Viceroy Educator - jammed faceplate

[Keith]

I’ve made a few bowls using a 5” inboard Al faceplate with screwed on softwood block.
Last one I made - I couldn’t get the faceplate off. Normally clamp a g cramp across the plate and give it a tap to unscrew.
This time after repeated attempts and g cramp flying across the workshop it won’t budge. Separated the bowl and tried gripping the wood instead of the slippery Al plate - to no avail.
No real flats on the outboard shaft - only slight at about 1.3” - to grip - I hold the big 12” faceplate on that end.
Thought about heating it but worried about damaging bearings.
Has anyone any ideas???

 

[Phill05]

You have two dissimilar metals , this forms a corrosion and is called galvanic, soak the joint in say WD 40 after a while heat the ally from the front, it won't hurt the bearings, in the faceplate put a bolt through that you can hit and lock the outboard end somehow then hit the bolt down sharp and it should crack the joint.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I assume you can lock the spindle some way. Get a piece of 2" x 2" or 3" x 2" three or four feet long and bolt through holes in the faceplate trying not to get the holes too close to the end, then give that a yank. A bit of warmth won't hurt. When you're done, cut a washer out of some plastic - a milk carton will do (I use a Dettol bottle, it's thicker) - put it between the headstock and the faceplate or chuck so it doesn't stick again.

 

[Richard_C]

Yes to above, plus you can sometimes release stuck things by repeated sharp tapping (not thumping!) perpendicular to the thread, if you are lucky a combination of releasing fluid plus resonance and time will get things moving.

 

[Tris]

If you can't lock the spindle just bolt another piece of 3 X 2 to the outboard faceplate that is long enough to jam against the bed

 

[Phil Pascoe]

and make sure there's a washer behind the outboard faceplate.

 

[Jacob]

Take off the wood. Tighten a bolt through one of the holes near the edge. Tap it carefully on its side with a hammer, to turn the plate (in the right direction). If necessary do the same with the outboard faceplate and jam the edge of the bolt against something solid to stop it turning such as a tool rest or a cold chisel etc and carry on tapping the first one. Apply oil to the spindle etc.
When you've got them both off make sure there's a fibre washer behind both faceplates!

 

[Keith]

Take off the wood. Tighten a bolt through one of the holes near the edge. Tap it carefully on its side with a hammer, to turn the plate (in the right direction). If necessary do the same with the outboard faceplate and jam the edge of the bolt against something solid to stop it turning such as a tool rest or a cold chisel etc and carry on tapping the first one. Apply oil to the spindle etc.
When you've got them both off make sure there's a fibre washer behind both faceplates!

Thanks for all your comments - I’ll give it some attention over the weekend and see if I can loosen it. I guess it’s “corroded” in the threads. I’ll put some copper slip on the thread before remounting. It doesn’t butt up against an end stop to put in a washer.
I’ll need to chop off the current wooden block as the screws are screwed from the back and very difficult to get to.
Can then heat it and put bolts through to follow some of your suggestions.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It doesn’t butt up against an end stop to put in a washer ...

It probably isn't corroded, just stuck. Put in a washer regardless.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I just re read that. It must butt up to a register somewhere.

 

[Davyc]

There should be two flats on the outboard side of the shaft behind the larger faceplate which should allow you to use a spanner or something similar of the correct size to "jamb" the shaft and then allow you to remove the inboard faceplate by the means suggested above.

 

[Richard_C]

Thinking about this some more, do you or anyone you know have any car fixing tools? I used to do a lot of car maintenance and oil filters were sometimes pigs to shift. I used a chain wrench and a strap wrench either of which might help this sort of thing. If you search for oil filter removal tool you will get lots of pictures as a source of ideas.

 

[Keith]

Thinking about this some more, do you or anyone you know have any car fixing tools? I used to do a lot of car maintenance and oil filters were sometimes pigs to shift. I used a chain wrench and a strap wrench either of which might help this sort of thing. If you search for oil filter removal tool you will get lots of pictures as a source of ideas.

Hi Richard
Thanks for the suggestion
I have one somewhere.
I’ll search it out and try it over the weekend.
One of these ideas hopefully will work.
Thanks all

 

[Agowood]

On the version I had in my school workshop that I used for over 30 years there was a hole in the outboard bearing cover for a 6mm diameter(?) rod to go in and slot into a hole in the pulley for just this purpose. You should not use washers behind the face plates but a small smear of copper grease on the aluminium threads helped prevent faceplate jamming even when students had mishaps!
Hope this helps

 

[Keith]

On the version I had in my school workshop that I used for over 30 years there was a hole in the outboard bearing cover for a 6mm diameter(?) rod to go in and slot into a hole in the pulley for just this purpose. You should not use washers behind the face plates but a small smear of copper grease on the aluminium threads helped prevent faceplate jamming even when students had mishaps!
Hope this helps

Thanks agowood. Another thing to look for when I get back at the weekend.
There are only very slight flats on the outboard shaft - can’t find a spanner size to fit. Have tried a few Whitworth and metric.
It’s about 1.3”. Which sort of aligns with an odd size A/F 1 5/16”

Will need to see if I can find one of that size.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

On the version I had in my school workshop that I used for over 30 years there was a hole in the outboard bearing cover for a 6mm diameter(?) rod to go in and slot into a hole in the pulley for just this purpose. You should not use washers behind the face plates but a small smear of copper grease on the aluminium threads helped prevent faceplate jamming even when students had mishaps!
Hope this helps

There's a reason for not using washers on metal lathes, but there's no reason not to use one on a wood lathe.