Need Help!- HAAS HL-4 chuck help to remove

[joanpim]

Hi, guy I need some help, if is possible to how can remove the chuck from my haas HL-4 lathe, all the help you can is important for me.
thank in advanced
Joanpim

[Geof]

You don't say what type of chuck but I am guessing it is either an air operated or hydraulic three jaw. I have not worked on the HL4 but I have taken the chuck off the HL1 and I think the procedure is the same.

The chuck itself is held on with three socket head cap screws which can be seen on the front of the chuck.

The drawtube that goes through the spindle to the cylinder at the back is screwed into a hollow nut inside the chuck. This nut needs a special wrench that looks a bit like a hollow screwdriver. The wrench is a piece of heavy wall tube with a hole across one end for a bar to go through and two keys at the front.

Very likely you have never seen this wrench.

If you look down the hole in the chuck you will see a ring at the back of the chuck and in this ring there are two notches. These are what the keys on the wrench fit into; as I said something like a screwdriver. The ring is the nut that screws onto the drawtube.

If you do not have the wrench you will have to make one using a piece of round bar that just fits in the hole through the chuck. Just mill the end to make a key all the way across, it is not necessary to use tube. Drill a corss hole for the bar to turn it with and drill a nice deep center hole in the end with the cross hole.

Once you have the wrench you can start; have the chuck closed and for the moment do not loosen the socket head capscrews.

The notches are only about 2 mm deep and it is really difficult to hold the wrench in place and turn it, especially if things are stiff. I hold the wrench in place using a piece of round bar with the end machined like a center in the turret. Your wrench will probably be a little loose in the nut and you will be able to turn it back and forth a little bit; bring the turret in really carefully with the pointed round bar into the center hole until it gets difficult to move the wrench, then back the turret off about 1/2 mm.

Stop the chuck from rotating by wedging it with some blocks of wood, put a bar into the cross hole in the wrench and turn it counterclockwise.

It is probably going to take a lot of effort because things are likely to be rusted up.

Once you have turned the nut a little bit it will start to mo0ve out and the wrench will become tight against the center in the turret so back the turret off a bit more and keep on loosening the nut.

While you are loosening the nut you should see the chuck jaws starting to open; this is correct, they should open. It is possible that after the nut has been loosened many turns the jaws will have opened as far as they can and the nut gets tight.

Now loosen the socket head cap screws that hold the chuck on; don't remove them just loosen one or two turns.

Eventually you will feel the nut come off the end of the drawtube and turn fairly easily; now you can take the wrench out.

The chuck is heavy and it is a good idea to stick a long piece of bar down the spindle so it cannot just fall off.

Finish removing the socket head cap screws and you should be able to knock the chuck off onto the bar.

[joanpim]

thanks a lot Geof, is a Great help for me, now we are working on it
again tanks
Joanpim