Chuck key was bent into a pretzel

Any number of methods can be used to make parts stay in place, Ig.

Sometimes just stamping a part with indentations is enough to upset/displace enough material to make the part a tight fit. These assembly methods aren't indefinitely permanent, but they are cost effective.

In the same way that using a center punch on a piece of metal causes the metal around the point to be displaced upward, parts are often knurled or pressed/stamped with surface irregularities to make parts stay together.

Another method would be to make a small undercut/groove in the middle of the pin, then stamp the side or top of key body portion with a concentrated force at an outer location of the hole to deform some of the key body portion into the undercut/groove to secure the pin.

A quick amount of force applied to a part is always cheaper than a setscrew or other fastener, from a manufacturing point of view.

Cool! Is it an art thing or just cuz you wanted to see if you could do it?

Matt

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O.K. I'll accept that it was from the factory this way then. I had never personally seen one with a mild steel handle. How big is this thing, anyway -- and what does it fit?

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O.K. Accepted.

Enjoy, DoN.

I just made two more pictures of the 20N chuck, along with the key and a beer can, for size comparison.

So, as you can see, this chuck is quite big. The handle is modest compared to it, because the chuck is ball bearing and thus has more gripping force per foot-pound of handle tightening.

Maybe Wild Bill will now say "this is a fake beer can, anyone can make one with a lathe and a file". :)

i

No, you made the minature beer can on your anvil and hammer. Nice paint job on the beer can though, almost looks real.... almost. :-)

RogerN

You did a good job!

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That *is* an impressive chuck. What is its maximum capacity?

But it *says* "Genuine" on the can's label. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

3/8 inch to 1 inch.

Well a Yahoo! list member showed the results of their work, so I thought I'd give it a try, with some bog standard bullet headed nails from the local hardware store.

So two tests, 1) to see if the nails were up to it, and 2) to see if my setup could do it.

Yes to both :-)

The only thing I did differently to the guys on the Yahoo! list was, after forming the cage, was to close it cold by using a vice. This way I can put anything inside the piece, whether flammable or not.

Regards Charles

Again, it wasn't me that said your chuck key had a shop-made handle pin, Ig.

It seems that you would prefer to refuse to accept this, as I've said it that it wasn't me, previously.

What I commented on is that a pin with radiused ends is a simple part to make, even simpler with a lathe.

When making a pin-shaped part, I generally always choose round stock of an appropriate size, not a piece of tubing, leaf spring, square or hex stock or any number of other types of materials. I wouldn't, for example, start with a section of wire coat hanger and build up the diameter with weld or metal spray. I also wouldn't start with a piece of sheetmetal and roll it up and forge it into a pin shape.

By choosing round stock of an appropriate size, most of the work has already been completed. The task becomes a matter of cutting an appropriate lenght, and then finishing the ends. This task wouldn't take any longer than 5 minutes, most likely less time if I was trying to see how fast it could be done.

Adding a feature in the center to displace some metal would take a lot less time, so it's only a few basic metalworking skills to produce a pin for a chuck key.

When you're having another beer, be sure to have an extra one for that huge bug up your ass.

I think it would take me longer than 5 minutes just to find the tooling in my shop to make it :-) Find stock, cut stock, put blade back on bandsaw, find file, find knurling tool, change over from previous setup... Get frustrated and buy a new Jacobs chuck key.

RogerN

Wuuf, sounds complicated Roger.. all ya gotta do is, get a Roomba and rework it to fetch tools (but preload it with a debit card balance in case the store trip is neccessary).