Thread: Chuck stuck on lathe :(

I have no experience with this lathe, but try and jam a bit of wood between the the drive belt pully and the housing to stop it rotating , then clamp a bit of hardwood across the chuck so's about 300mm is sticking out one side and give the wood a wack , If you have an adaptor insert in your chuck , the chuck may unscrew from the insert but then it is easy to put a pipe wrench on the insert and unscrew it .
Best of luck .
Ted

good idea, I'll give it a go thanks

Couldn't get the wood or anything to stop the pulley from moving. I got industrial and ground the pulley hand lever flat at the top and bottom so I could attach a clamp to it, the used a bar in the chuck to leverage.....a good smack with a mallet and it came free. Ugh.

A tip to prevent future issues,

When you place a chuck on the spindle rotate it up until it is almost tight, about a 1/8 turn from tight, then give it a firm spin to tighten.

Do not leave the chuck loose and power up the lathe as this will almost certainly jamb it tight on the spindle threads. Probably the cause of your current predicament.

The correct tool to remove a "nut" that has a hole in it is a C spanner not a pry bar.

If you have chuck jaws that will clamp down on a 4 sided drive shaft and a proper impact driver the following works a treat. Do not lock the belt or chuck in any way - leave it free spinning. Insert a 4 sized drive shaft in the chuck and use the impact driver in reverse. I've used it on many MW chucks that have not be able to be loosens in any other way and its worked every time.

Originally Posted by BobL

If you have chuck jaws that will clamp down on a 4 sided drive shaft and a proper impact driver the following works a treat. Do not lock the belt or chuck in any way - leave it free spinning. Insert a 4 sized drive shaft in the chuck and use the impact driver in reverse. I've used it on many MW chucks that have not be able to be loosens in any other way and its worked every time.

ooo didn't think of that Might just give it a go for fun!

For prevention, try inserting a suitably sized nylon or plastic washer between the spindle and your chuck. This stops the grip.
I've even used a cut piece of ice cream container lid.....

Originally Posted by plt43

For prevention, try inserting a suitably sized nylon or plastic washer between the spindle and your chuck. This stops the grip.
I've even used a cut piece of ice cream container lid.....

I once had the reverse problem on the outboard side of the lathe.... this was before variable speed came in... and if I had a large diameter blank attached. On hitting the stop button, the chuck would unwind off the lathe and go on its own way across the workshop skittling anything in its path...

Adding a thin rubber washer (made from a pushbike inner tube if I remember correctly) between the chuck and spindle shoulder reduced the frequency of these events. A very small amount of flex at the outer diameter could be an issue, but of less consequence than a heavy 30" diameter runaway blank!