Need help with REALLY stuck chuck

[Dylan Sharp]

Hi guys,

I really need some help getting my chuck unstuck from my lathe. I've done some searching, but can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I had a really large piece of wood on my chuck and didn't realize that I hadn't threaded my chuck on all of the way before starting it up. Well that was a lesson learned. This chuck is really really stuck.

I have a Delta 46-460 with a Barracuda2 chuck from PSI. I tried putting a large bar in the chuck jaws and locking the spindle... That snapped my spindle lock. I tried again with the rod and my knockout bar in the holes on the spindle shaft and resting against the bed... Bent my knockout bar.

Any ideas would be really appreciated!

[roger oldre]

in the long run you may need to use a pipe wrench on the collar that the chuck seats against and your bar. First off you could find a big enough open end wrench to just fit around the collar with the hole for the pin. get a bolt that just fits the hole and cut it off so that the head of the bolt fits down in the hole and the bottom face of the bolt head just sets against the collar. bring the bolt head up against the inside of the open end wrench jaw and give it your best shot. Not sure if the nova chuck has a wrench for installation and removal but in addition to someone putting pressure on the bar properly locate the wrench and give the handle a shot with a hammer. Be sure everything is going the right direction. DONT HEAT THE SPINDLE!! and dont try to hook up on the pulleys or the hand wheel the keys will shear and you will be buying parts!

[Russell Neyman]

Try heating it up.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I would suggest you try a good solid hit on a wrench that fits your collar. Steady pressure in this case is not the answer. I don't own a Barracuda, but I normally just use the allen wrench in my Supernova. A good solid hit usually pops them free. If it won't pop off. I resort to an adjustable wrench on the collar.
Good luck.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

You may need to use a chain wrench on the spindle and a bar on the jaws of the chuck.

[Lloyd Butler]

I would look at opening the jaws and trying to see if my 1/2 or 5/8 gouge would fit across the opening and use the gouge length for leverage. If you can lock the spindle, then apply a steady pressure with the gouge in one hand and then lightly tap the chuck body with a hammer to try and break it loss.

you could also try a few drops of liquid wrench on the mating surfaces of the chuck and spindle to see if that will help its any of the other methods mentioned. In the end, you will find leverage will be your friend.

[robert baccus]

An overnight soak with liquid wrench should precede everything. Also buy a can of antiseizing compound for the next bowl.

[Michelle Rich]

in the future use a piece of plastic made into a washer and put it between your chuck and you spindle back.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

in the future use a piece of plastic made into a washer and put it between your chuck and you spindle back.

those plastic spindle washers are neat, but can very easily introduce run-out.

metal-to-metal contact is best.

and I had the same issue a week ago. You can get a big steel pipe wrench at HF for less than $10

[Scott Hackler]

Last time that happened to me I ended up clamping the edge of a 2' long 1x4 hickory board in the jaws so that the board had 90% of itself hanging out one side. I then locked the spindle and started slowly bearing down on the board. It took a while but it finally broke free. Now I apply just a little oil to the headstock area of the spindle so the chuck insert won't seize to it. So far so good.

[Thom Sturgill]

I think Robert Baccus has it right - soak in liquid wrench overnight and buy a can of antiseizing compound for the future. After soaking a long board and somehow lock the spindle. Apply pressure and a light tapping on the chuck body.

[roger wiegand]

Heat the chuck and cool the spindle to the extent you can then put a wrench on it and whack it with a deadblow mallet. Sudden impact force is your friend; differential heating is one of the best ways to break frozen metal parts apart I've ever found. You need to be careful not to cook your bearings though.

[Bob Coates]

Don't know if it will work with chuck, but a trick I use to free router bits is to tap the nut several times and the bit comes right out. May also try tapping from both sides at the same time.

Bob

[roger oldre]

He did say he already broke the spindle lock. I suggest the pipe wrench as a last resort because it will leave some nasty gouges in the spindle collar. The wrench over the cut off bolt will not leave any marks. Lastly trying to heat one piece while keeping another in contact can lead to shocking the heated part which will make the part shrink to a size smaller than it was originally and make the problem worse. Please note I did not say that it would but that it could. As someone else also mentioned the steady pressure and shock is your best bet.