Collet Removal

[brianenc]

Hello fellow members, I recently purchased a watchmakers lathe. The problem is that their is a collet stuck in the spindle. I tried everything to remove it. I need help, any suggestions?

[randy]

Brianenc,
everyone here’s going to have an opinion on this…here’s mine.

1. It’s jammed in by rust. There’s a number of items on the market, and PB blaster is one I can recommend highly. I used it a few years ago to loosen a frozen nut on a 1964 Cadillac.
You can get it at an auto parts store. Just follow the directions…you may have to leave it on overnight or for even a couple of days.

2. It’s been “galled”into the barrel of the lathe, by force. Lots of room for error here.
I’ll let others comment on that.

Best of luck….let us know how it goes.

Randy

[arutha]

I know this might be a stupid question but can we just check you have undone the draw bar and taken it out and the collet is still stuck in place?
Paul

[david pierce]

Brianenc,
A while ago another member had a similar problem. If you dig through the old posts and fine the article you will find a lot of information on this problem.
david

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