Chuck Key Holder

Attach a magnet to the side of your drill press and you will never loose your chuck key. I did this 20 years ago and I haven't misplaced that chuck yet.

Step 1 Get a Magnet

Go to your local hardware store and buy a magnet. The type that is used to keep your cabinet doors closed. Get some double sided sticky tape too.

1. When you get home cut a piece of tape to put on the back of the magnet. Clean a spot on your drill press where you would like to keep your chuck key with alcohol.

2. Stick on the magnet to the drill press.

3. Stick the chuck key to the magnet.

4. Now the next time you need to use your drill press, you will alway know where your chuck key is.

Comments

[sharlston]

bake sure you dont put the magnet sny where nere bearings or the chuck cos it might draw maagnetic particles and may grind away at the metal
other than that great ible 5 stars

[botronics]

I like the retractor better than having the key on a chain. I don't like having something that can dangle near a rotating chuck. In our shop we still have dummies that even leave the key in the chuck when turning on! I've seen some keys with springs in them so the dummy can't leave it in.

[Firebert010]

We have that in our shop. It's not foolproof though, some people still have managed to wind it around the press and break the retractable chain that it's hooked to.

[omnibot]

I've always been amazed at that, how some people can walk up to a sign marked "danger, do not remove" and remove it for their own convenience causing a life-threatening situation with no apparent thought to the consequences .

[sensoryhouse]

Holy fricken crap I bought a drill press 2 days ago and already added a couple neodymium magnets left over from making LED throwies. This is the weirdest coincidence. here's a photo. the magnets stick to the chuck not the drill.

[FrenchCrawler]

Eric did this a while back, but of course, his version had many little magnets instead of a large one. The larger one is probably a lot more easier to handle and prevent from detaching from the press :) Nice job

[psfordvt]

I teach shop and I agree this is a good idea. But the dummy using the machine has to put the chuck key back on the magnet. So if the press is in a shop that many people use, you will want use a chain retrator, like what some people use to keep keys on their belts. Attach the retractor to the Press and key to the chain. Now the key and dummy using it have no choice, chuck key automatically returns home.

[Ohm]

Cool idea, my Dad did something similar on his lathe, on the back guard he installed a magnet strip and has all the chuck keys and Allen keys and whatnot stuck on that. What also works good is tie a string to it and tie the string onto the drill press somewhere, then there is absolutely no possibility if it getting lost.