mini lathe chuck replacing.

G`day from AU.

I am 80YO and enjoy my time on my Seig SC3, but due to age and arthritis in the fingers,I now have difficulty removing and fitting the 3 nuts between the spindle and housing due to lack of space behind the flange,when changing chucks.

Is there an extension available to overcome this problem?

Regards,Bob Kirk.

How about some larger diameter nuts, tapped M6, say 3/4" dia , or whatever will fit.
Could be knurled or use a tommy bar? or both?

I'm heading that way myself, fingers like bananas.

Hi Bob,

Have you tried this nut starter? Another trick here.

Thor

Edited By Thor on 26/09/2018 18:01:15

This website has a suggestion for conversion to front mount, which would avoid the problem completely.

**LINK**

Brian

G'day Bob ,

Somewhere on this forum there was a post that had a tool especailly designed to make fitting the nuts easy i just can't remember who it was that made it . It was basically a piece of thin flat bar with two hacksaw cuts in the end giving three tangs . The middle tang is bent out to form a joggle so the nut can fit between it and the outer two tangs .

Hard to picture i know but the idea is the nut is held in the device and place over the end of the stud and then spun onto the stud by using th device as a spanner .

If no one else can find the origional post i will knock one up and take photo and post it here .

I made life easier by replacing the supplied studs with socket head set screws, cut down, thread locked, and adjusted so that there is just enough thread available for the nut. That maximises the space available for fingers.

The last picture in the nut starter link above shows how little space there is for larger nuts or gadgets.

If there is access to a 3D printer, maybe something like this:

A while ago, M2Z contributed an article to M E W about his "widget".

It was simply a bit if strip steel with two cuts on the end allowing a "tongue" to be bent up which located in the centre of the nut to hold it against the rest of the tool. whilst allowing spanner access to the nut.

It works quite well for me. (Mine was made from some steel banding strip) And yes, I am of similar vintage, so take heart.

Howard

Various people have come up with holders.

If you do or can get done a roller bearing conversion, the spindle will move forwards about 6mm, which is a big increase in the space making fitting and removing nuts easy.

Neil

I think it was DannyMZ actually

Neil

Thats the one !

DannyM2Z - MEW 232 page 16 .

I must also thank Harold Hall for his index as it made finding that article or widget a breeze !

I first put the washers on with a pair of tweezers. Then I put the nuts in place with the tweezers and push them up to the thread with a 6" or 150mm steel ruler. A quick flick with the tweezers starts them on the thread ready to finish off with an open ended spanner.

Thin the flange 5 mm

I used an ice cream stick with a small round magnet glued to the end, makes both putting the on and off easier.