Getting frustrated

Aukai

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I fired up the lath a few weeks ago,(I've had it 2 years) and have been practicing doing simple things, and learning what I'm doing. Looking at things in operation, and thinking this isn't right. A drill bit in the tail stock should not flex on contact, so figured out side to side alignment might be an issue, and it was. With the odds, and ends I'm getting some muscle memory, tighten this gib, lock the carriage etc.
Now my major problem is the chuck key, I'm sure you are ahead of me already, and know I've forgotten it. It's 3 times now that it's been harmlessly flipped past me on start up. This irritates me to no end, I'm looking at so many things trying to stay safe, I keep missing the tree in the forest. I have got to wise up here.....
 
First rule to learn. Never, never, never leave a chuck key in the chuck. Never! Remove it as soon as you are done aligning/tightening.

It still drives me crazy when I see a lathe sitting idle with a key in the chuck!

Next time it might just catch you right between the eyes! :faint:

Ted
 
OK, that isn't good.
Try making up a holder for the chuck key down on the front. Someplace where you're always keeping it stored.
Mine is one the front of the chip pan in line with the chuck so I take out the key and place it back in the holder.
It then becomes muscle memory after a while.
Also (and this is going to sound odd) talk out loud to yourself while tightening up the piece telling yourself to remove the key.
And if you're like reaching over to set the tailstock or anything else, REMOVE the key until that task is completed.
It's easy to get distracted tightening or setting something else and leaving the key in.

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Ho, Brah, be careful! The lathe can really bite you if you simply rely on "muscle memory". The longer you go between sessions at the lathe, the poorer that memory becomes. I do understand what you mean, though.

For myself, if I haven't been at the lathe for a while, I go through my set up but before I hit the power button I step back and look at everything. I double-check that I locked down the QCTP, that the jaws of the chuck are tight and the key is removed and only after I am sure I have everything ready will I hit the power button.

I have also trained myself to not let go of the chuck key until I put it back down after tightening the chuck.
 
Your exactly right, thus my frustration at myself. "You should know better than that", and "wait till your father gets home" come to mind.
 
For those of you who really have a problem with remembering, you can buy chuck keys that are spring loaded and will eject from the chuck as soon as you let go of them. Cheap insurance!

Ted
 
I’ve adapted a habit I use with my wallet.
When I take a card from my wallet I make a point of keeping my wallet open in my hand until the card is replaced.

And so on the lathe I try very hard not to take my hand off the key.
I realize that this is not always possible because some setup require two hands but I really try hard to always be aware of the location of the key.


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That I have seen, and thought about, but it's just a crutch for numbness between my ears. I didn't use the lathe all this time because it makes me nervous about the dumb things that you can cause to happen. I'm hoping I will do better having talked about it.
 
A friend of mine made a small holder for his chuck keys next to his power switch. He wired it up with micro switches and a relay so unless the keys were in the holders the power circuit would not be completed and the lathe wouldn't run. Very simple and effective and kept the keys from being forcibly implanted in walls, ceilings and anatomy.
 
I have to confess to occasionally leaving the chuck key in the chuck. It is always when I have removed work rather than mounting work so the likelihood of turning on the lathe with a chuck key in the chuck is very small. Whenever I have left the key in, I will remove it when I glance over and see it. I have thrown a chuck key maybe twice in fifty years

My tightening position is with the key at the ten o'clock position so if I did happen to leave the key in, it would get thrown out and down. I also have the advantage of being a lefty so I am standing to the right of the chuck and out if the zone at all times. (It works well for filing at the lathes too.)

Always pulling the key out is a good habit to get into and practiced enough, it will become second nature. I don't have a bird if I (or someone else) happen to stray though.
 
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