how do I remove a B16 tapered chuck from its mandrel?

[Duncan DiSaudelli]

hello

My Nu-tool (ex B&Q) drill press has a B16 spindle which fits into a matching B16 socket in its 1/2" chuck (chuck is labelled "B16"). I remember following the original chuck fitting instructions, 15+ years ago, which said to push the drill press spindle down into the rear of the chuck.

I now want to upgrade to a keyless chuck but I am unable to remove the original chuck because:

1 - there is no cross-slot through the tapered spindle with which to use a drift

2 - wedges will merely force the spindle (and attached chuck) downwards and I can't lock the spindle. There is no "shoulder" on the spindle against which wedges could work, only the body of the drill press where the lower bearing is seated (and through which the spindle is driven).

I have tried a rubber mallet against the chuck sides - no luck.

I have tried heating the chuck with a hot air gun and using the mallet - no luck.

I can't see how to disassemble the entire drill press to get the spindle

• chuck isolated, so I wondered if anyone could please suggest a trick or two which might free the chuck in situ?

Thanks again for any guidance or ideas to experiment with

DDS

[Harry Bloomfield]

Duncan DiSaudelli laid this down on his screen :

Try two wooden wedges, with a slot cut in each for the spindle. Then using two hammers, one in each hand to force the wedges in the gap.

[Bob Minchin]

[John Rumm]

How about, find a M12 bolt or similar, feed it up through the hole in the table (with washers if necessary so the head will not pass through the table). Lower the quill, and grip the end of the bolt in the chuck. With appropriate adjustment of the table height, you should now be able to use the quill leavers to lift it away from the chuck which is now pinned to the table and can't lift with the quill.

[newshound]

It's possible that you have a hollow spindle, although it will probably have a bolt or a plastic plug at the top.

[Duncan DiSaudelli]

Those are some excellent suggestions, and the idea of a hollow spindle is an encouraging thought to say the least! I shall look into it tomorrow night and we'll see what happens next (apart from the usual minor injury and frustration, I mean) when I try these various and good ideas.

Thanks all!

[Davey]

My partial dyslexia made me see that Subject at first glance as: "...tapered duck...".

I'm so glad it wasn't that.

[Thomas Prufer]

I have had the opposite problem: the chuck keeps falling off its taper.

It was when I used (abused?) the chuck to hold polishing wheels. The side loads coming from well below the chuck work the taper loose... (I cleaned it well with emery cloth, and smacked it into place, and may have helped it along with Loctite. It still comes off every so often, but not enough to be trouble.

This was a cheap polishing set, to be held in a drill chuck, with one felt wheel and one sewn, and coarse and fine compounds, similar to:

So if you were use it for polishing, you may find the chuck drops off after a while...

Thomas Prufer

[GB]

Am I understanding this correctly, the only thing holding the chuck in place is that it has a tapered shank that fits in a tapered hole?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Heat the chuck with a hot air gun.

Put the chuck key in and whack that with the mallet - in the turning spindle direction.

[Dave Liquorice]

Yes, expect the hole is in the chuck and the spindle has the shank.

I have a similar cheap pillar drill, chuck does very occasionally fall of.

The OP does seem to having serious problems, where is the drill kept has it got damp and a bit of corrosion happened in the taper? Tried a bit of Plus Gas or diesel applied to the joint? Tried banging the chuck harder on to break the bond?

[John Rumm]

Yup, same here... giving both chuck and spindle a good clean and then applying a small amount of loctite seemed to solve the problem of it dropping off.

[GB]

So, a sharp tap with a hammer on the top of the chuck should theoretically be enough to separate them? But, in practice, after 15 years ...

[Roger Mills]

I'd be inclined to wind some tension into it by passing a bolt up through the table and clamping the threaded end in the chuck. Then raise the chuck with the winding handle and then, once you have some tension in it, give it a smart tap on the side with a hammer.

Works pretty well for breaking the taper on car steering ball joints.

[Adrian Caspersz]

With other downward forcing methods, perhaps touch the chuck body with an oscillating multitool to give it a good percussive shake?

[Andy Burns]

Did that set you up to read "mallet" as "mallard" :-P

Anyway, aren't ducks corkscrewed, rather than tapered?

[Tim Lamb]

You're thinking of male pigs appendages.

[Tim+]

Not just pigs...

Tim

[Andy Burns]

I'm trying not to, but ducks ... same thing.

[Tim Lamb]

I didn't know that.

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