Bypassing safety key

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78
Location
Maplewood, NJ
So, I bought this Delta ShopMaster jointer (JT-160) on eBay.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? Well, it comes close. But I didn't have a jointer, can't afford the real thing right now, so I have to make do.

Anyway, I set it up today and was all set to turn it on... but I can't. That little insert key that you put in the power switch apparently didn't make it into the box when the eBay guy packed it up. But I bought it months ago and I'm just setting it up now, so I can't go crying to him.

Anybody know how to get around that, short of sending away for a new one?

Thanks.
 
Do you have another tool that uses one of those? Borrow and switch the switch then switch the switch on and off and back and forth. ;)
Personally, I wouldn't try sticking a hunk of metal or something in there.
Be patient and order a replacement switch. Lots of places have them. e.g. Grizzly. They are not expensive.
 
The key is usually just a little two-pronged plastic affair that releases a plastic 'latch' inside the switch handle. It has nothing to do with the electric aspect of the switch.

If you can experiment with a couple small sticks of plastic or wood in the slots, you can probably get it to work.

Also, Sears - and maybe others - use similar keys. Sears used to sell 'spares' for a couple bucks.
 
Brian Jim is correct. I have one of those on my delta grinder. I think its a safety switch for young kids but by the time they can do a little reasoning and fiddle it aint.

You just take a flat popcicle stick, fold it in half and put it in there. Its merely the outer that needs to roll with the inner little tumbler.

Good luck.
 
Ever heart of replacing the switch? Remove the keyed switch and incert a toggle switch, then the regular switch will work... May take a little searching to find access to the switch... dewire and wire in new... Ta Da! ready to roll....
 
The really hilarious thing is that I thought Frank was making a joke when he suggested using the key from another tool. But this morning, just for the hell of it, I took the key out of the Ryobi drill press and stuck it in the Delta jointer.

Bingo!

And as Frank implied... it's kind of a dumb fix. But it'll do till I get to Sears... or until the ice cream man comes around.

It really does make you wonder what that key is supposed to accomplish. By the time you're big enough to reach the switch (especially on the drill press) you're big enough to either operate the machine safely, or go looking for the little yellow thing so you can operate it unsafely.

You're at least old enough to have a collection of popsicle sticks.
 
The really hilarious thing is that I thought Frank was making a joke when he suggested using the key from another tool. But this morning, just for the hell of it, I took the key out of the Ryobi drill press and stuck it in the Delta jointer.

Bingo!

And as Frank implied... it's kind of a dumb fix. But it'll do till I get to Sears... or until the ice cream man comes around.

It really does make you wonder what that key is supposed to accomplish. By the time you're big enough to reach the switch (especially on the drill press) you're big enough to either operate the machine safely, or go looking for the little yellow thing so you can operate it unsafely.

You're at least old enough to have a collection of popsicle sticks.

Kept you from using it for a day or so didn't it???? :huh::rofl:
 
I have a Ryobi table saw that I mis-placed the safety key and I needed to use it. It seems there is nothing electrical inside the hole where the key goes. It appears to be merely a switch where the outside turns separate from the inside and the key just locks them together. On mine, I just put a 4 penny finish nail in the hole and flipped the switch on. No fuss no muss and there you go. Seems simple to me although not as safe as I assumed it was.
 
Bypass seems easy

I have a Ryobi table saw that I mis-placed the safety key and I needed to use it. It seems there is nothing electrical inside the hole where the key goes. It appears to be merely a switch where the outside turns separate from the inside and the key just locks them together. On mine, I just put a 4 penny finish nail in the hole and flipped the switch on. No fuss no muss and there you go. Seems simple to me although not as safe as I assumed it was.
 
Mine have always stayed in the tool switch. Like Roger, if I took them out they would be lost forever! I just don't let little children in my shop unless the parent and I are there. I'm more afraid they will break or miss place something than I am of them starting some piece of equipment.
 
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