Drill press chuck sticking

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I bought the Delta drill press Lowes was clearing out last summer...not sure which model. The chuck on it gets 'sticky' on a regular basis. It will open a bit, then I have to get the chuck key out to 'break it' loose to open a bit more...repeat this until I can put drill bit in. I've dropped some 3in1 oil on the chuck a couple times and it works fine for a time. I have a 10-12 year old Delta benchtop that has never done this, and never had a problem with a JET that actually lived outside. Anybody got an idea what's going on?

KC

[Bruce Page]

KC, I had one that was doing the same thing. It's a bit messy but I gave it a heavy dosing of WD-40 while working the jaws in & out, and let it drain for a few hours before blowing it out. It worked for me.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Kirk,
I had this happen to mine just this passed week. Seems that when I assembled mine a year and a half ago, I neglected to get ALL the protective grease off of the chuck's jaws. This stuff got real thick, and caused the chuck to do exactly as you have stated. To remedy it, I closed the jaws all the way and wiped them down thoroughly with mineral spirits. Then I opened the chuck all the way and wiped out the inside of the jaws. I repeatd this procedure a few times until it ran smooth.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Stanton]

You need to wd 40 the chuck real good Then open and close it until it works good. I had my air conditioner quit a while back I opened it up and cleaned it and the fan was stuck so I wd40 it real good worked it loose and it has worked good since. Mike