindle. There was no way to undo it. In the end they had to machine off the faceplate. It was the only way to remove it.
Hugh
Hugh
Hugh- At one point I thought that was where I was headed.
Glad you got it off - now check the travel of the jaws on your chuck. Make sure they travel freely and still close completely - if so you got lucky and did not damage. I would also inspect the spindle but doubt if you find any problems there. I tried the plastic washers and did not like them. They compress down and would cause my chucks to run off center so I just make sure now I hand screw the chucks/faceplates all the way on. I especially like my units that fit the X5 that reverses and has the set screws for reverse running. I always tighten the set screws now and this prevents the chuck/faceplate from tightening up on the spindle.
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Blown out of porportion
That story about the crane and the huge faceplate is a good example of how something gets blown all out of porportion. The story originally began about my mini lathe and a penn state pen adapter. We had to use a nut splitter to remove it.
But thanks for reminding me about that situation. The stuff legends are made of.
That story about the crane and the huge faceplate is a good example of how something gets blown all out of porportion. The story originally began about my mini lathe and a penn state pen adapter. We had to use a nut splitter to remove it.
But thanks for reminding me about that situation. The stuff legends are made of.
Capt. Eddie,
I heard the story about cutting the faceplate off the lathe from a pattern maker not a woodturner.
Hugh
I heard the story about cutting the faceplate off the lathe from a pattern maker not a woodturner.
Hugh
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Whew!
For a moment I though one of the seven guys who came by to help me had sold me out. I've been saving plastic bottles, looking for that one right color to accent my headstock and chuck.
For a moment I though one of the seven guys who came by to help me had sold me out. I've been saving plastic bottles, looking for that one right color to accent my headstock and chuck.