Chuck problem

I have a 4" D.E. Whiton 3 jaw chuck that I took apart to clean and lube because it was not working smoothly. When I was backing out the jaws I don't recall them being at all tight or difficult to remove but now that I try to reassemble it one jaw fits fine, one is tight close to the inside portion of the slot and one won't fit at all. What happened?

 

Try rotating the scroll plate a few revolutions without having the jaws in place to see if I'd moves smoothly top rule that aspect out.

 

Chucks aren't really that complicated and like you said, not your first rodeo. But after a few few deep breaths and following rule 1 (never let inanimate objects kick your butt), if I was a betting man, the jaws or the slots got tuned up along the way and I'd try rotating the set one slot at a time. If it worked dirty, cleaning it didn't make it worse, even if you have a devious, shape shifting, evil chuck. Odd that the one jaw gets tight to the center, usually that's where the wear is. Interesting problem and unexpected. Hope you can find the real issue and let us know. Good luck.

 

possibility that you may have gotten a small foreign piece in your lube when you got it ready for reassembly---back up and clean it completely again and inspect each jaw for any rough area---put the first jaw in and run it in by itself to make sure it isn't hanging up--then the same procedure for jaw two and jaw three----patience and persistence will solve the problem---Dave

 

So some time with a file on all sliding surfaces as well as some light grit sandpaper seems to have resolved the issue. There were no burrs that I could find but what I think is that the jaws themselves were a little out of whack. The part of the jaw that meshes with the scroll is a separate piece attached to the bottom of the jaw with dowetails and I think those pieces got out of alignment. But it could have been a combination of things getting a little out of whack. Will put back together tonight. Thanks everyone!