stupid mistake... Need suggestions

[Wipedout]

I hate to ask but did you loosen the set screws?

[dow]

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I'm hoping that I can get back out to the shop sometime this week or maybe Saturday afternoon, but that's already been appropriated by LOML by agreeing to take our son to two birthday parties, one at 2:00 and one at 4:00 that are about an hour apart.

Wipedout: Set screws?

[geek2me]

Ruler2112 said:

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I don't know if it'll help, but automatic transmission fluid (ATF) mixed half-and-half with acetone is a fantastic penetrating lubricant... works better than the commercial offerings from studies I've seen.

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Have you ever actually tried that? Came up on a couple of other forums, people tried it, didn't work, the ATF would not dissolve in the acetone.

I eventually figured out that it does not work with modern ATF, which is synthetic. Found a bottle of ATF a few decades old, it would dissolve in the acetone. Still did not find the mix to be particularly effective, though, BreakFree still worked much, much better.

[geek2me]

Is the lathe reversible? If so, get a piece of 1x4 or so, open up the jaws, and stick the piece of wood between the edges of the jaws, resting the other end of the wood piece on the lathe bed. Rotate by hand to take up the slack, then "blip" the lathe in the CCW direction. The force of the lathe will break loose the chuck.

Works great to loosen a crank pulley nut on a truck, should work on a lathe as well.

[Ruler2112]

geek2me said:

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[blockquote]Ruler2112 said:

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I don't know if it'll help, but automatic transmission fluid (ATF) mixed half-and-half with acetone is a fantastic penetrating lubricant... works better than the commercial offerings from studies I've seen.

---

Have you ever actually tried that? Came up on a couple of other forums, people tried it, didn't work, the ATF would not dissolve in the acetone.

I eventually figured out that it does not work with modern ATF, which is synthetic. Found a bottle of ATF a few decades old, it would dissolve in the acetone. Still did not find the mix to be particularly effective, though, BreakFree still worked much, much better.

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[/blockquote]

I have, several times in the past in fact. The ATF doesn't permanently dissolve in the acetone, but forms a suspension for a while like when you make a french polish mix of shellac, BLO, and DNA; have to give it a little shake before using and will separate if you leave it site for ~5 minutes or longer.

I've not heard of BreakFree, but the ATF/acetone mix has saved me where Liquid Wrench did nothing.



Back on topic - if you can get out into your shop for 2 minutes, put a few drops of penetrating oil (either ATF/acetone, a commercial penetrating oil, sewing machine oil, or any other low viscosity non-drying oil) onto it. While debatable which will work best, anything should help. It'll seep during the time you're busy with birthday parties.

[dow]

Weird. I posted a response last night, and it seems to have evaporated.

On the subject of reversible lathes... I wish that were the case, but mine only runs in one direction. If I had a slightly longer belt, I might be able to cross it and get it to work, but I don't have one. Any other thoughts would be great on getting it to run backwards.

As for penetrating oil. I've dosed it several times with not observable effect. I'm hoping that I can get out there tomorrow night. Got church tonight. It's a shame that there are only 24 hours in a day when I actually need about 30.

[dow]

Well, I had a little time tonight, so I messed with the belt and was able to twist it so that the spindle would run backwards. Trimmed a 2x4 so that the jaws would fit it, tightened the chuck jaws down and started flipping it around to slam into the frame on the back side with the power switch in hopes of jarring it loose. Finally broke the 2x4, but haven't been able to budge the chuck. I wouldn't have thought that there was any way that 1" x 8 threads would be able to lock down that tight.

Man, this is frustrating.

[Shop Dad]

Did you confirm there is no set screw holding it on the spindle?

Doug

[jppierson]

The first time I tried to take the chuck off my brand new, never, used, still assembling it lathe. I munged one of the threads because I failed to loosen all the set screws. I was able to move it about 1/4 turn, then it jammed, and I pulled, tugged, twisted like mad until I finally figured it out. Loosened the last set screw and voila! So checking for a set screw that moved just enough to make life miserable is a good suggestion.

[jppierson]

dow said:

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Wipedout: Set screws?

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Look around the chuck between the headstock and back of the chuck for small holes with an allen screw head inside. There will be more than one (see my previous post). Loosen the set screws. In my case I had to tighten the chuck a bit to release the pressure between the set screw and thread.