That's funny **** right there... I made a bracket for the column and bolted an old bread pan to it. Keep the key, wedge, oil can, and a lot of chips all together...
Put a earth magnet about 1" in diameter on the underside of the belt guard at the front. No epoxy required, its a magnet. Key is always right in front of me when needed. Just lift it up and plop the stem of the key on the magnet. Works great. Canuck
Dave, I'm not sure who **** in your oatmeal this morning, but it wasn't me! By "leverage" I simply mean that I can quickly, and with little effort, snug up the chuck on the drill bit...it takes about a tenth of the effort as holding the thin shaft of the key in my fingers and putting my thumb on the flattened end and applying pressure. And for the record, I evenly snug the chuck in all three of the key holes, rather than cranking it down with only one. I also use a slow spindle speed, an even feed rate that leaves nice curlie-Q's of cut metal, and I have a Drill Doctor that I use frequently. I've even been known to use cutting fluid on occasion. There...all better? -Brad
Some drills and many chucks have a tapered shank that jams into a tapered socket... The socket has a slot in it where you can drive in a tapered flat punch, forcing out the tapered tool onto your foot.
That's the way I was taught to tighten a chuck. How about a tech article on how to use the Drill Doctor. I was given one with no instructions. The guys with the skill, eyesight, and patience to do it by hand on a bench grinder don't have to read it.
Now wait a minute! I have quite a few harbor freight tools and my project truck is .... um.... never mind
If you have a shop door that likes to swing shut on it's own, place the Drill Doctor on the floor in contact with the door at it's furthest open position. If you have a stack of loose papers that might blow away, place the Drill Doctor on top of one corner of the stack. If you have a pencil that rolls off the table, place the Drill Doctor on the table and insert the pencil into the chuck. I guess it might have some other uses as well...
I lose mine all the time so I get some beer and sit on a milk crate and think of where I had it last. After awhile I forget what I was going to do and have another beer. Works for me.
I keep two chuck keys by the drill press and use them both at the same time to get a solid clamp on the drill bit without breaking my thumbs pushing too hard..
I thought my chuck key had little legs and wings until I removed the magnet from the back of a speaker and stuck to the side of the drill press right above the chuck. Now, all I have to do when I'm finished chucking up a bit, and cinching it twice, or three times, like my shop teacher taught me, is just stick it to the magnet and forget it until I need it again. Low tech is the best tech. Trust me. And, if the magnet isn't strong enough just add more magnets until it is. They all stick together and make each stronger, like HAMBers?
The Jalopy Journal
