Maintaining your 3 or 6 Jaw Precision Stainless Steel Chuck.
In the past year we have been getting more and more BTDs in that need significant cleaning prior to us figuring out what is wrong with them. The conclusion is:
You have to maintain the chuck better.
The chucks look newly cleaned on the outside when we get them. Do not waste your time doing this. Spend your time maintaining the interior of the chuck. Remember you or your company spend significant money obtaining this tool.
Precision Chuck maintenance tips
When you are done with your job, prior to all the material swarf has dried, you need to do the following.
- Flush the chuck out with water in closed, middle and open positions.
- If you have an ultrasonic cleaner use it.
- Spray WD-40 or equivalent on interior of chuck.
- Flush chuck again if you do not want WD-40 in your machine environment.
- If you use any cleaner that you use in your machine on the chuck you need to flush the chuck out excessively.
If a chuck does not have swarf in it many times we see that the cleaner has dried on the chuck internally.
We have chucks in the field since 2003 that are used daily and have never needed rebuilding. Yours could be one of those also with just a little careful maintenance.