# Lathe Chuck Key



## omni_dilletante

The key that came with my four jaw chuck is pretty miserable.  It was not a problem until I decided it was time to actually use the chuck.

I decided to reuse the cross bar, but make a whole new key.  I decided a brass cap would look nice to cover the hold created for the detent ball and spring.  Using the tap and die guides I built earlier was a real pleasure.






I am finding that as I finally get tooling sorted out that I can actually finish small projects instead of getting lost in projects-I-need-to-finish-before-I-can-start-this-project.

I am starting to enjoy this.


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## Charles Spencer

omni_dilletante said:


> I am finding that as I finally get tooling sorted out that I can actually finish small projects instead of getting lost in projects-I-need-to-finish-before-I-can-start-this-project.



Yep.  I still get a thrill every time I don't have to buy or make something to complete what I'm doing.


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## master of none

I fully agree and now I;m now going to go rebuild my chuck key.


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## kd4gij

Looks good.   Now you need to make another one.


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## dave_r_1

Yeah, if I ever decided to do this, I would have make 2-3.  Or at least make the square end that goes into the chuck easily replaceable...


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## omni_dilletante

Thanks for the video link.  That will make using the four jaw chuck easier.

I also agree that I need 2 or 3 keys.  So this weekend I made two more.  So now I have a spare.





I am starting to feel like I know a little about what I am doing.  It is a good feeling.


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## MSD0

Very nice work. Is the handle held in place by a ball detent (shown on drawing)?

edit- read the first post and answered my question. Nice design.


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## cathead

Is the brass part threaded on?  They look very nice.


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## q20v

These look excellent. This is a little project that's been on my mind as well.


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## pstemari

Yes, mine's a bit sloppy and I want to add an ejector spring. I've actually thought about attaching the master key on a short leash to the chuck key to ensure the lathe is disabled when the chuck key is in use. 

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## Monk

Nice Work! Now I've got another I have to do....


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## pstemari

Btw, do these need heat treat for the bit? That's something I've yet to tackle in earnest.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## Sparweb

Heat treating it sounds like a good idea.
Here's a thread that summarizes the process.  https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/heat-treating-annealing-hardening-tempering-metals.26323/


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## Manual Mac

That video link from 2016 is a very good one, the guys presentation is informative & easy to understand, & he explains it well.
These are my homemade 2nd keys.
Chuck on L is a 5”, I turned into a front mount for my SB.
The one on the vise is 2-1/4”.
The 6” lives on the RT, it’s a very old Atlas/Craftsman. Oddly, the chuck key is 7mm allan key.
The one in middle (with the aluminum handle) was probably a project in the high school where this chuck & my SB9 started out. And it still works fine, the key part says W-Germany 7SW
You don’t see 7mm allan keys every day. These 2 were in a box of hundreds of loose keys at a pawn shop.
They were the only two 7mm ones.
Cheers


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