Banjo chuck wrench (pics)

[mklotz]

When I bought my lathe, the (screw-on) chuck must have been mounted by a Chinese strongman. I didn't know of Kroil at the time and didn't relish beating on the chuck wrench with a hammer or using the block of wood on the ways trick so I made a banjo wrench to fit the jaws.



It's nothing more than 3/4" plywood with slots cut out to fit over the chuck jaws but it produces an enormous amount of controlled (and impact free) torque to loosen the chuck after a crash or a long bout of interrupted turning.

Here's a picture of it applied to the chuck.

[dkaustin]

Now yer just showin' off!

That's pretty cool, though.

[BobWarfield]

Like the wrench, hate threaded spindles.

Best,

BW

[cybor462]

Cool idea. My old lathe had a threaded spindle. What I did was use my big adjustable wrench by closing it on a jaw and give it a tap with my hand and off it came, the chuck that is, not my hand silly

[mklotz]

Cool idea. My old lathe had a threaded spindle. What I did was use my big adjustable wrench by closing it on a jaw and give it a tap with my hand and off it came, the chuck that is, not my hand silly

The problem with that approach is that it puts all the stress on one jaw. Not a problem if the chuck isn't screwed down tightly but mine was on tighter than a .... The banjo wrench distributes the force over all the jaws rather than concentrating it on just one.

[Your Old Dog]

Who's gonna be the first to say it?

[Fasttrack]

Say what

[Your Old Dog]

Say what

That it's not likely you can exert equal pressure on three jaws if the squares are hand cut. You will likely only get the inside of one and the outside of the other and the third one goes along for the ride. If all three jaws are to take force than it would require some real precision work. If any one of the slots is too narrow it's doing all the work the same as a crescent wrench would be on one jaw. I'm not being an overly critical thinker here but I know this crowd has many who are.

..........................does that mean I'm slowly being converted?

[Frank Ford]

Don't forget the flexibility of wood. Unlike a steel wrench, the wood one might well allow the jaw that touches first to moosh into it so the next one can take some load, and so on as the force is applied. The more often the wrench is used, the more likely the jaws are to even out. . .

[stuntrunt]

Hexagonal stock in the chuck... and a spanner with a long handle...