slightly OT: getting the chuck off my drill

[todd]

I purchased a used Dewalt 12V impact driver and part of the deal included an

18V Dewalt drill/driver that is in somewhat bad shape. Its main problem is the keyless chuck is pretty beat up. I'm trying to get the thing off. I've removed a screw from inside the chuck that attaches the chuck to the spindle (presumably), but I still can't budge the chuck. Does anyone have a suggestion for getting this off? The instruction manual doesn't touch on this point. Is it like a drill press where the chuck fits into a taper?

todd

[DanG]

Get the largest Allen wrench you own. Install the short end in the chuck jaws and tighten as best you can. Use a hammer to hit the long end of the Allen as hard as you can. If you were looking at the chuck, hit it in a counter clockwise direction.

It may take several blows. Make them sharp and forceful. You'll know when you succeed.

[BillB]

Tighten the chuck on a big allen wrench and rap it with a mallet to break it loose. Standard right hand thread. May have to wack it fairly hard several times.

Bill

[Leon]

As others have suggested, put a large Allen wrench in the chuck and tighten. Unscrew in the opposite direction that the retainer screw come out in.

Use the drill and a high clutch setting to loosen the chuck with the Allen wrench clamped in a vise.

[dave12345]

Take your new impact driver with any hex bit on it and tighten the drill chuck around the bit, so you have a drill on either end of the bit. The let er rip with the old impact gun and she should pop right off.

[Larry W]

The chuck is threaded onto the shaft with a right-hand thread (the screw you removed had a left-hand thread, correct?) Get the biggest allen (hex) wrench you have that will fit into the chuck jaws and put the short end of the wrench in the chuck. Tighten the chuck onto the allen wrench, then smack the wrench sharply with a hammer in the normal "lefty-loosie" direction.

[todd]

Thanks to all that responded. The chuck was indeed threaded onto a right-hand threaded spindle. The proverbial allen wrench chucked in the chuck did the trick.

todd

[George Max]

I've read all the responses, and I think they're great. But I have a question - if the shaft of the motor, well, the portion that protrudes from the drill at least, isn't locked, what good will clamping an allen wrench in the chuck be? Wouldn't the motor spin in response to hitting that key thereby not loosening the chuck?

Keep in mind that this is entirely an academic question for me, I have no need to remove any chucks. I'm just thinking of an old drill I had where this would have been the situation.

[Jim Behning]

The gears and the armature weight may be enough that a hard quick rap on the allen wrench will break things loose. Most of my drills have a fair bit of resistance from gears and armature weight. The better drills have a much higher resistence. Driving screw with the Milwalkee

3/8 " drill is much more dangerous that the cheap $20 drill. The chepa drill stops or bogs down when you release the switch. The Milwalkee's armature mass keeps on working a good bit longer.