new chuck key

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new chuck key

This topic has 9 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 17 April 2013 at 07:30 by John McNamara.

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15 April 2013 at 19:55 #15633
tony bastick
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@tonybastick78554
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15 April 2013 at 19:55 #116983
tony bastick
Participant
@tonybastick78554
Hi all, im making a new lathe chuck key from silver steel, im ok with the hardening but would welcome advice on the temperature that it should be tempered at. Thanks Tony
15 April 2013 at 20:01 #116985
Sub Mandrel
Participant
@submandrel
Hi Tony,

As it's going to be subject to a lot of torque and will be dropped regularly(!) and it doesn't need any cutting attributes, I'd take it right down to blue.

Neil
16 April 2013 at 09:11 #117018
Gary Wooding
Participant
@garywooding25363
I've just made one, but I used ordinary mild steel and case hardened the business end, which is now glass hard. Cheaper than silver steel too.

Gary
16 April 2013 at 16:03 #117044
mark mc
Participant
@markmc72333
I made one awhile back for my four jaw chuck so i could move two jaws at a time, never hardened it at all, just mild steel, works grand. Should i have hardened it?

Edited By mark mc on 16/04/2013 16:03:24
16 April 2013 at 16:51 #117046
Jo
Participant
@jo
I have made numerous for mine out of mild steel and never hardened any. I would prefer to bend the key rather than the chuck.

Jo
16 April 2013 at 19:54 #117055
Michael Gilligan
Participant
@michaelgilligan61133
I cheated when I made one for a 4" Burnered 4-Jaw

The square on the end of an old HSS Tap was just the right size. … so I drilled & tapped the end of a mild steel rod for the body, and Loctited the tap in place.

MichaelG.
16 April 2013 at 20:42 #117057
Ian P
Participant
@ianp
Michael

Your chuck key worries me!

In my experience, HSS taps are specially designed to break. When they do they leave jagged shards of steel that could injure you.

Ian P
16 April 2013 at 20:56 #117058
Michael Gilligan
Participant
@michaelgilligan61133
Ian,

No worries here … The full diameter of the Tap Shank is counterbored into the body, and Loctited.

[and, by the way, there is no reduced diameter "neck" on this particular tap]

MichaelG.

.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 16/04/2013 20:58:32

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 16/04/2013 21:12:07
17 April 2013 at 07:30 #117117
John McNamara
Participant
@johnmcnamara74883
Hi Tony Bastic

A while back I needed a key and all I could find at the time was a longish 12.5mm Hex cap screw. I cut of the head and ground four flats on the end. Then brazed the other end to a piece to mild steel to make a handle. (With key end protected in wet rag to stop the brazing heat affecting the temper). It lasted for at least ten years….. well at least until I sold my old flat belt change gear Colechester.

Good quality cap screw steel is tough. and you don't have to harden it. It also machines rather nicely.

Cheers

John
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