How to Remove a Stuck or Seized Chuck on a Lathe

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In this video, I will be showing you how to remove a stuck or seized chuck on a lathe. Since I’ve purchased this lathe, I wasn’t able to remove it and I needed a bit of time to look into this a little more.

When doing this, disconnect the power on our lathe as a safety precaution. The last thing you want is accidentally hitting the switch and having the lathe turn on.

Place a block of wood over the ways, this provides protection when removing the chuck and a barrier if the allen wrench flips around.

Using an allen wrench, the larger the better, insert it into the chuck and tighten the jaws. Larger allen wrenches will be more durable and they’ll have less flex, allowing you to provide more force when shocking the threads.

As you can see, if that allen wrench flips around, the wood will stop it. Also make sure the drive is engaged, to provide a little more resistance.

Using a strap wrench, wrap it around the pulley on the headstock. With my model of South Bend, the gears can lock, however, that is not to be used for such a task. Doing so can risk breaking the gears and it can be hard to find replacement beyond having downtime on your lathe.

If you wish, a rag can be wrapped around the handle so it doesn’t accidentally cause damage.

Then using a hammer, for this I would prefer using a dead blow which will still provide great force without damaging the allen wrench.

I did find it wasn’t giving enough of a positive shock, so a led, brass, or ball-peen hammer can be used instead.

And as you can see the chuck is now loose.

Another option is using an impact, either electric or air. For this I have a large allen socket, make sure it’s an impact version. If you don’t have an allen socket, use a hex bar stock with the appropriate sized impact socket. And then remove the chuck.

As for a little preventative maintenance to prevent it from sticking. Make sure the threads are cleaned from any debris, even use a clean brush on the threads. Then apply lightweight gear oil.

And finally install the comment you’re switching over to. If you have any tips on removing a stuck chuck, please be sure to share it in the comment section below to help out fellow viewers.