Sticky Stronghold Chuck

[Greg Keddy]

I have a stronghold chuck that I bought 2 months ago and has seen very little use (maybe 2 or 3 green bowls, no sanding) in that time. Out of the package, the scroll was a little more difficult to turn than my smaller Nova G3 but I thought that over time this may change…well it has; it has gotten progressively more difficult to turn. I contacted Oneway customer support a few weeks ago with no reply thus far. In the meantime, has anyone had this experience? Any suggestions for lubricants?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gynia]

The chuck needs cleaning not lubrication. I have heard that Oneway changed the lub they used to put the chuck together and that lub collects dust and dirt. Take apart the chuck, and clean with a solvent, like lacquer thinner or kerosene or alcohol or mineral spirits... and then put it all back together. Should be a year or more before you need to worry about cleaning again.

 

[Odie]

Funny, I'm just about to post about Stronghold chuck.....not problem with the chuck itself, but regarding my thin-wall turnings......am looking to modify it.

I have three Stronghold chucks and haven't ever taken any of them apart yet. The oldest one was purchased in the early 1990's, and the other two about 5 years ago. What Gynia is saying about the factory grease may be true, don't know.

Anyway, every once in awhile I open the jaws up all the way and spray some lubricant, such as WD40 on the exposed scroll. I then open and close the jaws a few times to spread the lubricant around. This works to keep the scroll running smoothly for awhile. I do this probably a couple times a year.

ooc

 

[Greg Keddy]

Thanks for the tips. I would be surprised if the chuck needed cleaning because I havent been in the shop making dust more than 3 or 4 times in the last 2 months 🙁
I just received a tip from the reseller saying that I should try soaking it in varsol as there was a shipment of chucks where Oneway was using a new type of rust prevention coating that ended up fouling the scroll. The reseller has offered to replace it if this doesnt work, so one way or another I will have my chuck in working condition soon! 🙂

 

[Bruce Smith]

Greg the trouble that you are experiecing may in fact not be related to
cleaning or lubrication. I have two Strongholds and have never lubricated
them, oils would only attract sawdust. I have cleaned them a great number of times by just taking the air hose and blowing the sawdust out. If I were going to lubricate them I think it might be a good idea to use a dry lubricant such as powdered graphite but they really shouldn't require lubrication. The trouble you are experiencing my be related to the chuck key not mating with the scroll properly. A few years back Oneway changed the scroll as well as the key. The original key and the current key do not match properly in each others scroll. The current key has 12 teeth on it and the original key had 11 teeth. They will fit in each others chuck but will not turn freely thus giving you the impression the chuck requires cleaning. If one were to continue using the key in the wrong chuck it no doubt would damage the teeth on the key as well as the scroll. I'm thinking if this is the cause of your problem the wrong key may have been packaged with the chuck body. I must say that this would be strange as I don't believe Oneway manufacture the original 11 tooth key any longer. Seems to me that if you want to purchase a key for the olriginal chuck, they are no longer avaiable and you are required to purchase the current key as well as a current scroll. Perhaps you should check with Kevin at Oneway as that man has all the answers. Hope this information helps you solve your trouble.

 

[Greg Keddy]

Greg the trouble that you are experiecing may in fact not be related to
cleaning or lubrication. I have two Strongholds and have never lubricated
them, oils would only attract sawdust. I have cleaned them a great number of times by just taking the air hose and blowing the sawdust out. If I were going to lubricate them I think it might be a good idea to use a dry lubricant such as powdered graphite but they really shouldn't require lubrication. The trouble you are experiencing my be related to the chuck key not mating with the scroll properly. A few years back Oneway changed the scroll as well as the key. The original key and the current key do not match properly in each others scroll. The current key has 12 teeth on it and the original key had 11 teeth. They will fit in each others chuck but will not turn freely thus giving you the impression the chuck requires cleaning. If one were to continue using the key in the wrong chuck it no doubt would damage the teeth on the key as well as the scroll. I'm thinking if this is the cause of your problem the wrong key may have been packaged with the chuck body. I must say that this would be strange as I don't believe Oneway manufacture the original 11 tooth key any longer. Seems to me that if you want to purchase a key for the olriginal chuck, they are no longer avaiable and you are required to purchase the current key as well as a current scroll. Perhaps you should check with Kevin at Oneway as that man has all the answers. Hope this information helps you solve your trouble.

Thats an interesting idea Bruce. If you have Kevin's contact information then can you PM it to me?

 

[John Jordan]

I'm not sure it answers the original question, but I've got one of the first dozen Stronghold chucks made and have been hosing it with WD40 on a regular basis for more than 20 years. (along with everything else that moves). It DOES need lubrication to work best. Needs cleaning, too occasionally, and a blast with the air hose works fine. No need to take it apart.

I use chucks frequently when I travel that have not been lubricated, and they BIND up-it feels as if the wood is tight, but its not. Many people have trouble with this. I see a lot of it, and the chucks work much better with lubrication, than without it. Much better.

The locking cams on one's Wolverine jig, along with the screw on the Vari-Grind, and similar, should be lubricated for the same reason. 🙂 Just sayin'.

John

 

[Odie]

I'm not sure it answers the original question, but I've got one of the first dozen Stronghold chucks made and have been hosing it with WD40 on a regular basis for more than 20 years. (along with everything else that moves). It DOES need lubrication to work best. Needs cleaning, too occasionally, and a blast with the air hose works fine. No need to take it apart.

I use chucks frequently when I travel that have not been lubricated, and they BIND up-it feels as if the wood is tight, but its not. Many people have trouble with this. I see a lot of it, and the chucks work much better with lubrication, than without it. Much better.

The locking cams on one's Wolverine jig, along with the screw on the Vari-Grind, and similar, should be lubricated for the same reason. 🙂 Just sayin'.

John

After having my Stronghold for close to 20 years without ever disassembly, it has been disassembled today. I'm truly amazed at how clean the scroll is. As with John Jordan, I use a blast of air after each use, and a couple of times a year use WD40, and other similar lubricants.

For me, this visual inspection of the inner parts for the first time today, and seeing how good things look is proof enough to confirm the method of maintaining this chuck......I'd say John Jordan has the right idea on how to do it right! 😀

John, I'm going to lube the Wolverine locking cams right now. That's something that has never been done, and I can recall the locking cams not holding a setting on occasion.....now I know why!.......I'm outa here!

ooc

 

[Bill Boehme]

I have a stronghold chuck that I bought 2 months ago and has seen very little use (maybe 2 or 3 green bowls, no sanding) in that time. Out of the package, the scroll was a little more difficult to turn than my smaller Nova G3 but I thought that over time this may change…well it has; it has gotten progressively more difficult to turn. I contacted Oneway customer support a few weeks ago with no reply thus far. In the meantime, has anyone had this experience? Any suggestions for lubricants?

Thanks in advance.

Gynia has it right. The others mean well, but are not familiar with the problem.

The chuck needs cleaning not lubrication. I have heard that Oneway changed the lub they used to put the chuck together and that lub collects dust and dirt. Take apart the chuck, and clean with a solvent, like lacquer thinner or kerosene or alcohol or mineral spirits... and then put it all back together. Should be a year or more before you need to worry about cleaning again.

They did something different recently and it was not good. I have several Oneway Talon chucks and while at SWAT a few months ago, I bought a Stronghold chuck and a Talon chuck. Whatever the substance, it is definitely NOT like cosmoline or anything else that I have experienced. It is almost like having gum all over the chuck. It is sticky and extremely hard to remove. I put some light oil on the Stronghold and it worked OK for about one bowl and then it got so hard to turn that it was a two handed job to crank the key. I partially disassembled the two chucks and bought a couple cans of acetone to soak the chucks.

BTW, alcohol won't work and other solvents like mineral spirits and naphtha might work, but are terribly slow -- I gave up waiting to see if they would eventually remove the stuff and got some acetone. I suspect that lacquer thinner and MEK would work. Varsol might also work, but it is sometimes hard to find or they only want to sell it in bulk.

After a long soak and rinse, the majority of the crap was removed. Once clean, the chuck works just fine without any lubrication whatsoever just like all of my other older chucks from Oneway.

I have also had bad luck with the last two spindle adapters from Oneway. The Stronghold adapter package was mislabeled and not the adapter that I wanted. The Talon adapter had not been counterbored -- one of the problems that this caused was some very sharp jagged edges where the spindle threads and setscrew hole threads intersected. I was able to use a small burr on a pneumatic grinder to help fix the latter problem.

 

[Greg Keddy]

I expect that I have the same problem that you had Bill. I havent taken the chuck apart yet, but that is my intention. Its a two handed operation at the moment and quickly turning into one that may require an impact wrench.

 

[Robin Thompson]

The stronghold chuck I bought about a year ago was sticking so I submersed it in lacquer thinner for about and hour then blew it out with air; works like a charm now.

 

[Odie]

The stronghold chuck I bought about a year ago was sticking so I submersed it in lacquer thinner for about and hour then blew it out with air; works like a charm now.

Although I have not experienced any stickiness in my three Stronghold chucks, all this talk has reminded me of something. Some of the CNC machinists where I work are using "brake cleaner" to clean mechanical parts on their machines. Although this cleaner is intended for automotive use, it appears to do a very good job of cleaning gunk off of mechanical parts with a lot of crud build up. The brake cleaner comes in an aerosol can........

Now that I've said that, I just made a mental note to get some of this stuff for my own shop......:cool2:

ooc

 

[Bill Boehme]

Although I have not experienced any stickiness in my three Stronghold chucks, all this talk has reminded me of something. Some of the CNC machinists where I work are using "brake cleaner" to clean mechanical parts on their machines. Although this cleaner is intended for automotive use, it appears to do a very good job of cleaning gunk off of mechanical parts with a lot of crud build up. The brake cleaner comes in an aerosol can........

Now that I've said that, I just made a mental note to get some of this stuff for my own shop......:cool2:

ooc

You would only have this problem if you just recently bought a Oneway Talon or Stronghold chuck (don't know about the original one that uses tommy bars). It is some very gummy mess that they dip the chucks in before sending them out to the world and not something that is the result of being used although wood dust in combination with the sticky gummy mess will make it very hard to operate the scroll even if nothing is mounted in the jaws. Before cleaning my two new chucks, I was afraid that that they were defective and were about to completely seize up. I wonder what the folks at Oneway were (not) thinking. Maybe some snake oil peddler talked them into it.

 

[Dave Robinson]

Unsticking a Sticky Stronghold

After about 3 months my new Stronghold Chuck started binding up ... so much that it hurt my hand to turn the key, even with the chuck empty. I thought I had damaged it and tried several things. The one that worked like a charm was "Top Saver" which is for rust removal and table saw table maintenance. Of the things mentioned, it's probably like brake cleaner. The Chuck now works as good as new. The Top Saver evaporates so no gunk remains to attract sawdust.

Dave Robinson
Round Hill, VA

 

[Fred Belknap]

I have a Talon and Stronghold chucks and neither have given me any problems. Sometimes I get finish in them when spraying something on the lathe, I just give them a shot WD40 and blow them out. For me they have been very good chucks.🙂

 

[Bill Boehme]

I have a Talon and Stronghold chucks and neither have given me any problems. Sometimes I get finish in them when spraying something on the lathe, I just give them a shot WD40 and blow them out. For me they have been very good chucks.🙂

Did you buy them in the last few months? The thread is not about the chucks, per se, but the substance that they have been coating the chucks with recently. As far as the chucks ae concerned, they are exactly the same as they have always been. Once the offending substance is cleaned off the chuck, they are as good as they have always been.