Cody Akin
Plastic
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2020
I created this thread in case some of you would be interested in how I finally removed the Cushman chuck from the spindle on my 1969 13". This was after about 3 weeks of trying to separate the two while the spindle was installed on the lathe. I really didn't want to remove the spindle, as I had just recently got it re-installed after stripping and painting my entire lathe, but after gritting my teeth, off come the bearing caps and re-disassembly began!!!
After a broken strap wrench, 2 sheared-off woodruff keys and lots of cussing, what finally worked was inspired by ideas from this forum, so I thought I'd share!
My setup started by boring a "puck" of aluminum, from an old hydraulic cylinder piston, to match the spindle diameter where the keyed gear goes on the left end of the spindle. I then split the puck through the radius on one side and carved out a 3/16" key slot to accept the woodruff key. I also machined some flats on the outside so I could squeeze the puck in a vice.
I then drilled out an old back plate that came with my lathe(didn't fit it though) to accept the bolt pattern for the back plate of my chuck. I also bored out the center of the drilled back plate to accept some 1-1/4" hex stock. I then welded the hex inside the plate to give my 1" air impact gun something to gnaw on. I must have torqued on that thing for 20 minutes after applying torch heat to the back plate with no sign of movement. At this point I'm about ready to cut the thing off!
After letting everything cool down, we brainstormed and came up with one final attack plan. We loaded up the inside of the spindle with ice cubes(my brother, Casey's idea!) and again applied heat to the back plate... lots of heat! The idea here was to try to shrink the spindle and expand the back plate and hopefully get something moving.
After whaling away with the impact gun for damn-near 5 minutes straight...SHE BROKE FREE!!!!!
The threads on the spindle look great, as well as the inside taper! I wonder if this chuck has ever been removed from the lathe?? The threads on the back plate seemed fairly rough and very sharp. My compound rest shows signs of several run-ins with the chuck throughout its life, so I'm guessing this had "impacted" the chuck on to the spindle. Also, the bull gear woodruff key was sheared when I got the lathe. Someone has been mistreating my old girl!
Thank you guys! Now... On with the build... Again!!
After a broken strap wrench, 2 sheared-off woodruff keys and lots of cussing, what finally worked was inspired by ideas from this forum, so I thought I'd share!
My setup started by boring a "puck" of aluminum, from an old hydraulic cylinder piston, to match the spindle diameter where the keyed gear goes on the left end of the spindle. I then split the puck through the radius on one side and carved out a 3/16" key slot to accept the woodruff key. I also machined some flats on the outside so I could squeeze the puck in a vice.
I then drilled out an old back plate that came with my lathe(didn't fit it though) to accept the bolt pattern for the back plate of my chuck. I also bored out the center of the drilled back plate to accept some 1-1/4" hex stock. I then welded the hex inside the plate to give my 1" air impact gun something to gnaw on. I must have torqued on that thing for 20 minutes after applying torch heat to the back plate with no sign of movement. At this point I'm about ready to cut the thing off!
After letting everything cool down, we brainstormed and came up with one final attack plan. We loaded up the inside of the spindle with ice cubes(my brother, Casey's idea!) and again applied heat to the back plate... lots of heat! The idea here was to try to shrink the spindle and expand the back plate and hopefully get something moving.
After whaling away with the impact gun for damn-near 5 minutes straight...SHE BROKE FREE!!!!!
The threads on the spindle look great, as well as the inside taper! I wonder if this chuck has ever been removed from the lathe?? The threads on the back plate seemed fairly rough and very sharp. My compound rest shows signs of several run-ins with the chuck throughout its life, so I'm guessing this had "impacted" the chuck on to the spindle. Also, the bull gear woodruff key was sheared when I got the lathe. Someone has been mistreating my old girl!
Thank you guys! Now... On with the build... Again!!