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Deep cleaning chucks

Ian 'Robbo' Roberts or Robertson, can't remember has one on doing this with both the Vicmark and Nova chucks. I think his videos are better than the ones the manufacturers did. The Nova one is still up, but I couldn't find the Vicmark one last time I looked. He is the one who did the most watched video on why you don't use a SRG on bowls.

Found it:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF3IfVkbCxE


robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
Ian 'Robbo' Roberts or Robertson, can't remember has one on doing this with both the Vicmark and Nova chucks. I think his videos are better than the ones the manufacturers did. The Nova one is still up, but I couldn't find the Vicmark one last time I looked. He is the one who did the most watched video on why you don't use a SRG on bowls.

Found it:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF3IfVkbCxE


robo hippy
Click to expand...
If you go to his YouTube site that you linked there are 3 videos on cleaning chucks, 3A, 3B, and 3C.
The A video is general stuff, the B video is on the Vicmarc, and the C video is on the Nova.
 
You could also submerge the chuck in some solvent and use compressed air to blow the liquid and sludge from inside the chuck.
If you submerge the chuck in a solvent and open and close the chuck while it is submerged it will loosen the debris inside the chuck.
Many turners avoid using grease or lubricant inside wood lathe chucks as this will collect the wood dust into the grease.
This is a quick fix if you don't have time to take your chuck apart if it is getting gummed up but still working.
Taking the chuck apart and cleaning properly with a solvent and reassembling is the best practice if you have the time.
Nova chucks are pretty simple to take apart and reassemble, you just need to get the chuck jaws in the correct order when reassembling.
 
All new chucks will come with rust preventive and usually some oil on moving parts (ss chucks probably just oil or grease). As @Mike Johnson said, the stuff is a magnate for debris. MS or naptha are good cleaners for this stuff.

I disassemble and clean new or used chucks when I get them. An excellent rust preventive is DuPont Chain Saver (walmart). Dries to a waxy slick film. All friction surfaces get some paste wax. I just blow out saw dust occasionally, future cleaning rarely required. I prefer open back chucks that are easily blown out.
 
While many people suggest avoiding grease in a chuck, Nova instructions call for using general purpose grease on the inner workings.
I am interested in hearing from those who have taken apart and reassembled one or more Super Nova 2 chucks. Did you use grease on the workings or go without lubricant? How did that work out?
 
Dry lube or greaseless lube, leaves no sticky film on the surface to act as a dust magnet. A lot of dry lubes contain silicone which is usually banned in shops that spray a surface finish such as lacquer. Seems like one little molecule of silicone will fish eye or orange peel a surface finish. Glide cote and Lami lube are two that come to mind but I'm sure there are others.
 
This quote is straight from Nova.
“Self-lubricating copper-infused precision-cast jaw slides for effortless movement and resistance to wear and tear.”
 
So, as a general rule - would there be a concensus that closed back chucks - a little dry lube...Open back chucks - NO lube....? I ask this because it seems that the main issue of lube/no lube is the potential of debris accumulation in the gears. Open back chucks clearly are subject to much more of this.
 
Tim Tucker said:
So, as a general rule - would there be a concensus that closed back chucks - a little dry lube...Open back chucks - NO lube....? I ask this because it seems that the main issue of lube/no lube is the potential of debris accumulation in the gears. Open back chucks clearly are subject to much more of this.
Click to expand...
My consensus only - lube is needed for either, and it needs to be dry. I have tried various dry lubes, and find plain paste wax is as good or better than any of them for friction reduction and rust prevention. Never owned a closed back chuck but dust will eventually work its way in. So after the 1st cleaning would be the time to apply the wax.

The friction surfaces of a chuck move very slowly, no heat to deal with. Galling (metal transfer) from surfaces sliding together is the wear mechanism. My waxed chucks show none after years of use. Stainless chucks may be a different animal, as ss is more prone to this wear mechanism, and depends on the particular ss.
 
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I was show a process that is relatively essy in cleaning a chuck. Start by wrapping the chuck in saran wrap to enclose the chuck. Spray a fair amout of WD40 inside the wrap and spin the chuck at a speed of 800~1000 for a few minutes. The chips full of WD40 will migrate to the edges of the chuck and removing the chips is much easier.
 
I finally got around to opening one of my SN2's. I was surprised to find very little sawdust inside and no visible lubricant. So when I put it back together I didn't add any lube, and I'm not even going to take apart the other (two unless they stop working).
 
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