100 Year Old Lodge Shipley 16" 4 Jaw Chuck - Needs TLC? What to do.

HurleyByrd · Jul 3, 2016

As John Oder, Mike C. and a few others know, I recently purchased a 1916/17 L&S 18" Selective Head lathe. I actually bought the whole shop and am in the process of cleaning it out. I thought the L&S DID NOT contain any other chuck than the 3 jaw scroll which was already attached.

As I was rooting around, I found this 16" 4 jaw under a shelf, on the floor, thread side down hidden behind an anvil and am obviously pretty stoked about the find. Yet, before I even clean it.... I want some guidance so I do not cause any further harm.

How should I proceed in bringing this chuck back to life??????

By the way, I measured the mounting threads and come up with 6 TPI and a major diameter of 5.457". It appears there is an L&S Mount Plate with the chuck bolted to it and it was made by the Union Manufacturing Co.. Oh yeah..... it weighs 220 pounds plus 4.5 more for the wrench.

Thank you
Peter

johnoder · Jul 3, 2016

STEEL a big plus. Clean and lube - not so much as it slings out on you. While jaws are out look for roughness, raised metal or obvious damage. You won't get the screws out without a fight - and I would leave them in if they look okay

You can see how simple a DN back plate really is. The before linked spec page gives you the TPI, but not the OD. The OD mentioned on the spec sheet (6 3/4") is the spindle flange OD

conant · Jul 3, 2016

Nice chuck. Use penetrating oil to free up the jaws and adjustment screws and after the screws are out wire brush or whatever to clean up the jaw screws an jaws.
I.have something similar that all the jaws and screws were froze up and by patience else own grease and penetrating oil.

HurleyByrd · Jul 3, 2016

It looks like I will have the pleasure of building one of your spindle flange holding tools now John.

Do I NOT have to worry about further damaging the internals of jaws by working them out? Just lube the crap outta them and begin working them back and forth?

HurleyByrd · Jul 3, 2016

Will do.... I hope not to harm it further.

johnoder · Jul 3, 2016

Its as simple as it looks - no hidden magic like one might describe in a three jaw scroll chuck. A little oil and back the jaws out. When they are out clean them and the screws and slide ways in the chuck body and jaws. It is common to have the jaws in and out in the process of chucking on different work - ID or OD.

When you think they are clean and free of damage a little lube and back together. I like to mark the jaws and body so certain jaws ALWAYS go in their own slot. Some chucks are so marked by the maker.

HurleyByrd said:
It looks like I will have the pleasure of building one of your spindle flange holding tools now John. Do I NOT have to worry about further damaging the internals of jaws by working them out? Just lube the crap outta them and begin working them back and forth?

Limy Sami · Jul 3, 2016

If you're worried about damaging the chuck getting the jaws to move etc etc , .... you could do a lot worse than start the job off by immersing the whole chuck in a bucket of diesel for 2-3 weeks.

IME it's quite amazing what that will do.

HurleyByrd · Jul 3, 2016

johnoder said:
A little oil and back the jaws out. I like to mark the jaws and body so certain jaws ALWAYS go in their own slot. Some chucks are so marked by the maker.

Limy Sami said:
...immersing the whole chuck in a bucket of diesel for 2-3 weeks. IME it's quite amazing what that will do.

I hosed it down with PB Blaster.... which I love AND personally feel is mostly diesel to begin with... and let it sit for a short bit. I tried one screw and out came the jaw with some resistance to the old dried up grease. A quick wiping down, a touch of oil and in it went with barely an effort. I tried the other three and only one seems a bit stubborn. Another soaking with PB and will let it all sit there for a few days.

I may do the submerge in diesel thing. It amazes me how well diesel cleans things.... like the small lathe that arrived a few days ago.... it took a few hours but diesel removed everything I wanted to remove.

HurleyByrd · Jul 3, 2016

One other thing..... is it worth the effort to remove the screws or better to leave them in? It appears at this point there is little to no debris in them, just dried up grease.

Limy Sami · Jul 3, 2016

HurleyByrd said:
One other thing..... is it worth the effort to remove the screws or better to leave them in? It appears at this point there is little to no debris in them, just dried up grease.

If they were ok I wouldn't, it CANbe quite easy to damage them getting them out,.......so dig and wash out as much muck as you can, apply fresh lube and call it good

conant · Jul 3, 2016

Exactly how I did it. I used Gibbs which is a darn good penetrate and anti rust. My problem wit PB and Kroil as well is the smell. I call it a smell "memory" since I feel like I smell it the night after when I'm 50 miles away. Just a personal thing I guess. I have used the diesel thing also, just avoid breathing the vapors.

tdmidget · Jul 3, 2016

Kroil- the man's fragrance.

conant · Jul 4, 2016

tdmidget said:
Kroil- the man's fragrance.

Just talking about the Kroil, my brain cells took a jolt and I haven't been around any of the stuff for months.
The brain is quite the memory bank..
At any rate, that is a nice chuck pictured above. I question it being 100 years old. I would have guessed newer than that.

HurleyByrd · Jul 4, 2016

Limy Sami said:
If they were ok I wouldn't, it CANbe quite easy to damage them getting them out,.......so dig and wash out as much muck as you can, apply fresh lube and call it good

Will do.... I prefer to leave well enough alone when possible.

HurleyByrd · Jul 4, 2016

conant said:
I question it being 100 years old. I would have guessed newer than that.

I call a 100 years old only since it comes with a 100 year old lathe. The reality is.... the mount plate belongs to the lathe and the chuck cannot be counted as the same. Yet, I did a little research and found the Union Manufacturing Company had printed advertisements for "Independent Chucks" as early as 1898 and continued on for several decades. We will never know if this chuck has been with the lathe since day one or not.

hawkfan9 · Jul 4, 2016

I recently acquired a Cushman 4 jaw with a D1-6 mount in much worse rusty shape than yours. I took a flier on it because it was $60 for a 14" American made Cushman that had been sitting rusting on a shelf it's entire life.

The jaws wouldn't budge, so I first soaked them down in Kroil and kept spraying a little each hour for a couple of hours. They loosened right up so I could get them out. Each jaw is numbered to it's slot, so I took it all apart and soaked it for a day and a half in a phosphoric acid mix to get the rust off.

It came out better than expected. I cleaned it all up and oiled it. Re-installed the jaws and it's my daily user. $60 for the chuck and $55 for a 10 gallon acid bath that cleaned up a bunch of other rusty stuff I had, too. I'm quite happy.

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