Problem with a chuck

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RonSchmitt

Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2006
Messages
544
Location
Milwaukee, Wi, USA.
I am doing a closed end pen using the mandrell from AS. The problem is that the drill chuck is coming off of the morse taper unless I use the tailstock. I tried to "gently" adjust it by tapping it using a hammer and wooden block, No luck. Am I doing something wrong, or is it because it's a cheap chuck?
Would it hurt to try a little 2 part epoxy to hold it on?
 
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I had the same problem with a drill chuck. I eventually came to understand that a drill chuck is primarily intended for use in the tail stock, and when you are using it in the headstock you need to do two things:

1. You should use a drawbar that holds the tapered end of the drill chuck in the morse taper of the headstock.

2. A drill chuck arbor typically consists of two tapers - an MT1 or MT2 that goes into the headstock or tail stock, and a shorter taper (J33)that goes into the drill chuck itself. Even if you use a drawbar to hold the arbor in the morse taper of the headstock, there is still a risk that a lateral force could cause the drill chuck to come off of the shorter taper. The advice I was given was to use the tail stock to apply a slight lateral pressure on the workpiece while turning. You can put a small waste block between the tail stock and the workpiece to prevent digging a hole in the end of the work. (You can turn a small cup that fits over the end of your live center if you want to get fancy.) Or you can use an overlength blank and plan to part off the end as you are nearing completion. You can run the work on drill chuck alone for sanding and finishing provided you keep the speed fairly low and avoid putting any lateral forces on the spindle.
 
Draw Bar!!!! Look at the back end of the Morse taper to see that it is drilled and threaded -- and match the threads.

Many are 1/4 by 20 threaded but I have some that are 3/8 and M10 threaded.

A piece of all rod and a tee nut with a woodend handpiece to assure the taper is pulled tight into the headstock and you have a safe arrangement.

I often have the tailstock with live center and cone near the end incase something gets loose, it cannot move far ---

the higher the speed, the more important the safety factors for something going awry.
 
I had the same problem with a drill chuck. I eventually came to understand that a drill chuck is primarily intended for use in the tail stock, and when you are using it in the headstock you need to do two things:

1. You should use a drawbar that holds the tapered end of the drill chuck in the morse taper of the headstock.

2. A drill chuck arbor typically consists of two tapers - an MT1 or MT2 that goes into the headstock or tail stock, and a shorter taper (J33)that goes into the drill chuck itself. Even if you use a drawbar to hold the arbor in the morse taper of the headstock, there is still a risk that a lateral force could cause the drill chuck to come off of the shorter taper. The advice I was given was to use the tail stock to apply a slight lateral pressure on the workpiece while turning. You can put a small waste block between the tail stock and the workpiece to prevent digging a hole in the end of the work. (You can turn a small cup that fits over the end of your live center if you want to get fancy.) Or you can use an overlength blank and plan to part off the end as you are nearing completion. You can run the work on drill chuck alone for sanding and finishing provided you keep the speed fairly low and avoid putting any lateral forces on the spindle.

Yes, the chuck can still come off the arbor leaving the Morse taper in tack with draw bar. It happened to me, thankfully i was not in the way cause it bounced all over the ways and bench and off the wall, how it did not hit me is a wonder. When i use it now i have the tail stock up. Just some quick sanding if tail stock is not up. Carl
 
Drill chucks are not designed to take side thrust as is the case in turning , they depend on friction and wedging to keep them together on the tapers, with the minor variations in manufacturing it would be possible to have a slight mismatch of tapers ,therefore prone to coming loose .Under normal usage the pressures of the drill will keep things together no problem. I would suggest you lap the tapers with very fine grinding paste to ensure a perfect match of each taper, most are only a high tensile or carbon steel and will grind out easily with very little metal needed to remove . For the short taper on the chuck end a small bit of Loctite or similar would still be helpful :) Another thing to check is that there are no burrs or ridges such as is caused by the chuck spinning in the taper as can occur when the tang is not located in an appropriate slot , as in a bench drill . I have had chucks come loose in a bench drill while trying to use it as a mill :( It didn't like the lateral side thrust at all . Cheers ~ John
 
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