My MT2 drill chuck got stuck in my lathe tailstock. I did not want to
crank *too too* hard trying to push the arbor out for fear of damaging
feed threads. I finally got it out by taking apart the tailstock and
heating the ram (if that's the right term) with a little propane torch.
Tapping a rod thru the ram then popped the chuck out. Tapping the rod
did not work until I added the heat.

My question is how do I prevent the chuck (or other arbors) from
sticking (that much) in the first place?

lens wrote:
My MT2 drill chuck got stuck in my lathe tailstock. I did not want to
crank *too too* hard trying to push the arbor out for fear of damaging
feed threads. I finally got it out by taking apart the tailstock and
heating the ram (if that's the right term) with a little propane torch.
Tapping a rod thru the ram then popped the chuck out. Tapping the rod
did not work until I added the heat.

My question is how do I prevent the chuck (or other arbors) from
sticking (that much) in the first place?

You didn't mention what kind of lathe it is. On my South Bend, when I retract
the tailstock ram, when it gets almost fully in the tapered tool is ejected if
the ram is withdrawn sharply enough.

GWE

Same thing on my Atlas and most other lathes. Keep the taper clean and
oiled and remove it when it's not being used. The self ejection feature
is very common on better made lathes.
Bugs

On 29 Dec 2005 02:31:37 -0800, "Bugs" wrote:

Same thing on my Atlas and most other lathes. Keep the taper clean and
oiled and remove it when it's not being used. The self ejection feature
is very common on better made lathes.
Bugs


The one cavat on this is...if your tool has a tang at the ass end. If
it has no tang, for example a live center..it can be quite problematic
even with high end machines. My Hardinge HLV-H is an example. I had to
make a pickle fork to remove un tanged centers...and the one time I
put in a #2 dead center..it was 4 hours getting it out and ultimately
involved a welder...... I finally drilled the dead center and stuck
in a bolt for an impromtu tang, so I could use it regularly.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner

lens wrote:
My MT2 drill chuck got stuck in my lathe tailstock. I did not want to
crank *too too* hard trying to push the arbor out for fear of damaging
feed threads. I finally got it out by taking apart the tailstock and
heating the ram (if that's the right term) with a little propane torch.
Tapping a rod thru the ram then popped the chuck out. Tapping the rod
did not work until I added the heat.

My question is how do I prevent the chuck (or other arbors) from
sticking (that much) in the first place?

Don't worry about cranking too hard. The morse tapers are suppose to be
self locking yet they will usually pop right out when you fully retract
the tailstock. If for some reason your tailstock is designed to release
only tapers with driver tangs then you may have use a fork. I use a slim
line open end wrench which fits over the protruding portion of the morse
taper. Then the tailstock spindle is retracted into the tailstock
casting the wrench serves as a spacer to pop out the MT.

Having read the posts to date makes me uneasy. I have an Atlas 10F
lathe and have been using the tailstock this way for many years. The
auto ejection feature on my lathe always works. Occasionally the hand
wheel slips when attempting ejection, so I have to tighten it up. A
nuisance, but not enough of a problem to have ever taken the thing apart
to see if a key is missing or something.
I wonder if the root problem is that the taper in the ram is a
little bunged up making it necessary to hammer the tooling into place?
Might be worth it to blue up a known good taper and check for fit.
HSM used to have an ad for some green plastic morse taper cleaners.
They look like a straight flute reamer, but are made of some kind of
plastic that must have a fine abrasive in it. I have one for Morse #2
and one for Morse #3. Once every couple of years I run then into the
headstock and tailstock just to tidy up the bores.
If I had to vote, I'd choose the pickle fork over the heat any time.

HSM had an article a few years ago written by a guy who had trouble with
the tooling coming loose in the tailstock. So he drilled and tapped a
hole all the way through the ram in the area where the tang would be.
Then he lock-tited 2 set screws into those holes so they would stop the
tang from turning if the the tool did come loose. Not a bad idea.

Pete Stanaitis
------------------------

lens wrote:
My MT2 drill chuck got stuck in my lathe tailstock. I did not want to
crank *too too* hard trying to push the arbor out for fear of damaging
feed threads. I finally got it out by taking apart the tailstock and
heating the ram (if that's the right term) with a little propane torch.
Tapping a rod thru the ram then popped the chuck out. Tapping the rod
did not work until I added the heat.

My question is how do I prevent the chuck (or other arbors) from
sticking (that much) in the first place?

The Lathe in question is a new Wabeco D3000E. I know they are not that
common so FYI:

http://www.mdaprecision.com/Products...0E/D3000E.html

I am the only owner so I know it hasn't been abused (yet). The arbor
and drill chuck are also pretty new and look to be ding free. Thanks
for the suggestions. I will try the "fork" idea if it happens again and
also get one of those taper cleaners.

BTW. I discolored the ram a bit when I heated it but everything seems
to fit back together OK. Did I upset the hardening or anything like
that? If so, can I (or should I) do anything about it?

According to Gunner Asch :
On 29 Dec 2005 02:31:37 -0800, "Bugs" wrote:

Same thing on my Atlas and most other lathes. Keep the taper clean and
oiled and remove it when it's not being used. The self ejection feature
is very common on better made lathes.
Bugs


The one cavat on this is...if your tool has a tang at the ass end. If
it has no tang, for example a live center..it can be quite problematic
even with high end machines.

I had a similar problem with my Clausing and an interchangeable
point live center (all the others are long enough). My long-term
solution was to make a brass threaded plug to screw into the back of the
shank (which was already threaded) to make it just long enough for the
ejection to work properly.

For the short term, the solution was simple. The tailstock ram
in the lathe (a Clausing 5418) has a slot milled into it from one side
to the other for a drill drift. While I could not use the drill drift
(the center's shank was even too short for that), I could reach in with
a bronze rod and transfer a hammer tap to the end of the shank.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

lens wrote:
The Lathe in question is a new Wabeco D3000E. I know they are not that
common so FYI:

http://www.mdaprecision.com/Products...0E/D3000E.html

I am the only owner so I know it hasn't been abused (yet). The arbor
and drill chuck are also pretty new and look to be ding free. Thanks
for the suggestions. I will try the "fork" idea if it happens again and
also get one of those taper cleaners.

BTW. I discolored the ram a bit when I heated it but everything seems
to fit back together OK. Did I upset the hardening or anything like
that? If so, can I (or should I) do anything about it?

It looks like the Morse taper drivers tangs are not needed according to
your link. My experience has been that any dings make tapers not stick
so don't waste you time with a cleaner. You need to eat your Wheaties
and not be so afraid of using a little muscle.

I forgot to say that my MT2 arbor did not have a tang. From what DoN
said, maybe that was the real problem.

lens wrote:
I forgot to say that my MT2 arbor did not have a tang. From what DoN
said, maybe that was the real problem.

Your lathe doesn't need them.
http://tinyurl.com/7fy66

According to tomcas :
lens wrote:
I forgot to say that my MT2 arbor did not have a tang. From what DoN
said, maybe that was the real problem.

Your lathe doesn't need them.
http://tinyurl.com/7fy66

It may need one (or some projection) to extend far enough back
to self-eject when the tailstock ram is cranked all the way back.

It doesn't need to be a true tang, as long as it extends far
enough back to hit the end of the leadscrew a faction of a turn before
full retraction.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---