How NOT to throw your lathe chuck key through the windshield of your Porsche!

[GarageGuy]

The first thing we learned in shop class, and greatly stresses at that is that one NEVER leaves the key in a chuck; that was drummed in and reinforced in apprenticeship.

Although I never became a professional machinist, this is what I learned as well. You just didn't leave the chuck key in the chuck. EVER. Not even for 5 seconds. No matter what. No excuses.

I saw an episode of Mythbusters where Adam Savage showed his personal shop. He was showing his lathe (a very nice one), and put the chuck key in the chuck and took his hand off it. He said that one action was enough to get you kicked out of his shop for good.

GG

 

[george wilson]

Adam Savage did some goofy things,though. There was a brief scene where he had a 2 liter pepsi bottle(a full one) chucked up in his lathe. He was trying to turn something on the lid. The whole bottle suddenly collapsed,spilling Pepsi all over the lathe. About the WORST thing you'd want getting into everything on a lathe. I wouldn't let him hear mine.

It would mean taking the whole lathe apron and its components apart AT LEAST,to get the sticky,corrosive stuff off of everything.

 

[sk1nner]

Adam Savage did some goofy things,though. There was a brief scene where he had a 2 liter pepsi bottle(a full one) chucked up in his lathe. He was trying to turn something on the lid. The whole bottle suddenly collapsed,spilling Pepsi all over the lathe. About the WORST thing you'd want getting into everything on a lathe. I wouldn't let him hear mine.

It would mean taking the whole lathe apron and its components apart AT LEAST,to get the sticky,corrosive stuff off of everything.

That was their mentos and diet coke episode. I believe he was attempting to lighten the bottle so it would act better as a coke powered rocket.

 

[GarageGuy]

Adam Savage did some goofy things,though.

I absolutely agree. My point was that the best way to avoid the danger of flying chuck keys is to learn never to let them take flight in the first place. Proper shop and machine safety procedures.

If I had his money, I would have a big beautiful new lathe too! :biggrin:

GG

 

[DoogieB]

If I had his money, I would have a big beautiful new lathe too! :biggrin:

You have to go on the Tested Youtube channel to get a tour of Adam's own work shop. I pretty sure almost all his machinist equipment was bought used on CL and he was proud of that.

 

[george wilson]

I am pretty sure Adam's lathe is an Asian one. I got a look at it in one episode. How about bouncing a bowling ball through someone's house and car! Shot from a cannon.

 

[Franko]

One of my biggest fears in my small shop is not removing the chuck key from the lathe and accidentally starting it up and flinging it through the windshield of my "baby".....

I figured out a way to solve this and wrote a quick article with lots of pictures on my web site

www.rvbprecision.com

Hope you enjoy it!

Good idea, Roy. Nice gizmos, you've made. I enjoyed your web site.

I had visions of making an adapter on my lathe switch that could only be turned by inserting the chuck in it, so the chuck key became the knob for the switch.