Chuck cleaning

[Mike Tilley]

I have had a stronghold chuck for a few years now works great. But now is getting a little hard to tighten have blown out wit air but doesn't seem to have helped is there some way to losses it back up.
didn't want to spray with WD as thought that would collect more dirt. Any help
Thanks Mike

[Reed Gray]

There are two clips by Ian 'Robbo' Robertson an Aussie that I think are very good. Here is one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o10drRI3VQ0 Oops, as Bill said, this is a singing group. I can pull it off, or don't bother with it.

Here is another:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF3IfVkbCxE

If you are not familiar with him, he did the clip about what happens when you use a spindle roughing gouge for bowl turning. He also has a couple of other excellent video clips for beginners.

robo hippy

[Bill White]

First link was to the vocal group "Pentatonix". Excellent group, beautiful renditions, but they sure don't clean any lathe chucks. :)
Bill

[Michael Mills]

Here is the rendition of White Winter Hymnal that I like better than Robo's. :D
Just like turning may be several good ways to achieve the same thing. :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeLMymVH7iY

Ok, back to chucks...
Here is another by Cpt. Eddie on clean Charles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlPW4q3yAxU

For myself, I dismantle and clean the chuck.
I use aerosol graphite and give the parts a couple of coats. It only takes a minute for the carrier to flash off leaving a dry graphite coating. I have never had to re-clean one since there is no oil/grease to hold the dust. Just hit with the air gun as you do now.

[Reed Gray]

Oops, Guess I didn't clear that one. Yea, if you love good acappella singing, those kids are incredible. I can thank my daughter for turning me on to them.

robo hippy

[Prashun Patel]

I think you're better off using mineral spirits and some elbow grease.

[Tim Rinehart]

I think more to Mike's point (as I interpret his post) is to dismantle the chuck including removal of the main gear drive. This requires a decent heavy duty snap ring tool to remove the snap ring, then remove and check for any gunk or debris under it and in the crevis' to the chuck body. Give it all a good spray/wipe with a dry lubricant (sounds like an oxymoron) and reassemble. Nothing daunting about the disassembly...few moving parts!
Start by just doing the stuff you can clean and lube without taking the main gear off...but if it's still not smooth after that...you know what's left to do.

[allen thunem]

just soak it in laquer thinner

[Ron Rutter]

I recently had to free up my Talon chuck. I removed the 4 segments ( keep them in order!) All the problem was in their grooves. Quick fix. Ron.

[Paul Bylin]

You could also soak it in CLR.

[Michael Mills]

. I can thank my daughter for turning me on to them.
robo hippy

Same here, well.. my daughter not yours.:)

As far as the chuck. To expand my prior, disassemble and clean.
If you have used graphite you know it can be messy so put newspaper or something under the parts when you spray.
Once sprayed the parts will look like they have been painted with flat black primer.
Almost any hardware store carries it like here at Grainger.
Even though they show bearings on the can I would not use it for that but I do use it for anything turned by hand.

http://www.grainger.com/product/BLASTER-Graphite-Dry-Lube-41P116?s_pp=false&picUrl=//static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/41P116_AS01?$smthumb$

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I field strip mine every couple of years and clean them all up. Bought a snap ring tool just for the occasion. Capt Eddie's technique looks pretty good, but I haven't tried it. I do like to get some graphite on the face of the scroll, so I remove it and get it thoroughly clean underneath.

One thing I learned at a demo several years ago by a former sales rep for OneWay was that it's a good idea to check the adapters every now and then. Just take two chucks and tap them together at the base of the adapters, then check and see if you can tighten the screws slightly. You don't need to hit it too hard. I've been amazed at how often that results in a half turn or so of the screws.