Lathe Chuck Cleaning Frequency

[asallwey]

What advice for how often to clean a lathe chuck?

I typically machine dry, however lately I've been using WD 40 brushed onto aluminum. When I pulled my soft jaws off I saw a bit of very tiny metal under the jaws and in the spindle. The chuck had a couple of sticky spots so when I changed parts during my recent project I would reverse scroll the jaws about 1/2 turn then continue. Now that I have a splash guard I will probably try using something on steel and it seems like material can sneak in easier with coolant.

So, when to clean? End of project? When the moon is full?

Alex

[SteveHGraham]

Personally, I believe in taking mine apart when it acts up or I've exposed it to something abrasive, like cast iron dust. It's not a big job.

[spro]

I think when you feel it, it is already gone awry. Then clean. No Particular schedule. I have some really good chucks and they tell me when.

[pete]

Through boring with anything held in the chuck does of course make things worse. I'm with Spro and you can feel it when there's chips collecting in the scroll or jaw teeth. The last thing you want to do is force it past those chips. What doesn't seem to be common knowledge is that the pinions should be placed back in the same holes they come out of while reassembling a chuck. With my Emco chucks there pretty specific about that since the jaw tips are I'm guessing likely ground while the chucks fully assembled so it's pretty important, and even more so if your chuck has a marked master pinion. My personal opinion is using any grease in the chuck seems to create even more problems with those chips. It may not be the best practice, but all I use is a light coat of oil on the scroll. Not cleaning the scroll when it needs it throws the jaw teeth engagement off and likely the runout you'd see with a good chuck. When I can I'll usualy stuff a paper towel behind the part and try to plug up the chucks jaw slots if I'm going to be through drilling or boring. That doesn't stop it all but does seem to help.

Industry makes special chucks that are designed to prevent a lot of the problem while using cutting oils or coolant but you better be sitting down before checking the price. They seem to start out at around 4k and go up from that.

[asallwey]

I have cleaned it a couple of times. I was just surprised at how the chips stuck with coolant. I've only dabbed it in the past. I like the idea of stuffing a paper towel in the spindle.

[spro]

One other thing about going shopping with the lady, we went to Sears. Between all the gifts for children, I gravitated to a glass counter which held some really good stuff. I bought my first and only EMCO Chuck. I had to make and be pretty careful about the backplate but that chuck is Super precise. Too precise in a way.
I know it is ridiculous to say too precise. Let me explain. This South Bend 9A was born about the same time I was. It is excellent in its way and came with collet closer and full set of 3C collets. To my astonishment, that chuck is the go to.

[spro]

Okay, bloviating fool but this ties into the registers I discovered the main thing is those registers. I made a few back plates and modified some too. The threading has to be super right so the pitch and pressure angle doesn't interfere with or score the spindle threads. Beyond that is the actual registers.

[SteveHGraham]

I made the mistake of putting lithium grease in a chuck. It would have been more efficient to apply a mixture of chips and glue.

[ctwo]

I used a bit of moly grease behind the scroll on the pinion gears.

[ccfl]

Gunk does eventually make it past the scroll plate and into the pinion area, but that takes a while to happen. You can get to 90% of a full teardown & clean by just removing the jaws and running a bottle brush through the jaw slots while turning the scroll. Do that whenever it starts to feel wrong. Then, say every 6 months or so pull it down completely to clean/inspect/lube.

[JimGlass]

Metal chips find their way into the scroll anytime the chuck jaws have been opened up for a large diameter work piece. By this time the scroll is visible and vulnerable to chip entry. When the jaws no longer open or close freely, it is time to clean.

[SteveM]

What about using a dry lube, such as graphite?

It would have less of a tendency to glue chips to the scroll.

Steve