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Chuck key holders for Dummies?

gglines

Aluminum
Joined
Jul 23, 2002
Location
Tempe, AZ USA
Here's a picture:

keyfob.JPG


I received this as a gift. It's a retractable chuck key holder for a drill press. Brilliant mind that I have, I can figure out how to stick the magnet to the side of my Clausing. However, how does the rubber doohickey attach to the drill chuck key?

George
 
Just like you put on a shirt- one arm through each hole. Several of my electric hand drills came with these things. But I have found these stamped plastic things get brittle and break after a year or two. Rubber ones, like on milwaukee drills, seem a lot better.
Oops- looks like yours is rubber- Never mind.

[This message has been edited by Ries (edited 08-14-2004).]
 
Cool. The drill press could get up to 500 RPM unspooling the cable before it snatches the magnet off and uses at as a flail to batter you shirt pocket high.

I have a hole in my DP table by the column what I park my chuck key. When I can see it parked in the hole I know the key isn't in the chuck on the back side. Only then will I start the spindle motor.
 
Ha Forrest - great visuals!

My old Jr High shop teacher had a good idea I've never seen anywhere else. He bolted a cover over the start button which had a hole just large enough for the straight end of the chuck key handle to fit through to depress the start button. Then he attached the keys with a chain so you couldn't reach another drill press with that key. The stop button was left uncovered for obvious reasons. even with all those 7th graders I don't think anyone ever defeated that safeguard and started a drillpress with the key in the chuck.

What I do is put a magnet on the left side of the head of the drill presses to hold the key right at the level of the switch - I can see whether or not it's there immediately, and it's right handy to grab it to use and put back - no fishing for a hole.
 
Forrest:

If I trade out my Clausing for a Harbor Freight Drill Press, wouldn't the magnet be strong enough to stall the motor after the retractable cord got wrapped around the spindle? Damn unsafe American iron!

Ries, thanks for the tip, that makes sense. The rod for my chuck key is way too big for those holes. Plus, it has a large gripping flat on one end. I'll have to check the chuck keys on my electric hand drill.

Thanks!

George
 
Chuck key holder? What'll they think of
next. My drill press already has one of
those, it's called the chuck. I just stick
the shank of the key in the chuck and snug
it down.

The portable drills all have the keys taped
to the cords, so the working end of the
key sticks out handy.

I know milwaukee gives you the rubber widget
with the drill, but I hate having to play
'grab the key' when I'm in a hurry. I like
those to always be in the same spot.

Jim
 
I gave one opera set builder volunteer the basic drill press show and tell and safety lecture - including the key-in-the-chuck thing.

I usually allow a reflective pause at that point so the cause and effect of "flying key is a bad thing" could dawn on the volunteer. There was indeed a lengthy reflective pause followed by an inspiration: "Why couldn't you tape the key to the chuck?"

All this time. 44 years in the trade. Why didn't I think of that

[This message has been edited by Forrest Addy (edited 08-15-2004).]
 
Slowly but steadily I am replacing all of my keyed chucks with those "Oh so expensive " Albrect keyless chucks. Now if they only came in that big size, you know the one, that seems to weigh 20 pounds, Super chuck that opens to 1" on the 4 morse in the lathe tailstock.
I know that there will always be a place for keyed chucks, but for most of my drill press work or typical Bridgeport drill tooling changes, keyless are hard to beat.
When I do use one, as my hands leave the drill chuck so does the key. If you never allow the habit of the key in the chuck while changing bits to start, you don't have to break it.
 
On my drillpress I have one of those horseshoe shaped plastic pieces with a magnet in it. It is made to hold cables on a steel desk. It holds a chuck key just fine. I have another one on the side of my lathe tailstock.
 
Whatever happened to "self-ejecting" chuck keys? My circa-1982 Craftsman drill press came with one. It has a spring-loaded sleeve around the pin. If you let go of it, the spring is strong enough to eject the key onto the floor several feet away. There's a hole on the DP table to store the key in plain sight, too.

Roger
 
I guess I'm a one track minded guy. I never leave the key in the chuck but it has to be on a string hanging beside the DP. If it is not I forget where the damn thing is. I might even carry it to the other end of the shop when I get something else. lol. Not funny at all though when you are busy and can't find it. Make you say bad things! Mack
 
Not to mention all the bad things that
get said all over again, when you find
the key in your pocket when you take
the pants off at night!

Jim
 
Had a self-ejecting key once. Very shortly I was disabling the spring pin. They were made for chewing up the chuck teeth if you don't keep heavy pressure on the key.

A real stupid pain, but oh-so-safe.
rolleyes.gif
 
Oh yea I find drill bits, screws, nuts and bolts, washers and all sorts of other stuff when I change pants. Mack
 
I saw an OSHA compliant chuck key holder once that seemed to actually be a good idea. There was a phenolic plastic block screwed to the side of the drill press which had a microswitch in a hole made to fit the long handle of the chuck key. The microswitch was wired between the normal On/Off switch and the motor with the result that if the chuck key handle was not in the hole in the block pressing the microswitch shut the drill press motor would not run. I am sure some dope could put a piece of drill rod in the hole if he wanted to spin the key. I have never thrown a chuck key so I can't gauge how much fun it is. The key on our big DP is on the end of a piece of small chain so it hangs at the back of the machine out of the way when not in use. It is pretty obvious when the chain is running from the back of the machine to the drill chuck.
 
Cass,

I've seen quite a few of those style chuck holders in machine shops here in Australia. It's funny cause every one I've seen had a piece of scrap metal dropped in there! ha ha.

Mike
 
Yeah, and with my 'bad eyes' I have even gotten good at 'throwing' the moose pointer to the upper left corner, so 'visual' safety isn't a problem..no vision to speak of except straight ahead!! IF I ever get a push button start/stop, that strap of metal over the start button is a great idea..thanks.
 








 
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