my greatest invention

[Frank Fusco]

I'm not very clever at designing things.
But, I like stuff simple.
This is simple.
Where to put my drill press key has always been a problem. Those rubber thingys just don't work. Putting in my pocket or holding in mouth has drawbacks.
One day I got smart for a minute or two. I put a rare earth magnet inside some tape and taped that to the handle of my chuck key. Project took about a whole minute.
Now, the key is always at hand right on the side of my dp table. Grabbing to use and replace is second nature. And the key doesn't go astray, like those that will be found one day when the shop is restored to it's original garage use and grass is growing over me.

[Jeff Bower]

Cheap and simple to fix if needed too!

[Vaughn McMillan]

That looks real handy, Frank. I do something similar...I put a rare earth magnet on the side of the drill press housing, and just got in the habit of putting the chuck key on it whenever I'm not using it.

[allen levine]

I actually use the magnets inside old harddrives. they are strong as heck, and it holds any of my tools against a metal surface. (for instance, when working with my router table, I just stick the wrenches against the metal legs)

[Roger Tulk]

I am trying hard to get in the habit of putting it in the clip on the side of the drill press. So far, I'm about 50/50 with that.

[allen levine]

be careful frank, one of the woodworking companies might steal your idea and charge 7.95 for that.

when I first started woodworking, I bought all those little chatkas, the pencil holders, etc........trying to make it look like a real shop........now I just look to do things that are simple and convenient, like taking the can from a can of corn and nailing it to the wall to hold pencils.

[Jim DeLaney]

That looks real handy, Frank. I do something similar...I put a rare earth magnet on the side of the drill press housing, and just got in the habit of putting the chuck key on it whenever I'm not using it.

That's what I do, too. No tape or glue needed. The magnet sticks to the drill press, and the key sticks to the magnet. The magnet is more strongly attracted to the DP casting than to the key shaft, sot it works out quite well.

Allen's use of hard drive magnets is also good, but I don't currently have any old drives lying about. Besides, getting the magnets out of the drive can sometimes be a pain, and the round magnets are fairly cheap on Ebay.

[Vaughn McMillan]

On a similar note, I have one of those little magnetic parts trays you can get for a few bucks from Harbor Freight. It's attached to one of the vertical surfaces at the headstock end of my lathe. It's got a couple of different chuck keys and other metal bits and pieces stuck to it. Being vertical, it doesn't fill up with wood chips.

I do like Frank's approach for his, though. With the flexible magnetic "tag" on the key, it'd be easy to stick in a variety of locations.

[Joe Kieve]

Good idea Frank. I keep one of those rare earth magnets on top of my table saw Biesmeyer fence to hold my tape measure. It's always there when I need it.

Joe

[Roger Newby]

be careful frank, one of the woodworking companies might steal your idea and charge 7.95 for that.

when I first started woodworking, I bought all those little chatkas, the pencil holders, etc........trying to make it look like a real shop........now I just look to do things that are simple and convenient, like taking the can from a can of corn and nailing it to the wall to hold pencils.

I have soup cans screwed to the wall for pencils, acid brushes, hot glue sticks, popsicle sticks and wood skewers, zip ties and what ever else your imagination can come up with.