How to Remove a Chuck from a Drill and Reuse it on a Lathe

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In this video I will be showing you how to remove a chuck from a drill. Unfortunately this drill has seen better days, the battery does require a replacement and I already have other portable drills which are much more power. Before this gets thrown out, I’d like to save the chuck for my lathe as it doesn’t currently have a functioning one for the tail stock.

This is a ROHM chuck which is typically a good quality. While this is on a drill, they don’t have as high of a tolerance or accuracy as compared to something you’d find on a mill or lathe. As you can see the specifications of the chuck are printed on the side, this includes the capacity size and thread type for the spindle.

Retracting the jaws into the body, while it’s a bit harder to see on the camera, there is a standard screw locking the chuck into place. You may need a pick to clean the screw to reduce the chance of it being stripped.

Remove the screw using a screwdriver, this is a left handed thread screw. Therefore it needs to be rotated in the clockwise direction to loosen and remove.

Once it’s removed, here it is.

Using an allen wrench, make sure it is a good quality version of a larger size. If you’re using a cheaper or smaller version, you may risk bending or breaking it. Install it into the chuck and then tighten.

There is some drag from the gearing in the drill, so it should provide some resistance.

Place the drill on the edge of something where the chuck can rotate freely. Using a dead blow hammer so it doesn’t damage the allen wrench, give the allen wrench a hit from the side. The chuck will loosen in the counter clockwise direction, it uses a right hand thread.

Once loose, you can then remove the chuck. If you’re replacing the chuck, this same method applies and the installation would be in reverse of removal.

I purchased an arbour online, this was only about $10 so this will be fine for any projects not requiring a high tolerance. This is for my South Bend 9a lathe, the tail stock takes a #2 morse taper and the thread type on the other end is a 3/8 24. I won’t be installing the center screw, so I won’t be to use left handed drill bits or tap left handed threads.