Stuck Morse Tapers

[Don P]

My client has asked me to show him how to make windows for his barn in the farm shop. It's been 35 years since I made any so I've been making a practice run in my shop and just cranked out the first frame. The tools are there at his place although things need tweaking, it has been largely neglected for the past couple of decades. The first problem I ran into was trying to get the chuck off the drill press to install the hollow chisel mortising attachment. On this one the chuck has to come off, the attachment goes on and then the chuck is reinstalled. The drill press is a '62 Craftsman, bought new including the attachment, everything is still in its original packaging and I see no wear on any mortiser parts so I doubt the chuck has ever been off and it isn't giving up. I'm sure heat would do it but I'm afraid of cooking the bearings or the chuck. I've soaked everything and tried tapping screwdrivers and even a ball joint pickle fork around the gap but didn't want to wail on it. The lathe has the same problem. Ideas?

[Texas Ranger]

penetrating oil and tap tap tap.  Crud build up can be a problem.

[Dave Shepard]

Is there no slot for a tapered Morse Taper tapper?

[Don P]

Ah, between your suggestion and beenthere sent me a video link ... I'll go take a look tomorrow.

[Ljohnsaw]

tapered Morse Taper tapper

I don't have any machinery that uses those but I have a few and always wondered what the technical name was for them.;)

[Poquo]

Drill drift looks like a flat wedge 

[Don P]

I've been reading this evening, it looks like the drift is the most common. A Jacobs taper uses 2 thin hardened wedges (mcsdirect.com) driven opposite each other under the chuck. Some of the Craftsman's you unscrew the collar at the base of the quill and it pushes down on the chuck, I'm hoping for that one.

One good idea I read was to put a pail with a rag in it on the table under the chuck to catch it.

[low_48]

Driving wedges between the chuck and the drill press head will just as likely knock the chuck off the taper and the shaft taper will remain in the drill press. Also check if the drill press shaft is hollow. Then drive a steel rod from above and through the shaft.

[Poquo]

http://vintagemachinery.org/  Found this site it has old owners manuals for tools , hope this helps.

[Tom King]

Google "morse taper drifts" and you should be able to find the right size for your particular taper.  I wouldn't go beating on it.

[Don P]

It was that Craftsman style. There is a collar above the chuck at the bottom of the quill. There are 3 holes in the collar, the end of the chuck key happened to fit in perfectly. I tapped it lefty loosey and tapped on the chuck some and it unthreads from the bottom of the tube and drive the chuck off the chuck taper, which is all I really need to get the attachment on. Thanks everyone, I've learned several ways here. I need to get a drift, I see where it works on mine.

[low_48]

It was that Craftsman style. There is a collar above the chuck at the bottom of the quill. There are 3 holes in the collar, the end of the chuck key happened to fit in perfectly. 

The chuck key end didn't happen to fit, it was engineered for that!

[Old Greenhorn]

Sorry, been busy, I should have responded to this as it is in my wheelhouse, but I missed the thread. If it is a morse taper (quite long) it will have a drift slot and easy to remove with a drift. If it is a drill chuck taper (chuck is the female) then it will either require a pair of wedges driven against each other (as mentioned above), or if it is a walker turner style, it will have the removal nut to back down and pop it off. Chuck tapers are short and tough to remove without the right tools. The paired wedges are cheap and don't hold up well. You set them above the chuck and use a c-clamp to drive them together. Using screwdrivers or improvised wedges is hard to do and does more damage than help. Chuck wedges work well, they come in different sizes (3 I think). Hope this helps a little. ALso, I have never known heat to do any good, only damage, on these things.

[Don P]

 It was the Walker-Turner style chuck with a removal "nut". It looks like they also made some Craftsman tools although by the early 60's W-T was a name under Rockwell. From what I've read the short stubby taper is a Jacobs taper. 

I've got the mortising attachment on so that part is done. Next up is cleaning up the shop and making an outfeed table for the tablesaw and a bench for the radial arm, they are both just stand alone right now which doesn't make things accurate or particularly safe. When the farm hand passed away about a decade ago the shop turned into more of a catch all storage space. I've found a pair of old roller skates, the "kids" are only a couple of years younger than me. One of the neat finds was a pair of leather gaiters, I assume from Pershing's time but could be from JEB Stuart's :D. We'll end up repairing the floor at some point, it is basically on the ground and sagging so whatever we do in the moment needs to be able to come out and then replaced on a flat floor later, always fun when you need to prioritize which project to work on first.