Why is my key chuck spring loaded?

Tom Baugues

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Lafayette, Indiana
So I'm waiting on some epoxy to cure to make a new pen tonight so I thought I would kill some time and ask a question that I have thought about for some time. I bought this older 1970's (???) drill press a few years ago and the key chuck that came with it has a spring loaded pin built into it. WHY? My old drill press didn't have this nor does any other key's I own or have used have this. So my question is why does this key have a spring loaded pin? It has actually caused me to pinch my fingers with the chuck before trying to push in and turn it at the same time. So what am I missing?
 

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A manufacturer's description in part: "...equipped with spring-loaded ejectors which ensure key disengagement after tightening."

Kinda what one would think, I guess. ;)
 
I believe it is your beloved big brother watching out for your safety. Leaving an un-sprung chuck key in the chuck and turning on the drill press can turn that key into a dangerous missile destined to poke out an eye, or worse. The spring keeps you from leaving the chuck key in place thereby removing the threat of losing any eye while simultaneously facilitating the pinching of fingers and the learning of new words with which to describe unfortunate shop experiences.
 
Well.....nerver thought of it. I guess you could leave it in and forget about it. I guess I just was always taught to take it out and it never even occured to me that someone might leave it in. Now, I have taken it out and laid it down and forgotten where I put it but I've never found it still sticking in the chuck.
Thanks guys.
 
Tom what i did to avoid the lost problem is to put it on the end of a retractable zinger which i mounted to the drill with a magnet.

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Rob Keeble said:
Tom what i did to avoid the lost problem is to put it on the end of a retractable zinger which i mounted to the drill with a magnet.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the tip. I have a couple of extra retractors from fly fishing and a couple of rare earth magnets left over from a project.

I've seen a chuck key embedded in a wall when a student failed to remove it from the chuck and another turned the drill press on. Lucky it went the direction it did.
 
I did wonder the same thing about my drill press, which is only a few years old. I like Rob's idea for keeping it from getting lost. There are many times I've loosened the chuck to take a bit out, then had to go looking to see what flat surface I put the key on. :huh: I am getting better at remembering to put it back in the holder between uses.
 
A friend has a newer drill press with a lock-in key on the power switch. He attached the chuck key to that with a very short string. So you can either have the key in the chuck or the key in the power switch.
 
the spring is for helping the key to not get stuck or wedged in the chuck.
What I did with mine is I drilled a hole in the top of the cover in the front corner (away from the pulleys) and just drop the long handle of the chuck in there. Its always right where I need it.
 
View attachment 66997DP Key 001.jpgDP Key 003.jpgDP Key 004.jpgHi,

I did the "zinger" bit for several years. I just plain got tired of the thing pulling on the chuck key all of the time. So I "cut the cord" so to speak. I put an earth magnet in the center of the lever used to lower the bit. Pics, taken just for you, attached. You will notice significant wear on the earth magnet---it has been used a lot.

When I was young, having a drill press in a home shop was about as common as having a Rolls Royce sitting in the driveway. I don't know about other places, however in Ontario, Calif., if you had three electric motors on your property you had to go and get a commercial license. If you were reasonably affluent and lucky you might have an electric motor on your washing machine. Several years later electric refrigerators started showing up in private homes (that is electric motor number two). So the politicians figured if you had electric motor number 3, you were running a business from your home. So you had to get, and pay for, a city license.

Anyway, all that history was just leading up to the fact that I was taught, at the early age of 5, YOU DO NOT LEAVE A CHUCK KEY IN THE CHUCK. That was taught right along with, you do not run out into the street, you look both ways before you cross the street, even though it is a divided street. Aside: Ontario had the world's longest divided street. It was 200 feet wide, with lawn and two rows of pepper trees planted for its entire length (are you ready for this) of seven (yep 7) miles. We were always having people who had never seen a divided road tooling along on the wrong side of the divider. I have already given you one "Old Man" story so I won't tell you why I remember that Euclid Ave. was 200 feet wide.

Gad, old men do ramble don't they!?!?

Enjoy,

JimB

ps. I also cut off the spring loaded prong that ejected the key in case I was the forgetful type.
I too had problems with barked up knuckles from the spring pushing the key out just a wee bit; then when I put on pressure, the key would slip out of the gear and vola, blood.
 
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Like Jim, I just put a rare earth magnet on the side of my drill press. (That was on my previous drill press. The current one has a keyless chuck.) I just got in the habit of sticking the key back in place every time I used it.
 
Well the spring ejector is for the very real problem of a key left in and the spindle turned on. Can throw the key quite a ways. And some of us "may" be good enough to never do it but it has been done many times. It has even been done on metal lathes. One good solution to always finding the drill press key is one of those retractable key rings fastened to the press in a well selected location..


After reading all the way through the thread I see my solution was already mentioned 2-3 times...:)
 
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Because some bureacrat somewhere thinks you are too stupid to take it out yourself. I hate those spring loaded things. Finding good replacements not spring loaded is difficult. Way too many sizes and styles.
 
After reading comments here i am happy to say i no longer feel alone. :D I used to think it was only me that had an issue with a spring loaded Chuck pin. I have hurt my hands more through that spring than anything else. Idiots that made that law should be well have their hands crushed. :)
 
After reading comments here i am happy to say i no longer feel alone. :D I used to think it was only me that had an issue with a spring loaded Chuck pin.

Actually that is why I never mentioned it here before. I assumed that I was the only one with an issue with it. I got to looking at my key chuck and it looks like if I drove the handle out I should be able to pull the spring and pin out of it. I'll have to give it a try.
 
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