My Stuck Chuck Dilemma

At some point it may be wise to just cut the back plate off the spindle vice doing costly repairs.

Steve
 
I was able to remove stuck chuck off of my lathe when I got it by spraying PB-Blaster penetrating oil as much as i could spray it into the threading... wasn't much, but I let it have it - that thing stinks, but after spraying it a couple of times and let it sit and do it's 'thing' (penetrate) I was able to remove the chuck without using any wrenches! although a properly positioned wrench would give you more leverage and will makes things much easier.

If you are going to use a wrench, I'd recommend grabbing a piece of wood in the chuck lengthwise (as if you are going to turn it) , let the chuck BITE on it, and use the wrench on the wood - less change of something important breaking, and if anything will give - it'll be the wood which is well ... just a piece of wood (don't use nice wood)
 
I actually kinda like the smell of PB Blaster. Yeah, I know.... :nuts: I've been spraying it every hour since starting this thread. Definitely don't wanna damage anything. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
 
Pipe wrenches belong on pipes. Might just be me, but seems like the machine designers probably would roll over in their graves thinking about wrench marks on the machine. Penetrating oil, heat, and properly applied force will prevail. If you insist on using a pipe wrench, please let it be on a piece of material chucked in the machine. It's safe to apply substantial force to the threads in that manner. Then of course, the game is holding the spindle. Using back gears is safe only if no impact is used. That means no hammers on the pipe wrench. Given the proper oils (PB, Kroil, ATF+Acetone, etc.) and some time, then some heat......it shouldn't take more than you can lean on the wrench against the back gears. If it does, then you have a problem. You could remove the chuck from the back plate and machine the back plate off, then make/buy a new one, but I'm thinking that you can get it off without going to that extreme.
 
Two guys tore apart an 1800's fire steam pumper. They used WD-40 back then, but they sprayed and soaked it for several days before attempting force removal. Those old bolts would just break under force without lubing or heat. Several days of PB blaster and gentle heat would be best if not in a hurry.
 
On the "other" site there is the best tutorial/method I've seen yet on getting one of these chucks off. I'd post the link but some get kind of testy about that. Look for a PM. -Ron
 
Chuck a piece of 2x2 or wood dow rod hanging out of the side of the chuck long enough to hit the bed. with the belt loose swing the chuck backwords so the wood hits the bed. A couple of wacks should loosen it up. Works for me.
 
If you have an oxy-acetylene torch, heating up the backing plate in the threaded area to 400F will expand it around .005. That should be enough to loosen any stuck thread without the risk of breaking something by levering it off.

Tom
 
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