Drill Press Chuck Stuck!

[Evan Haklar]

Hey all,

Haven't used my drill press for a few months... went to open the chuck and insert a bit and it takes too extreme an amount of force on the key to cause it to open or close. Perhaps some lubrication is needed here... any suggestions on how I should go about fixing this?

Thanks,
Evan

[Randy Meijer]

WD-40 and gently tap the chuck with a hammer.....both the individual jaws and the rotating cylinder. Gently, now....don't over do it.....you don't want to damage something.

If that doesn't work, i would get a hair dryer and try a little heat.

[Evan Haklar]

Sorry for the bother all, I finally found an old post that addresses this very issue. I'll WD-40 it too, Randy. Thanks!

Evan

[Don Baer]

Hey Evan,
I just noticed that this thread is your first posts on the creek. Welcome.
Remember we like pictures.

[David Rose]

Not to disagree with Randy, but WD-40 will turn to varnish in a few months and cause exactly the problem you are describing. Several other lubes will also do the same, though most take longer. One that will not is Tri-Flow. It is available in bicycle or gun shops and probably lots of other places. WD-40 is designed as a water displacer, hence "WD" (water displacing). It is super for that, reasonable as a penetrant, but is a nightmare to folks who have to remove the residue.

David


Sorry for the bother all, I finally found an old post that addresses this very issue. I'll WD-40 it too, Randy. Thanks!

Evan

[Norman Hitt]

I guess I must be Lucky,:D 'cause I've never had a problem with WD-40 turning to varnish yet, and I've been using it to free up things and clean up rust, etc for almost as long as I can remember. I do, however, clean anything that was stuck or rusted with a wire brush, 3M pads, etc, after I get it freed up with the WD-40, and then flush til clean with the WD-40 again, and then wipe and/or blow off all the excess. The WD is not really meant to be a lubricant anyhow. On the items that I wanted to just let soak for a while, if I forgot and let it completely dry, I just sprayed on some fresh WD, let it set a few minutes and then wiped the whole thing clean, as it dissolves itself quickly. If heat were generated in an item, (such as a gun or other), with an excess of WD-40 remaining, it might be a different story, though.

[Frank Fusco]

Sorry for the bother all, I finally found an old post that addresses this very issue. I'll WD-40 it too, Randy. Thanks!

Evan


The two most basic facts of life are: If it doesn't move and should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use duct tape.

[Frank Fusco]

Not to disagree with Randy, but WD-40 will turn to varnish in a few months and cause exactly the problem you are describing. Several other lubes will also do the same, though most take longer. One that will not is Tri-Flow. It is available in bicycle or gun shops and probably lots of other places. WD-40 is designed as a water displacer, hence "WD" (water displacing). It is super for that, reasonable as a penetrant, but is a nightmare to folks who have to remove the residue.

David

That water displacer and residue thing is an old saw that has been going around for years. Usually, the statement also includes the claim that WD40 is not a lubricant.
I have used it for decades on many thing, especially guns, have never seen the 'varnish' yet. Still waiting.
It is a lubricant.
Yes, it does displace mositure, it's supposed to.
Here is what the inventor told me personally. True story, I met him at a convention. As a scientist working for a big company, he was asked to design a lubricant for use on high voltage electric switches in a very high humidity environment. He started playing around with molecules and had thirty nine failures in his attempts. But, on try #40 his lubricant displaced moisture and worked. Voila, Water Displacing lubricant #40 or WD40.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I got you back Frank.........

http://www.snopes.com/business/names/wd40.asp

Cheers! :D

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

and it's cousin Kerosene is even better as it's cleaner and has fewer waxes.

I used to know a old guy who would toss a cup of Diesel fuel on the wiring of his vehicles when the water, crappy old wiring, and grime conspired to rob the spark plugs of energy.
It was a hoot.
You'd open the hood at night and there'd be seriously large sparks flying all over the engine when he turned the ignition. Toss on a cup of diesel: the sparks went away and the car started.

[Frank Fusco]

I got you back Frank.........

http://www.snopes.com/business/names/wd40.asp

Cheers! :D

Hi, Stu. Thanks. Nothing like meeting the inventor in person. Though. Another false myth with WD40 is that it can't be used on trailer hitches because it is an electrical insulator. Bull feathers, it conducts fine. Reason invented was for use on switches.
I'll take back the wise crack about your lathe. :rolleyes: :) Cheers.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I'll take back the wise crack about your lathe. :rolleyes: :) Cheers.

No way, where is the fun in doing that....? ;) :D

[William Daly]

Instead of using WD-40 to loosen your stuck chuck, why don'y you use Liquid Wrench or some type of penetrating oil.

[David Rose]

Frank,

I'm glad that you have had no problems. You probably are getting enough of it off to head off problems. I don't mean to sound like the stuff is worthless. It's just that I've battled with it so long that my last gallon was used as wet wood camp fire starter about 34 years ago. :rolleyes: At which it also works very well, btw.

My customers may be leaving too much WD on their guns. I don't know about that. I do know that the varnish produced is a nightmare to remove. This isn't conjecture or hearsay, it comes from experience. I've done hundreds of them over the past 35 years. I've got an 8 gallon tank of carb cleaner that will loosen it in a few hours, but it must still be brushed off mechanically. Any other residue that I've found will melt in that tank in about 20 minutes and fall to the bottom. As will plastics... DAMHIKT :eek: I've had guns brought back 6 months after thorough cleaning with mechanisms failing from varnish of WD40. It's easy to ID from the smell and varnish. It's also easy to remove in that time frame. The difficulty comes after years of application with no removal.

I've just set up a large ultrasonic system that I am dying to try out on WD-40 varnish. The first 8 guns since I set it up didn't have it used on them. bummer... :( I didn't think I'd ever say that! :D

Oh, and I thought it worked well in switches because it *was* and insulator and didn't create conducting tracks around the switch. Hmmm... I'll have to give that more thought.

David


That water displacer and residue thing is an old saw that has been going around for years. Usually, the statement also includes the claim that WD40 is not a lubricant.
I have used it for decades on many thing, especially guns, have never seen the 'varnish' yet. Still waiting.
It is a lubricant.
Yes, it does displace mositure, it's supposed to.
Here is what the inventor told me personally. True story, I met him at a convention. As a scientist working for a big company, he was asked to design a lubricant for use on high voltage electric switches in a very high humidity environment. He started playing around with molecules and had thirty nine failures in his attempts. But, on try #40 his lubricant displaced moisture and worked. Voila, Water Displacing lubricant #40 or WD40.

[Brian Hale]

We have (literally) hundreds of drill chucks at work they get rebuilt on a regular basis. When rebuilding them, a small amount of white lithium grease is applied the screw and the parts it contacts. WD40 will remove this grease and shorten the amount of time between rebuilds. WD 40 will tun to varnish over a period of time. Our company won't even buy it.

If you can, remove the chuck, invert it and spray some lithium grease inside it and work it back and forth. Once it's moving freely again (odds are it'll feel better than new) clean out what ever you can reach using dry rags and nothing else. This will take awhile but the chuck will work for a long long time to come.

Brian :)

[CPeter James]

As a penetrant, try "PB BLaster" I work on old tractors for ahobby and it really does a good job on stuck parts. I don't know about the varnish situation with it, as I have not seen any.


http://www.pbblaster.com/store/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=1

CPeter

[Chris Barton]

Dynamite! If that doesn't work try heating it up a bit with a torche. the change in temp will break the bond.

[David Rose]

But Chris, won't it be hard to get the dynamite between the spindle and the stuck chuck? Or do you just stick it in the jaws and fire it off? :eek: :D

David


Dynamite! If that doesn't work try heating it up a bit with a torche. the change in temp will break the bond.

[Kyle Kraft]

Nobody mentioned KROIL, my personal favorite. After freeing up the mechanism, one should lubricate the item with the appropriate greas, oil, etc. Many of the penetrants can also react with the original lubricants (notice the general terminology words) creating corrosion on brass bushings AMHIKT:rolleyes: .

[Kyle Kraft]

Like my old Navy veteran boss used to say "If it moves, grease it. If it doesn't move, paint it."

[Randy Meijer]

I don't know what the cirmstances are that might cause WD-40 to leave a varnish; but I've used the stuff for 40 years and never had a problem with it!!