Lathe Chuck Lubrication

[ChazzC]

None of my chucks are sealed against machining swarf. Chips will find their way into the interior causing jamming and wear. I lightly oil the scroll and jaws on reassembly to provide some lubricaton and prevent any rusting. Aside from that, the oil used for machining provides necessary lubrication.

I can still see the department toolmaker using an oil can to apply sulfurated lard oil to a part in the lathe, then running a line of it on the leadscrew, something he had learned as an apprentice probably 40 years before. Of course, that was almost 50 years ago, and sulfurated lard oil isn’t as common now, and what there is has been reformulated (I still have about a pint left from what he gave me, use it occasionally when the modern stuff doesn’t work).

 

[Dabbler]

What is "recentering"? Yes, I'm a newbie!

There are set-tru chucks and non-set-tru chucks. On many non-set-tru chucks, the backing plate usually has a precision fit boss that slip fits into the chuck body. On many older chucks, (I've rebuilt 4 of 5 of these) the back of the chuck does not have a precision hole for a centering boss. Sometimes it is still in the rough cast finish.

So in that case, when you mount the chuck to the backing plate, you have to centre the chuck, or when it holds a piece it will have excessive runout. - It took about 45 minutes to get the chuck mounted to the backplate satisfactorily.

On a set-tru chuck this step is done using the adjustment screws and is very easy.

 

[Janderso]

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That’s a lot of grease!!

 

[mac1911]

At the risk of seeming inexperienced ( I am), would it be plausible to coat the scrolls with a graphite spray that dries to lubricate the loaded surfaces, without the tendency to attract chips and whatnot?

I use graphite on car/truck hood latches to avoid collecting road crud.
New to machine work , I would think at minimum a oil with anti corrosive abilities would be good.?