Independent 4 jaw chuck trouble

[Tin Falcon]

Mikey:
It is hard to see from the pictures what the shape of the part is supposed to be.
not knowing details here are the options I would consider.
1) find a replacement part:
if a name brand contact the manufacturer. If a no name import contact someone that deals in parts for import lathes Littlemachineshop .com and grizzly imports come to mind. Give them as much info as you can. Most import machine toools come from the same factory in china them are painted a number of colors and sold under many different labels all over the world. there are minor differences but I would think chucks would be more or less standard.

2) attempt a repair I would put that broken part in the kitchen oven at about 450 deg F for an hour or so. while it was cooking set up the welder and a way of holding the part then when hot quickly pull the part out of the over and throw some weld on to buld up the damaged area . If I needed to machine the part back to shape I would then heat the part to cherry red then pack in a coffe can of either vermiculite or a 50 /50 mix of lime and wood ashes. Or wrap in koa wool or cera felt if I had some. let sit over night then machine. after machining I would re heat to cherry red then quench in used motor oil.

3) buy a piece of drill rod or scoung a piece machine new part then harden as above.
4) Buy a new chuck

Tin

 

[websterz]

Please help me guys. I broke a jaw adjusting retainer on my 4 jaw chuck the other day. Managed to remove the broken bits but have no idea how to fix it. The retainer is very hard I know this because I had the idea to drill a hole in the back thread it and pull it out, one whack on the center punch told me that weren`t gonna happen, flattened that point right out. Any suggedtions? :shrug:

Exact same thing happened to my 4 jaw. The retainers (on mine anyway) were made of Chinese cast iron...same as the rest of the chuck. I pulled the chuck apart and found the one retainer that wasn't broken and used it for a guide to make 4 new ones out of 4140 steel. I don't recommend hardening them as they will likely end up being harder than the jaw screws and will eventually ruin the chuck. I now have a drawing to go by, and new replacements are easy to fab. I consider them to be a sacrificial part of the chuck and will just replace them as needed. That'll be easier than replacing the screws.

 

[mikey00]

The little piece front center in both pictures is one of the ears that hold the screw. The other one has gone missing I can`t find it any where unless I sucked it up in the shop vac. Will be calling Little Machine Shop in the am tomorrow. Crossing my fingers that they can get or have in stock a replacement part for me, if not then will have to fab up some replacements. Its kind of hard with out a mill to cut the slot, don`t like to mill in the lathe, those little 7X x lathes aren`t sturdy enough for milling.

 

[mikey00]

Just got off the phone with little machine shop, I have a New chuck on the way.
Even tho my chuck is over a year old Roger at LMS is considering this a warranty
issue. Talk about customer service!!! My thanks go out to Chris Roger and all at
little machine shop. Disclaimer I am not affiliated in any way with LMS Just a
very satisfied customer!
th_wav woohoo1 woohoo1

 

[ozzie46]

I broke my 4 jaw recently also. Talked to Connie at LMS a few minutes ago. New chuck on the way also under warranty. At first she said I would have to pay to ship old chuck back, but got a call from Connie a few minutes later and she said they would cover shipping on old chuck too.
Excellent service.

Thanks to your post ,"mickey100", I called LMS.

I really didn't think it would be covered under warranty.

Ron

 

[CrewCab]

Being in the UK LMS are a bit far afield so postage can be prohibitive, but I've dealt with them on a couple of occasions and their communication and service has been first class, when I bought the belt drive for my X2 Mill it arrived 4 days after I placed the order, that's quicker than some domestic suppliers. If they opened a UK branch I'd certainly be a customer.

CC

 

[mikey00]

Hi Crewcab and all, I forgot to mention I don`t have to ship the old chuck back. While on the phone with Roger I made a point to mention that I fully expected to send the damaged one back, even if I had to pay shipping. Roger said even if he wanted it back there are very few parts that can be salvaged with out destroying the chuck. I have on idea what I will do with 2 chucks vut I have an old wood lathe that was my dad`s. Still makes good wood shavings and the occasional wood turning. Case in point, an old Stanley scratchall that suffered from a cracked handle. With a small piece of bowling alley maple a little time and patience restored to usefullness again. Pictures attached because if I did`nt you people would yell at me :big:

 

[radfordc]

My chuck also has a broken screw retainer. I took the chuck apart but could not figure out how to remove the retainer. How did you do it?

Charlie

 

[ozzie46]

The brown truck pulled up last evening about 6pm and delivered my new chuck from LMS.

Man, that is what I call service! Thm: Thm: Thm:


Ron

 

[websterz]

My chuck also has a broken screw retainer. I took the chuck apart but could not figure out how to remove the retainer. How did you do it?

Charlie

First, check the back of the chuck to make sure that there are no retaining screws holding the plugs in. If so, remove the one that you need access to. Flip the chuck face up on the bench and use a small punch and a ballpein hammer to loosen the retainer. I made one out of a piece of 1/4" drill rod and flattened the end like a boat oar so I could work down alongside the narrow section of the adjusting screw. Just work back and forth, a couple of taps on one side, then the other. Spray some penetrating oil on the retainer if it's really stubborn. It was put together...it'll come back apart.

 

[mikey00]

The brown truck got here around 5 ish today, yes ozzie LMS has great service. Radfordc I took a broken allen wrench 1/8" I think grabed it with a vicegrips the small ones gently tap tap tap with the hammer again the small one one side the the other untill the retainer came out :big:
Now out to the garage to clean up the new chuck. Small misshape, took thr chuck out of the box and the plastic. Put same in a container with some terpentine 1st surprise no red cosmoline all over the place, a lot of clear stuff that almost feels like oil. 2nd surprise the square end of the chuck key is bigger than the old one, come grit in the chuck all cleaned up now all good. Now for the misshape while turning the chuck over in the container it slipped uot of my hand, splash in the bottom of the container and I got a face full of cleaning solution, mad bash to the house soap and hot water scrub scrub scrub, 20 minutes later and I still can smell terps.

 

[radfordc]

First, check the back of the chuck to make sure that there are no retaining screws holding the plugs in. If so, remove the one that you need access to. Flip the chuck face up on the bench and use a small punch and a ballpein hammer to loosen the retainer. I made one out of a piece of 1/4" drill rod and flattened the end like a boat oar so I could work down alongside the narrow section of the adjusting screw. Just work back and forth, a couple of taps on one side, then the other. Spray some penetrating oil on the retainer if it's really stubborn. It was put together...it'll come back apart.

That's what I did...guess I just need to hit it harder.

 

[websterz]

That's what I did...guess I just need to hit it harder.

If it's a Chinese chuck you will have to use a metric hammer.