Unjamming a keyless chuck

[Roland Perry]

I have a fairly new (~2yrs) £50 orange Black and Decker cordless drill, and the standard keyless chuck has jammed "open".

Any ideas on how to free it up (brute force seems not to work).

[Bob Minchin]

It is an all metal one?

Heating and tapping it gently might just do the trick. Otherwise remove it and soak in plusgas fluid.

If you are successful, keep it lubricated and be very cautious before doing any upward drilling of vertical holes that allow dust to enter the chuck. If you need to fit a new chuck, make sure it is a proper keyed one to avoid a repeat of the problem.

Bob

[The Medway Handyman]

Spray it with WD40.

Those round rubber dust catchers are ideal for that.

Nothing wrong with keyless chucks. Keyed chucks take far too long to change bits.

[Roland Perry]

In message , at 13:07:42 on Sun, 30 Dec

2012, Bob Minchin remarked:

No, it has grey-painted light-brown plastic on the nose and black plastic that you grip to tighten the chuck. (And behind that is a black plastic torque setting ring.

Not obvious how to remove it, but applying even more brute force in the attempt has freed it up. Hurrah!

Yes, that's probably what caused the problem, dust from drilling into ceiling plasterboard. But that phase is over now.

[Roland Perry]

In message , at 13:12:29 on Sun, 30 Dec 2012, The Medway Handyman remarked:

Tried that earlier.

My "other" drill is an ancient mains-powered one, and I don't seem to be able to get a proper replacement key. The original one was lost years ago. On my second "4-way universal" one. The first fitted reasonably well but broke eventually. The identical-looking replacement simply doesn't fit. The teeth are almost entirely chewed off the one out of the four that fits the closest.

There's also the safety issue: my tool-training says don't fiddle with a chuck-key on a drill that's on power. So changing bits takes even longer.

[Nick Odell]

This will horrify you then. When I was running the Hayman Guitar production line (back in the 70s before h&s was invented) the factory-wide technique for quick-changing drill bits involved keyed chucks without keys and was all done by hand. It's easier to demonstrate than describe (yes, I still change drill bits this way) but tightening the chuck involved squeezing the drill trigger while holding the chuck and _just_ letting go as the jaws snapped around the drill. Opening it again was done with a quick flick of the wrist while it was stationary. It works with all the smaller-sized drill bits such as the ones we used on the production line but isn't much use with stuff much bigger than 5mm - and absolutely, definitely shouldn't be tried with a pillar drill!

Nick

[Bill]

In message , Nick Odell writes

I used to do the same, I had a rather old B&D mains powered hand drill with a keyed chuck that was smooth and easy to grip just enough to tighten/untighten it. Then came the day that I tried the same stunt on one that the manufacturers had thought it a good idea to knurl the surface of the chuck........ It took a while for the skin on my left hand to grow back..........

[Roland Perry]

In message , at 14:46:23 on Sun, 30 Dec 2012, Nick Odell remarked:

That's not very different to how a keyless chuck works (especially at high torque settings). The problem with using keys in a live drill is the risk of the drill starting to turn (if you hit the trigger accidentally) with the key in-situ and it flying off across the room.

[Bob Minchin]

Why? is it full of water??

WD40 is not a lubricant and it not a penetrating fluid.

[Bob Eager]

+1

[Ian Jackson]

-1 I'm afraid you're both wrong.

[polygonum]

Ah but!!!

The other day I was in a hardware/tool shop - and there was a whole shelf of WD40 products. Including Silicone spray, White Lithium grease, penetrant spry and, I think,some others. So "WD40" is now an inadequate description to identify whether the product is, or is not, a lubricant, penetrating oil, or whatever.

[Ian Jackson]

The 'real McCoy' is here:

"WD-40 lubricates moving parts such as hinges, wheels, rollers, chains, and gears. It protects against rust and corrosion on items like tools, and sporting equipment. It penetrates to free stuck corroded parts like nuts, bolts, valves and locks. It quickly removes adhesives, corrosion and paint. It displaces moisture to restore water flooded equipment such as engines, spark plugs and power tools."

[newshound]

I still remember my first day working in a factory in 1965 being shown a broken pane of wired glass in the sawtooth window about 30 feet above a lathe, and the foreman explaining that this was where the chuck key could end up if you started the lathe with they key in the chuck.

A lesson never forgotten!

[The Medway Handyman]

Its both. Luddite.

[The Medway Handyman]

And - it's kind to children, old ladies & fluffy animals.

[Ian Jackson]

So, so true. And if the weather's a bit damp, it also can be used to help you light reluctant garden fires.

[newshound]

I was going to say that too!