Hi. I acquired a South Bend 9A at a very low price. The owner had acquired it, probably in a fire sale situation, and let it sit for about 20 years since he was too busy to deal with it. The lathe had no visible wear, and everything was tight, largely because of rust. The gearbox levers were jammed, but a little penetrating oil got everything moving. No wear inside.
The chuck was stuck on the spindle, though. I was eventually able to get it off, but it took several weeks. I think that this is the best way to do it, rather than trying to get it off in a single day. Blacksmiths know: time and fire are cruel masters, but they also can be devoted and productive slaves. Of course, the first thing I tried was just unscrewing it. Didn't work. Then, locked the back gears and bull gear pin and tried again. Didn't work. Meanwhile, there were liberal applications of penetrating oil during the whole time. Didn't work. Installed a spindle crank in the other end of the spindle and tried to turn counter-clockwise. It slipped, partially due to grease inside the spindle hole, and partially because I didn't want to try so hard as to damage the inside of the spindle. This ended up not working. Then, I remembered that old trick that you see on the Internet posts. Chuck a hex bar, put a long crescent wrench on it, and hang a weight. The back gear has to be locked. Of course, it is tempting to try to turn the wrench to see if that loosens the chuck. In order to avoid damage to the gear teeth, the lathe was unbolted from the bench so that it would tilt if too much torque was applied. My current lathe had some missing back gear teeth, possibly because of a previous owner using the lock method and hammering on a wrench. Hammering is probably OK if the back gears are not locked. Hit the backing plate repeatedly with a copper hammer and tried again with the crescent wrench. Didn't work. Put the weight back on and waited for a week. The Internet posts say that this always works, but it takes a few days. You will hear the bucket of bolts clatter to the floor, then you will know it is done. So, I used a solid weight and put a sacrificial board under it. I don't like to hear clattering sounds, especially at night. Didn't work. More hitting and penetrating oil. Didn't work. Put the weight on again and left it for another two weeks. Didn't work. Then, I got the bright idea that there must be a chip in there and leaving that weight on there must be just digging that chip in. Doing this kind of thing is just like playing Russian Roulette. You have 6 choices of where to put the crescent wrench. One of them might not work. It is just possible to get unlucky. So, I unlocked the back gear and tried turning the chuck 60 degrees, reapplying the crescent wrench and tapping gently with the copper hammer. Every 120 degrees, I would lock the back gear and try again with the crescent wrench. It didn't even take a single trip around 360 degrees. It just plain old unscrewed, with fairly little torque, almost routinely.
There was a splinter of metal due to galling on the register. And, the threads were packed with chips and penetrating oil. In that month or so of repeated application from both ends, the oil had covered the entire engagement of the threads. I did not even have to use that Internet miracle formula of ATF and acetone! That probably wouldn't have worked any better. The chuck threaded nicely on my current lathe. It is an OK chuck, US made, but not great. A couple of lessons were learned. Keep those chuck threads clean. They are fairly easy to clean with an oil drenched toothbrush, but it is time consuming. Keep running in the same direction, interrupted every now and then with a vigorous axial brushing action. Keep going until you see less chips moving out, then reverse direction. Every now and then take a look. Eventually, all the chips will be knocked out. Once a chip falls out, it is never coming back. Take your time. I guarantee you, this is time well spent. It will be clean in less than 20 minutes, which is nothing compared to one month of trying various Internet tricks. Do not apply excessive force. No matter what anybody tells you, you can damage something, most likely the gear teeth, by locking the gears and trying too hard. Even those 3-D printed plastic gear wedges place all the force on the bull gear key. Time is better than too much force, or even worse, hammering. Some gentle application of heat is probably good. I have a good assortment of blue wrenches, including a huge rosebud which will make angle iron drip, but this is delicate stuff, and I'd even be hesitant to use more than a gentle application of a propane torch, and only if you must.
The chuck was stuck on the spindle, though. I was eventually able to get it off, but it took several weeks. I think that this is the best way to do it, rather than trying to get it off in a single day. Blacksmiths know: time and fire are cruel masters, but they also can be devoted and productive slaves. Of course, the first thing I tried was just unscrewing it. Didn't work. Then, locked the back gears and bull gear pin and tried again. Didn't work. Meanwhile, there were liberal applications of penetrating oil during the whole time. Didn't work. Installed a spindle crank in the other end of the spindle and tried to turn counter-clockwise. It slipped, partially due to grease inside the spindle hole, and partially because I didn't want to try so hard as to damage the inside of the spindle. This ended up not working. Then, I remembered that old trick that you see on the Internet posts. Chuck a hex bar, put a long crescent wrench on it, and hang a weight. The back gear has to be locked. Of course, it is tempting to try to turn the wrench to see if that loosens the chuck. In order to avoid damage to the gear teeth, the lathe was unbolted from the bench so that it would tilt if too much torque was applied. My current lathe had some missing back gear teeth, possibly because of a previous owner using the lock method and hammering on a wrench. Hammering is probably OK if the back gears are not locked. Hit the backing plate repeatedly with a copper hammer and tried again with the crescent wrench. Didn't work. Put the weight back on and waited for a week. The Internet posts say that this always works, but it takes a few days. You will hear the bucket of bolts clatter to the floor, then you will know it is done. So, I used a solid weight and put a sacrificial board under it. I don't like to hear clattering sounds, especially at night. Didn't work. More hitting and penetrating oil. Didn't work. Put the weight on again and left it for another two weeks. Didn't work. Then, I got the bright idea that there must be a chip in there and leaving that weight on there must be just digging that chip in. Doing this kind of thing is just like playing Russian Roulette. You have 6 choices of where to put the crescent wrench. One of them might not work. It is just possible to get unlucky. So, I unlocked the back gear and tried turning the chuck 60 degrees, reapplying the crescent wrench and tapping gently with the copper hammer. Every 120 degrees, I would lock the back gear and try again with the crescent wrench. It didn't even take a single trip around 360 degrees. It just plain old unscrewed, with fairly little torque, almost routinely.
There was a splinter of metal due to galling on the register. And, the threads were packed with chips and penetrating oil. In that month or so of repeated application from both ends, the oil had covered the entire engagement of the threads. I did not even have to use that Internet miracle formula of ATF and acetone! That probably wouldn't have worked any better. The chuck threaded nicely on my current lathe. It is an OK chuck, US made, but not great. A couple of lessons were learned. Keep those chuck threads clean. They are fairly easy to clean with an oil drenched toothbrush, but it is time consuming. Keep running in the same direction, interrupted every now and then with a vigorous axial brushing action. Keep going until you see less chips moving out, then reverse direction. Every now and then take a look. Eventually, all the chips will be knocked out. Once a chip falls out, it is never coming back. Take your time. I guarantee you, this is time well spent. It will be clean in less than 20 minutes, which is nothing compared to one month of trying various Internet tricks. Do not apply excessive force. No matter what anybody tells you, you can damage something, most likely the gear teeth, by locking the gears and trying too hard. Even those 3-D printed plastic gear wedges place all the force on the bull gear key. Time is better than too much force, or even worse, hammering. Some gentle application of heat is probably good. I have a good assortment of blue wrenches, including a huge rosebud which will make angle iron drip, but this is delicate stuff, and I'd even be hesitant to use more than a gentle application of a propane torch, and only if you must.
