Minor glitch, drill chuck is stuck open, how to close it without damaging it?

[WobblyHand]

Today thought it would be good to drill a couple of holes... Mounted up my brand spanking new key-less drill chuck from PM in my PM25. Discovered the chuck is jammed open. It's stuck open at 1/2". This is how I received it. The combination of a short spanner wrench and a small hand is not proving to work. Got a suggestion to free it? Tried wrapping the knurling in rubber and putting it in a vise. Spanner wouldn't move. Tried tapping the spanner with a hammer - nothing.

Assuming it opens and closes the same as my lathe and hand drill key-less drill chucks. If the chuck is in the vise, grabbed by the knurling, the spanner goes CW to tighten, correct?

Afraid of grabbing it with something more substantial, like a pipe wrench! That would close it, but also would mark it all up. Some other way to get grip and leverage?

 

[mneblett]

I had *exactly* the same problem with my new drill chuck. After trying hard with several methods, I stopped before I damaged something and contacted PM. The answer was they can be stiff, try harder, if it still doesn't come loose, we'll replace it.

I mounted it in my 728VT's spindle, held the spindle with the big c-wrench, and really leaned into it with the drill chuck's pin wrench -- and it finally freed up, Standing in front of the mill, I had the pin wrench sitting on the left side of the chuck, and pulled toward myself. Rotation is clockwise when looking at the three jaw tips.

 

[extropic]

How to un-stick the chuck depends on why it's stuck. Why is it non-operable? If it's dried "lubricant/protectant" that has gummed it up, try soaking it in some solvent to dissolve the gum. Otherwise, I'd return it for replacement. You thought you were buying a working chuck, right?

 

[mneblett]

My chuck was too new to have dried out lubricant. When it popped loose it felt exactly like a fastener that had been tightened just a hair too much. The instant after it popped, it was completely free-wheeling. FWIW, it was only a day or so ago that I got mine loose.

 

[extropic]

My chuck was too new to have dried out lubricant. When it popped loose it felt exactly like a fastener that had been tightened just a hair too much. The instant after it popped, it was completely free-wheeling. FWIW, it was only a day or so ago that I got mine loose.

If I understand you correctly, your new chuck arrived mechanically "jammed" in the maximum "open" position.
Is this the chuck were talking about? $120 + tax + S&H for a frozen chuck. I must be in a bad mood today.

 

[WobblyHand]

If I understand you correctly, your new chuck arrived mechanically "jammed" in the maximum "open" position.
Is this the chuck were talking about? $120 + tax + S&H for a frozen chuck. I must be in a bad mood today.

If you don't mind me saying so, yes, you must be having an off day. I was having a not so good day myself.

I wasn't too observant this morning. Assumed the chuck worked a certain way. It wasn't how it worked. Everything is fine. The chuck is fine. For some reason, I thought the knurl ring and the spanner were independent. My other two chucks are that way. Not this one. So when I changed how I thought about the problem, the issue went away! Maybe that and the shot of penetrating oil I put in there this morning! I'll never know which.

For the record, it was the $120 one. And nothing really was wrong, except perhaps how I thought it worked. Just used it, it's pretty nice.

 

[darkzero]

I wasn't too observant this morning. Assumed the chuck worked a certain way. It wasn't how it worked. Everything is fine. The chuck is fine. For some reason, I thought the knurl ring and the spanner were independent. My other two chucks are that way. Not this one. So when I changed how I thought about the problem, the issue went away! Maybe that and the shot of penetrating oil I put in there this morning! I'll never know which.

Good thing you figured it out but that chuck has an integral shank meaning the arbor is one piece with the chuck & can't be removed/replaced. Integral mount keyless chucks usually won't have the collar you are used to that you can grip by hand for tightening. So in order to tighten them you have to rely on the spindle to hold the shank for tightening.

Advantage of integral mount chucks is they're shorter & will give you a bit more Z capacity on the mill. Also they usually have a bit better runout but that really depends on the quality/manufacturer of the chuck. Great to use on a lathe also since the TS ram doesn't spin. I used to use one on the mill but quickly got annoyed of not having the collar to grip so I got rid of it.

 

[WobblyHand]

It is a little weird needing a spindle wrench to tighten a key-less chuck. Thought the point was it would be tool less. Oh well, lots of things to get used to on this new mill.

 

[darkzero]

That's exactly why I sold mine. I originally bought it (Glacern chuck) thinking the benefit of saving Z capacity would be good but I've yet to have the problem of running out of Z height. I have a gearhead mill so I would just put it in low gear when I needed to tighten the chuck. Using a wrench to hold the spindle or drawbar was time consuming (which I never did). I didn't have a spindle lock at the time, although I do now it would still be annoying to do. I was so much happier when I replaced it with a keyless chuck that had the collar.

 

[MikeWi]

@WobblyHand those wrenches are actually meant to loosen the chuck as it will self-tighten when it's used. Still ironic though...