All, I have an 1978 Central machine Taiwanese bench model drill press with a stuck chuck. It looks as though someone has even tried a pripe wrench to get it off.
I have removed the entire quill assembly thinking I would have better luck with it off the drill press.
Markings on the chuck:
JT – 3 (it looks like a T)
CAP. 0 – 5/8″ 16mm
I assume that the JT is a taper mark but not sure.
I have tried a gear puller pulling on the outside of the chuck and pushing on the bottom center of the chuck. No luck.
While inspecting the shaft, I found what looks to be super glue residue or maybe even construction adhesive at the chuck to shaft interface. It chisels and scrapes off.
Anyone have a recommendation on how to proceed?
Is using heat to soften the glue an option? How about solvents?
Steve Pippins
Replies
If using heat...heat the chuck only not the shaft. i was always told if all else fails get a bigger hammer?
Don't beat on it, it won't work and you'll damage both the chuck and the bearings. If you heat the chuck you will most likely damage the bearing seals and ruin the grease in the bearings.
Presumably with the quill removed you don't see a pair of small round end slots on opposite sides of the quill about three inches above the top edge of the chuck. If the slots are there, you need a drill drift, a tapered wedge that when inserted through the slot will pop the chuck and it's Morse taper arbor free.
If the slots aren't there you need a pair of chuck removal wedges sized for a JT-3 taper. Chuck wedges are inserted into the gap between the top of the chuck and the bottom of the quill and when tapped lightly will free the chuck from the arbor. The wedges are available from MSC, Grainger and many other sources for machinery parts. Surprisingly, Grizzly doesn't have them in their catalog.
John White, Shop manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
John, thanks for the feedback. There are no slots in the shaft. THe gap between the top of the chuck and the bottom of the quill is about 3/4 inch.
Steve Pippins
Actually the wedges, which are fairly thin, will probably go against a small shoulder in the arbor shaft just a fraction of an inch above the top edge of the chuck.
If there isn't a shoulder to bear against, sometimes there's a hole drilled through the shaft, that you can insert a pin through for the wedges to bear against. On poorly made machines there sometimes isn't a provision for using the wedges and you have to drill a cross hole or otherwise improvise.
The wedges are inexpensive, brand name Jacobs wedges cost under $7.00, imports cost half that.
John White
John, I finally got the chuck off using a gear puller.
Thanks for all of the advice.
Steve Pippins
It would help to know why you're trying to remove the chuck. What are you trying to fix? If it's a relatively small runout and you use the drill press for woodworking, I would recommend that you quit while you're ahead.
It's possible that some yahoo in the dim past put some adhesive in the taper. Most likely it would red (loctite), although if it was the same guy who used the pipe wrench, it could be anything. Regardless, if that's the case, refer to advice above.
Pete
Pete, thanks for the input. The primary purpose is to replace the bearings in the quill. The thing sounds like a pencil sharpener when running. This is even at the low speeds. At high speed, it is like a garbage disposal.
Also, the chuck itself is worn and is sloppy in spots and sticks in others.
My use is strictly hobby type woodworking.
The upper bearings have been removed and I found that someone had removed the bearing shields from one side. The bearings have been packed with grease. I suspect that this was done in an attempt to quiet the thing down
The Jacob's taper wedges are on order from the local Grainger. The advice from John was right on. A pair of the JT #3 wedges are less the $10.
On closer inspection, the adhesive at the bottom inside of the chuck is metallic silver/gray in appearance. Maybe it is something like the liquid steel epoxy.
I take your point on quitting while ahead. If the wedges will not work, I will reconsider the effort.
Thanks again.
Steve Pippins
This is a case where you've got nowhere to go but up. Good luck!
Pete
Pete, just a note to let you know that I finally got the chuck off of the shaft. The wedges did not work though. The wedges simply pushed the quill off of the shaft. It was a good purchase though. They were inexpensive and I can use them next time.
I went back to the gear puller and applied as much pressure as possible with a 12 inch wrench. Pulling on the chuck and pushing against the end of the shaft. The adhesive finally gave way after being under tension for 15 minutes. Now I can clean up the Jacobs taper, replace the bearings, and replace the chuck.
Thanks for your advice.
Steve Pippins
Nice job!
Pete
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