Old fart needs help/advise (again)

Living in Adelaide on the south coast of Australia Approx 35 deg south we very rarely get to see the southern lights but I do remember one occasion some years ago, when we were treated to a magnificent display, just after sunset as the sky was darkening. It was every bit as good as any I've seen elsewhere, but it was the only time I've seen them this far north.
 
Well, the chuck has been "soaking" in kerosene for over a month total. I did finally get the outer "cone" unscrewed (and scratched up), but it won't come off, and nothing else moves. I asked Jacobs about repair, but was already told they won't do it.
GREAT looking apperweight! Really impressive until it rolls off the desk onto someones toes! Oh well, sometime the bear gets you. Looks like it was just the bears turn.
 
Hit it harder? Nothing to lose! Could try warming the kero up a little, help it soak out the solid grease? A sealed metal container dumped in a bucket of hot water might do the trick. Even leaving it with the sun beating down on it all day might be enough
 
Might somehow be rusted inside, in which case you could get some evaporust or distilled white vinegar after brake cleaning the kerosene out of it and let it soak for a few days. I'd probably try evaporust first because it's much more gentle. If you can't take it apart afterward, at least the evaporust leaves a rust-preventative coating, unlike the vinegar which would just rust it from the inside out if left in. I did have to soak an ebay chuck in vinegar to be able to take it apart though, it was frozen shut.
 
If you haven't fixed it, you didn't use a big enough hammer
 
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