Assembly and Disassembly of the Taig Lathe 3 Jaw Chuck

Ok, you accidently lost track of which jaw went where with your 3 jaw chuck when you pulled it apart for cleaning, or perhaps you have never cleaned it and it is jammed full of chips. Here are some pictures and text to help...

snap ring on 3 jaw chuck Remove the snap ring, try not to destroy it. Sometimes you have to get the tip of a screwdriver underneath as it is under a lot of tension and sometimes will slip off the snap ring pliers.
3 jaw chuck jaws

If you are smart you noted which jaw goes in which slot by writing on the chuck and the jaws with a Sharpie or pencil.

If you are stupid like me, you forgot to do this, cleaned out all the chips and are now scratching your head.

Line the jaws up side by side and examine the teeth. One jaw has a short section on the outer end and a long section on the inner, one has a medium length at both ends, and the last has a long section on the outer end and a short section on the inner.

3 jaw chuck disassembled Lay out your chuck parts thusly and slide the proper jaw into the slots. (L stands for long, S for short and M for medium, corresponding to the sections I talked about above)
jaw closeup Slide the jaws in until they are all relatively flush with the chuck body.
chuck body and scroll

Now take the scroll (the other half of the chuck), insert it down on the chuck body and gently twist it around as it comes into contact with the chuck jaws. It should snap into place. Take care not to move the jaws accidentally out of their flush state. You may have to wiggle and prod it a little but it will eventually line up with the grooves and snap down.

Reinstall the snap ring.

Oh, shoot, you forgot to relube the chuck? Better take it apart again and give it some lithium grease. Think of it as practice...

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