New way to clean and lube your scroll chuck.......

[Odie]

I now have four Oneway Stronghold chucks, and I've been using different types of oils to lube them. The problem with that, is anything that is an oil-base does attract dust, and eventually it'll bind up, making the slides require more effort to make them move. When you've had about enough of that.....you have to disassemble and clean it out every couple years. After removing the slides, I use rags, brushes, and q-tips to clean them, plus clean out the scroll grooves......hate it, but it's gotta be done!:mad:

While I was cleaning one of my chucks yesterday, the light bulb turned on! I've been having such great success keeping my banjo operating smoothly, using dry graphite along the cam......that it's a natural thought to do the same with my chucks......did it......the chuck now operates smoothly, very smoothly! Don't know how this will work out in the long term, but it's great for now!

If there are any problems using the dry graphite on the chucks......I'll report back.....but, so far, so good.

-----odie-----

 

[Dennis J Gooding]

Graphite can be messy stuff on light wood. After operating the chuck several times to embed the graphite into the rubbing surfaces of the chuck, I would blow out the remaining loose particles with compressed air. Then I would wipe off the outside surfaces of the chuck so that when handling the chuck I do not transfer any dust to the turning.

 

[Odie]

Graphite can be messy stuff on light wood. After operating the chuck several times to embed the graphite into the rubbing surfaces of the chuck, I would blow out the remaining loose particles with compressed air. Then I would wipe off the outside surfaces of the chuck so that when handling the chuck I do not transfer any dust to the turning.

Good idea Dennis......I'll do that. I did use it to rough out an East India Rosewood bowl yesterday, but that is very dark wood. I'm headed back out to the shop shortly, and I'll be sure to blow out the chuck, first thing!

-----odie-----

 

[john lucas]

Ditto what Dennis said. As a camera repairman I have tried lots of lubricants both wet and dry. They all have pros and cons. I have Vicmarc chucks and they have an enclosed back. They simply don't get much dirt inside. I also have 2 off brand copies of Vicmarc. I was having some problems with the off brand ones and decided to clean them all. The off brand ones had worn pinion gears. The angles on the gears aren't correct and they only mate with a small area on the ring gear. The Vicmarcs mate far better and show no wear at all. Some of my Vicmarcs are over 10 years old. The Vicmarcs also had very little dust inside while the off brand ones had noticeable dust.
For lube on chucks what I prefer is to dissassemble them and wipe on a good oil and then wipe it all off. This seems to make it run smooth but doesn't collect dust. Much easier is to use Graphite. Mine comes in a small bottle and you sort of spray it on. I will also put some on a rag and wipe it on the slides and mating surfaces. Then assemble the chuck without the back and run it in and out a few times to spread the graphite. Then blow it out with compressed air. That seems to work quite well. It doesn't require complete dissassembly except for the slides and jaws.

 

[Odie]

Ditto what Dennis said. As a camera repairman I have tried lots of lubricants both wet and dry. They all have pros and cons. I have Vicmarc chucks and they have an enclosed back. They simply don't get much dirt inside. I also have 2 off brand copies of Vicmarc. I was having some problems with the off brand ones and decided to clean them all. The off brand ones had worn pinion gears. The angles on the gears aren't correct and they only mate with a small area on the ring gear. The Vicmarcs mate far better and show no wear at all. Some of my Vicmarcs are over 10 years old. The Vicmarcs also had very little dust inside while the off brand ones had noticeable dust.
For lube on chucks what I prefer is to dissassemble them and wipe on a good oil and then wipe it all off. This seems to make it run smooth but doesn't collect dust. Much easier is to use Graphite. Mine comes in a small bottle and you sort of spray it on. I will also put some on a rag and wipe it on the slides and mating surfaces. Then assemble the chuck without the back and run it in and out a few times to spread the graphite. Then blow it out with compressed air. That seems to work quite well. It doesn't require complete dissassembly except for the slides and jaws.

Thanks, John......

The problems I've been having isn't with the back of the chuck, but dust collecting on the slides, and brought internally when the slides are brought back in. The dust gets introduced between the slides and the scroll, and the oil base lubricants exacerbates the problem. After using the chuck, I do give the slides a blast of air prior to bringing them back towards the center, but some dust always does seem to slip by. I'm thinking that the dry graphite will keep dust from sticking and creating a "mud", like it does when using an oil based lube. We'll see.....

I'll be sure to let everyone know if I run into problems using the graphite.

-----odie-----

 

[hockenbery]

I maintain all my chucks with ample doses of neglect.
I don't recommend this process but isnworks for me.

I don't clean any of them intentionally or don't oil them and they work just fine.
I have never taken any of them apart.

3 strongholds the oldest 1995 Newest 2000,
talon - 2000
Vicmarc 120 - 2007

 

[Bill Boehme]

I have tried all sorts of lubricants on my Oneway chucks and like Odie said anything that contains oil or grease is bad. I have also used graphite and it seems to be a good solution although a little messy applying it. I have found a dry silicone lubricant that I like very much, CRC Heavy Duty Silicone. Unlike all the other silicone lubricants that I have tried, it doesn't leave an oily or greasy film. Since it is an aerosol, you need to be careful about overspray. I use it outdoors and then use a solvent such as MEK to wipe down the external parts of the body. Since removing the tapered insert from Oneway chucks is risky business, I've only done it a couple times. The dry silicone lube seems to be working well. I also have several Oneway chucks that have no lubricant and they also seem to be working just fine. I looked inside one of my Vicmarc chucks and the ring gear was lubricated with a blue colored grease that looks like it might be Polyrex EM ... a grease designed to lubricate the bearings in electric motors.

I use compressed air to blow dust out of my chucks after every use and that has kept the scroll clean. Sanding is absolutely the worst operation as far as getting dust where it isn't welcome is concerned.

 

[olaf Vogel]

One other option, from my mountain bike days, is parafin wax. (there are various exotic waxes, but for this purpose, not a big deal)
The problem with mountain bike chains is the same, attracting and having dust, sand etc stick to chains. Grease works, but flies around.

So tried this on my Stronghold. Disassemble and clean as usual. Cover all parts with wax, heavily.
Assemble and bake in an old toaster oven for 30 min. The heat allows the wax to creep into any tiny cracks.

When cool, its totally dry, clean, non-sticky, clean. Lasts quite a while and protects against rust.

But since my lathe uses babbitt bearings, I figured there's no point in all the effort. So, I only did it once, then got lazy and switched to silicone lube.

 

[John Torchick]

As a camera repairman I have tried lots of lubricants both wet and dry.

Good info here as I have been debating on checking and cleaning my Nova chuck.
John, I guess you tried different lubricants and waited to see what developed.

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

I steered away from dry graphite just because I need more rust prevention because of all the juicy wood I rough turn. My shop is below my house and my kids recently commented that it sounded like it was raining below the floor.

One thought that came to mind from this discussion is that of a very light gun oil. I won't bore you with the details, but rifles will jam with any oily residue at all (especially below freezing), so a few gun oils are very, very thin. Yes, I learned this the hard way...

Maybe that would be the ticket for chucks, and the rust prevention is quite good on the best guns oils as well? I have a few gummy chucks, so I'll report when I get fed up, try the gun oil, and see how it works for a month or two.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Neither my Strongholds or Talons have ever been talen apart or lubricated, they do work just fine, I do blow the dust out between the jaw slides and body, as sometimes the dust does get in there.

Though I don’t use or spray any finishes on turnings while mounted in the chucks, as that would certainly get stuff to stick to/in there, as for the open back of the Oneway chucks, anything that would fall into it somehow gets flung out, especially so since the inside body shape is slanted helping dust to fly out, having the pinion gear on the chuck key rather than inside the chuck, there is less chance of anything getting caught in between there.

I have switches and bearings that are closed or shielded and they all will get dust into them and then trap it, on a dry chuck I’d rather have it open, just a quick blow keeps them clean, works for me

 

[Bill Blasic]

Try talcum powder aka Baby Powder. Had to take apart a chuck and found a video and he used Baby Powder for a lubricant. I tried it and it is very smooth in operation. Will see how it goes over the long run.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Babies require frequent reapplication of powder.

 

[john lucas]

What you don't do is leave wet oak in the chuck overnight. Did that once. spent the next day trying to clean the rust off. You can't beat Evapo-rust. Works as good as reverse electroplating and better than naval jelly.