Help! ENCO 9x20 Lathe Can't remove 3-jaw chuck

[angelfj1]

Hello! I'm having trouble getting the chuck off of my lathe. This lathe has been very lightly used since new about 2 years ago. The manual is a joke and doesn't provide any instructions for removing the chuck. I found the manual for the Grizzly g4000 lathe which is almost identical. According to the manual, two set screws need to be loosened before the chuck can be unscrewed. See photo below. My chuck has only one set screw. AND it is stripped. Actually, the setscrew seems to be made of very soft material. Is it possible that it never got hardened. I have tried several allen wrenches and they all spin, Any suggestions for getting this chuck off? Thanks, Frank

 

[Richard King]

That is probably a metric set screw and it might have a brass plug under it or worse case a button head set screw in the spindle and if you try to turn the chuck with it still in there, you will ruin the treads, ding them up and never get the chuck to unscrew.

You may want to try a metric Allen wrench first. A lot of the time I use a hammer impact wrench with a Allen socket http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/723

If that doesn't work, you should drill it out and try a easy-out to remove it. Or drill it out using the tap drill. Then I would rotate the spindle so the handle on the left is horizontal and put a wood block under it, then take a dead blow hammer or piece of 2 x 4 and rap down on the chuck wrench. Those threads are right hand (or on 99% of lathes) .
Slide a 1/2" piece of plywood under it so when you unscrew it all the way it doesn't fall on the bed ways.

I am a Machine Rebuilder and that's how I would approach it.
Rich

 

[macrnr]

Hello! I'm having trouble getting the chuck off of my lathe. This lathe has been very lightly used since new about 2 years ago. The manual is a joke and doesn't provide any instructions for removing the chuck.

Grizzly has a manual for that machine that is much better. These Chinese machines are the same, different paint for the various vendors. I had a Harbor Freight 9 X 20 some years back, and the Grizzly Manual matched up perfectly.
http://cdn0.grizzly.com/manuals/g4000_m.pdf

 

[GaryK]

As a last resort to get the screw out before drilling try hammering an old slotted screwdriver into the socket of the screw.
Just use a screwdriver that has a blade larger than the diameter of the socket. It will broach itself in place.

This can sometimes jam itself in so tight in the socket that you can get it to unscrew. This can work because usually the socket has
been rounded out so much that nothing else will work short of drilling.

 

[angelfj1]

Thank you everyone for all of your helpful suggestions! I did get the chuck off. After trying everything else, I eventually had to drill it out. I was very surprised that the chuck steel was so soft For now I am running without a set screw, but I have the motor reverse circuit locked out. When I have a chance I'll drill and tap the chuck for the next size set screw.

Thanks again!

Frank

 

[Buyckskin2]

Thank you everyone for all of your helpful suggestions! I did get the chuck off. After trying everything else, I eventually had to drill it out. I was very surprised that the chuck steel was so soft For now I am running without a set screw, but I have the motor reverse circuit locked out. When I have a chance I'll drill and tap the chuck for the next size set screw.

Thanks again!

Frank

I have the same lathe (9X20) and my chucks/face plate attach to the spindle nose the same as shown in your picture with one exception. That "set screw" shown in the back of your chuck (on my chucks) it is not a "set." The screw simply holds a little metal clip approx. .250 wide X 1.00 long. The end of the clip that would extend back over the spindle nose and toward the head stock has a little turn-down that fits into a groove on the unthreaded portion of the spindle nose which prevents the chuck from backing off in reverse. Perhaps your's is a little different than mine, but mine is the same lathe sold by Enco, Harbor Freight and under several names. Mine is approx 5-7 yrs old, so it might be a little older than your machine.

Glad you got that screw out, too.

Buck

 

[Ray C]

Glad you made it through this one. Was wondering how it would turn out...

BTW: Yes, many chucks are surprisingly soft and are often made of something called semi-steel. "semi-steel" is not really recognized by the AISI and there are varying formulations but basically, it's somewhere between steel and cast iron so, it's FE (iron) and more carbon than high carbon steel but less than cast iron. Chuck jaws however are not so forgiving -usually high carbon steel and fully heat treated with maximum penetration.

Ray

 

[jmh8743]

Ray C,

i wondered what "semi steel" meant. It seems an oxymoron, being steel is either steel or not, the carbon and other constituents defining physical characteristics.

Wow, what a misleading term.

mike

 

[Ray C]

All the major types of metals and alloys are pretty well defined -except semi-steel which seems to be only an approximate formula. I really wonder why this stuff is used for chucks because it's notorious for uneven density. The really high-end chucks are made of "real steel". If you notice, other machining metals have smaller amounts of various minerals and elements. Some of that is there because it's unavoidable and some is there to improve/modify characteristics -and just as important, some is there to help all the other components blend evenly.

Wish I new more about this but there's only so many hours in a day to learn. I was surprised to learn that when forging steel is being manufactured and is molten hot in the pot, they dump massive amounts (like several ton blocks) of aluminum in it. The aluminum quickly boils out to the top but in so doing, scrubs other undesirable components out of the mixture and also helps the other ingredients mix evenly.

Did you ever wonder about the history of how stuff like this was figured-out? It wasn't by accident... Someone along the line got good grades in inorganic chemistry...


Ray

Ray C,

i wondered what "semi steel" meant. It seems an oxymoron, being steel is either steel or not, the carbon and other constituents defining physical characteristics.

Wow, what a misleading term.

mike