Cleaning/Maintenance of VM100 chuck

[Don Nethercott]

I have had my VM100 for about 6 years. Just noticed today that when I clamped a bowl base into the jaws they were not turning true, ie the bowl was not centered.

Figured there might be some dust or junk in them so looked up the manual and all it said was clean as necessary.

I poured some metho through the jaws and a fair bit of junk came out.

Manual also says to oil occasionally .

Two questions -

1) What oil?

2) what is the best way to clean the jaws? Should I open them up and give the insides a good clean. If so, are there any precautions I need to take - ie springs that would pop out. Which bits do I unscrew.

Maybe there is a web site with illustrated instructions - I am a bit cautious about opening up something like this.

Was metho the correct thing to clean with, or is there something better?

Thanks
Don

[brind0g]

Funny thing is Don, i just finished cleaning my VM120 chuck this morning, although its not that old.. i too had a fair bit of gunk come out of it..

I used metho to give it a good clean, then i sprayed WD-40 in every place i could fit the nozzle.. looks like a brand new chuck... i wouldnt know what oil to use.. but WD-40 is as good as any...

As for the inside and taking it apart... i dont think there would be any springs... but i would try and find out more info b4 attempting to take it apart!

Good luck!

[rsser]

Do you mean the jaw slides?

If you pull the stop pin then you can unwind and remove the slides and clean up the faces. Some turners buy a set of slides for each set of jaws to cut down on jaw change time.

Maybe use a silicone lube spray - not sticky so doesn't attract the dust.

Otherwise ring Vic or Marcus at Clontarf and get the real poop.

[Don Nethercott]

Thanks Ern,
Found the pin.

Tried pulling it out with needle point pliers - no luck. Any suggestions as to how I get it out?

Thanks
Don

[rsser]

Not done it myself Don. Maybe needle point vise grips?

It's a split tube yeah? So crush and pull?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Found the pin.

Tried pulling it out with needle point pliers - no luck. Any suggestions as to how I get it out?


Not done it myself Don. Maybe needle point vise grips?

It's a split tube yeah? So crush and pull?

Not having a VM chuck, I can't comment, but... once you've pulled the pin, I'd be inclined to see if the hole can be tapped to take a long grub-screw a lá the Teknatool chucks, instead of replacing the pin.

It'd make future disassembly/maintenance soooo much easier.

[Don Nethercott]

Found the answer - on a UK site of all places.

Have to remove the back plate of the chuck and tap out the pin with a flat ended nail. You'd think that this info would be in the manual.

Ern (rsser) you said some turners have extra slides to facilitate change of jaws. When do you change jaws? - does this mean I have to unscrew the jaws from the slides to fit things such as shark jaws and step jaws??

Don

[soundman]

I would have thaught that light machine oil would have been tha go.
Sewing machine oil or my favorite air tool oil.
Again My expectation would have been petorochemical solvent such as kero.
Metho is onlt partialy sucessfull as a cleaning solvent when mineral oils are in use.
liberal amounts of LMO will bring lots of stuff out with it...... of course it will spit everywhere next time you spin it up:eek:

cheers

[TTIT]

Have to remove the back plate of the chuck and tap out the pin with a flat ended nail. You'd think that this info would be in the manual.Much easier to pull it out with some vice grips as Ern suggested - the pin is only there to stop you from 'accidentally' unwinding the slides completely.:)

When do you change jaws? - does this mean I have to unscrew the jaws from the slides to fit things such as shark jaws and step jaws??
DonYep - 8 screws every time - proper pain in the @ss!:( Though I don't have the extra slides myself, if the budget ever allows, I'll be doing the same thing.:D;)

[Farnk]

I've a vm100 as well, bought it shortly after the FIL presented me with the GMC years ago. A change of insert and it found a new home on the leda.

Anyway, every now and then I wind out the jaws fully and spray some CRC or WD40 all over the scroll, then again with the jaws wound in. I then fire up the lathe to fling out all the crap.

Then I give it a squirt or two of singer oil. Works a treat. My shed tends to be on the damp side at times so I run some oiled wet/dry on the outside of the chuck with the late at min speed to remove any surface rust.

[rsser]

Yeah Don, what TTIT said. And I've tried a straight allen key in a cordless drill to speed it up but don't recommend it. Chops the sockets in the screws up. Then again, the screws are cheap.

Re a slide for each jaw piece:
Course you'd need to practice feeding them in in the right order/place ... on the other hand, maybe you could save the cost of an eccentric chuck ;-}

[hughie]

I poured some metho through the jaws and a fair bit of junk came out.

Manual also says to oil occasionally .

1) What oil?

Was metho the correct thing to clean with, or is there something better?


Hi Don,

I reckon meths will do fine as a cleaner the high evaporation rate is a benefit. When oiling I personally go to a dry lube setup. Teflon, graphite etc there are many around.

http://www.engineeringtalk.com/news/klu/klu119.html
http://www.cleantec.com.au/FHS/FHS%20Brochures/Teflon%20Brochure.pdf#search=%22dry%20lubrication%22
http://www.industrysearch.com.au/products/viewrecord.aspx?ID=4856

The reason being any oil will attract and retain wood dust. This is why they suggest to use oil only occasionally. Also some types of timber are very abrasive due to the silica content. All this will only cause premature wear on your chucks

http://www.cuprofor.hn/ingles/investigacion.htm
http://www.exotichardwoods-africa.com/makore.htm
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf1996/loehn96a.pdf