Arundel J4 Senior - Chuck removal

[Duncan L]

Hello, i have recently been given what i believe is an Arundel J4 Senior. Although it is fully working order, it is in need of some TLC. I am sure i will have plenty of questions as i complete the restoration, but first off; please can someone tell me how to remove the chuck and the bowl plate? Many thanks

[Les Symonds]

Your question is a little vague. Is the chuck on the in-board side of the headstock and the "bowl plate" on the outboard side? I'm assuming that by "bowl plate" you really mean faceplate! Whatever... ideally, you need some was of locking the spindle. If the lathe doesn't have a spindle lock, you could try a number of ways. Get a piece of timber about 2x1 in section, put a couple of screws through it such that the timber lies flat on the surface of the faceplate and the screws go through the wood and then through any 2 holes in the faceplate. Hole it in place, bring a tool-rest in and place it tightly underneath the piece of timber. This will effectively lock the spindle and allow you to try shifting the chuck. Don't put a chuck key into its hole in the chuck body and thwack it with a mallet...this could crack the pinion gears. Instead, open up the jaws until a long steel bar can fit between them, projecting outwards as a lever, then thwack that with a mallet. A few liberal sprayings with releasing oil (WD40) before you start might help.

Try that for starters!


You'll find info about your lathe on the lathes.uk web sitehttp://www.lathes.co.uk/arundel/page3.html

[Bill21]

Good reply from Les. 
That should resolve the problem. If that doesn’t work we could be into the realms of penetrating fluid and heat guns!

Do get back to us with your progress.