Locking Chuck Key Idea

[RJSakowski]

I see little difference in having a designated location for a chuck key and having a holder with an interlock switch to prevent operation of the lathe with a key in the chuck. One additional feature is if you are working around the chuck, having the interlock provides extra security. My Grizzly lathe is fairly safe with its switches up high on the headstock and having to rotate the switch to the forward or reverse position but my Atlas/Craftsman 6" has a lever on the reversing drum switch that is mounted at hip height and could easily be activated accidentally.

I try to make it a practice to never leave the key in the chuck but I have to confess that I have done so. It usually happens when I am removing something from the chuck and am engrossed in thought and forget to remove it. When I look over and see it there, I pull it out and stow it but for the time it is there , a dangerous condition exists. Requiring the proper storage of the key to prevent activation would eliminate that danger.

With growing concern over industrial safety, LOTO (lock out tag out) procedures have become common. I have had to write a few procedures myself. They are intentionally redundant and many times a pain to use. Their purpose is clear, however. Just putting a warning in a user manual to disconnect a machine from power or training personnel in safety procedures is not sufficient to ensure accident prevention. People get distracted and accidents can happen.

Just my 2 cents.

Bob

 

[Fabrickator]

Years ago I had a machine shop instructor that taught me a simple trick: After mounting something in the chuck, rotate the chuck by hand at least one full revolution. This ensures that the chuck key is removed and also that the jaws and the work piece will not contact anything else on the machine. I've done it that way ever since and never had any surprises.

This is what I do too. Old School trick I also learned from a master machinist with two eyes and all of his teeth and fingers...

 

[atunguyd]

Question :

Is leaving the key in the chuck add dangerous on new lathes add it is on the older ones? Most new lathes have done sorry if electronic speed control which normally has a soft start. So the slower spin up of a chuck means that the key will be thrown but probably a lot softer then on a lath with a hard start.

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[jpfabricator]

Question :

Is leaving the key in the chuck add dangerous on new lathes add it is on the older ones? Most new lathes have done sorry if electronic speed control which normally has a soft start. So the slower spin up of a chuck means that the key will be thrown but probably a lot softer then on a lath with a hard start.

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Russian roulette is dangerous, more so with a new semi-auto, than a revolver. Still dangerous.

Sent from somewhere in east Texas!

 

[ogberi]

Chuck key left in the check equals "Hold my beer and watch this!"

Really, it is simple. Take the dang key out. Takes two seconds to put it in a safe, dedicated place. With over a hundred years of apprentices getting a smack in the back of the head for leaving the key in, there is a definite, obvious, safety related reason for it.

Leaving the key in the chuck is bad, bad, bad to do. Even if you don't loose a finger, you'll ding the ways, maybe bust the lathe, and definitely make an idiot of yourself.

Take the two seconds, put the key back where it lives, and rotate by hand.

<-- Remember, if the guy on a riding mower, chugging whiskey, while shooting a revolver says, "that ain't safe", it most likely isn't safe.

 

[Line_Bore]

With over a hundred years of apprentices getting a smack in the back of the head for leaving the key in, there is a definite, obvious, safety related reason for it.

Ahhh, memories...
The first time I ran a lathe, I was a freshman in high school. Old South Bend with the underhead belt drive. I left the key in the chuck to get a drink of water. When I came back, I couldn't find the key. As I was looking in the chip pan, I put my left hand on the spindle housing. Suddenly, things hurt! There was a junior holding my key and watching me cradle 2 new broken fingers and a cracked knuckle. All he said, "Don't ever leave a key in the chuck." After 25 years, I've never forgotten that lesson.
Can't do that any more, of course. But I digress...

OP, that's a clever setup. Definitely want to do a slow roll by hand before hitting the switch.

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