I have a cheap simple and downright silly solution for that. I
have four chuck-keys scattered throughout my bench, one is always
at hand.
I am the world’s worst at placing things where I can “never” find
them again. When I am totally involved in what I am doing I just put
whatever tool I am using wherever I find an empty space. I bought one
of those chuck keys with the big red plastic handle a couple of years
ago. I have not “lost” my chuck key since.
Del in Beautiful South Texas where we are experiencing a late
winter. It’s the second one this year. We usually have our day of
winter in January.
I have a cheap simple and downright silly solution for that. I have
four chuck-keys scattered throughout my bench, one is always at
hand.
Even less time consuming than looking for one of those would be to
adopt the method I use which is to attach a magnet to each piece of
apparatus (lathe, drill press, bench leg etc.) where I use a chuck
key and simply put the chuck key back on the magnet as soon as I
have used it. I mostly use the magnets which I salvage out of old
junk computer hard drives - each of these produces two very powerful
magnets which will self-adhere to steel or iron parts or can be
easily fixed to other surfaces. They are strong enough to suck the
chuck key in if it is tossed in the right general direction and, in
many cases, will give you a bit of exercise in wrestling the key off
again!!
I have a cheap simple and downright silly solution for that. I have
four chuck-keys scattered throughout my bench, one is always at
hand.
Have i got this right? Do you need a separate chuck key for your
pendant drill ? I realise that all drills need some sort of chuck,
but the only ones I have ever seen here in Australia use a lever
action chuck release on the side of the handpiece My drill and
handpieces are Italian made, so it must be a common system there,
too. - if I have got the “thread” right, might have just solved
somebodies wish list,
And I have a cheap, simple solution for that-- I bought one of
those retractable key tethers that janitors clip onto their belts
and put my chuck key on that, attached to my bench. The constant
tension on the chuck key made it tough to use it, so I added about
10" of string between the chuck anf the retractor, and I'm all set.
The key is always right there where I need it.
and it also helpt you from accidently leaving it in the chuck!! I am
surprised no-one here has admitted to doing just that! ;-0 many a key
has been tossed out at speed into god-knows what…maybe your face? or
your child who is passing by?
I learned in school to have the key on an obvious Red or Orange
teather or even with a wooden paddle attached to remind you…sort of
like aircraft have the flags on control locks etc…
I wish I was able to get a little miniature chop saw / miter saw
that carpenters use for doing repetitive cutting. I personally can
not cut a straight line due to being excessively “endowed” and using
a jeweler’s saw, my straight line cutting turn out not only curved
horizontally but also vertically.
I wish I was able to get a little miniature chop saw / miter saw
that carpenters use for doing repetitive cutting. I personally can
not cut a straight line due to being excessively "endowed" and
using a jeweler's saw, my straight line cutting turn out not only
curved horizontally but also vertically.
Sorry to hear about your problem.
Making a miter saw is not as difficult as it may sound for the type
of thing we do. If you have a Flex shaft, a rod and some tubing and a
piece of aluminum angle you could make your own miter saw, for saw
blades, I would check one of the tooling places like Enco or J&L
Industrial supply I saw in the catalog they provide slitting saws and
Jewelers saws. All a chop saw does is allow the saw blade to come
down square against the work and provide a place to hold the work
against. For scrolling work, a scroll saw with a small modification
to the blade holder, be sure to get one with adjustable tension. At
full pull the little jewelry saw blades pop pretty quick.
If your not into the “do it yourself” tooling, get the Rio tool
catalog, they have nearly anything that could be imagined for jewelry
making. They also have hand vice which is hardened and you can cut
and file against. It will do 90 and 45 for rod, tube and plate.
What I have used a lot is the Xacto miter box with their saw or a
regular jewelry saw frame. I use the end as a guide to help file
straight. This would be the quickest and cheapest solution to effect.
check out a hobby (i know, i know, i don’t like the implication
either) supply company called Micromark…google that name and you’ll
find them online. they sell a zillion tools aimed at miniature hobby
stuff…trains, models, etc. but the kicker is that they sell a large
range of small, precision tools for these hobbies. from tablesaws
that are 12" across, to miniature milling machines, they have a lot
of interesting items. i would be surprised if they didn’t have
something to help you out.
I wish I was able to get a little miniature chop saw / miter saw
Don Dietz brought this great little mini cut-off saw to a club
meeting once. I immediately ran over to Harbor Freight and got one
for around $30, it has been worth far more.
I wish I was able to get a little miniature chop saw / miter saw
that carpenters use for doing repetitive cutting.
I just got one, and it is awesome! Well, it’s not really a saw, it
is a bench shear. I want to whack up everything in sight with it just
so I can see those straight, straight edges. No more filing a
straight edge down to the innermost sawblade mark on a sawed line.
Wow. If you do any kind of production work with straight edges on it,
I highly recommend a bench shear. I got an 8-inch one, the less
expensive type, from Rio Grande. I will do a series of cuff bracelets
with it that I never would have been interested in doing before. It
was a little over $300. (Just a satisfied customer.)
I wish I was able to get a little miniature chop saw / miter saw
that carpenters use for doing repetitive cutting. I personally can
not cut a straight line due to being excessively "endowed" and
using a jeweler's saw, my straight line cutting turn out not only
curved horizontally but also vertically.
I have said this before and I say it again; go to a local modeler’s
store/shop and buy one or two of their little tenon type saws they
call razor saws. They have very fine teeth and are very thin; you
should ask for one with the finest teeth. You’ll have to learn to use
it in the fashion that a budding carpenter has to use a woodworking
tenon saw to cut thin plywood. You should lubricate the blade with
candle or beeswax and saw the thin sheet metal at a very low angle.
You would find it hard to saw a curve even if you wanted to! And the
metal edges will not need much finishing.
I’ve used them for years, only took a tip from Japanese carpenters
and fitted a handle the opposite end to usual, so you it now cut on
the back stroke. This way the saw will not jam in the fine kerf.
Cheers for now,
John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua, Nelson NZ
I’d like to see a device for changing to different flexshafts, but
most importantly, be able to change which flexshaft you use with a
flick of switch or something similar. There is one heavy duty foot
pedal I use that is wonderful and very responsive. So I wind up
crawling under my bench to plug in the various flexshafts I have. It
would be great to have something like this so I can switch between
the two I use most frequently (#30 and hammer setter), and in the
future to add a quick change handpiece. Does such a thing exist
already? And where would I get it?
So I wind up crawling under my bench to plug in the various
flexshafts I have. It would be great to have something like this so
I can switch between the two I use most frequently (#30 and hammer
setter), and in the future to add a quick change handpiece.
Katherine, I don’t understand. Why don’t you use the same flexshaft
and just switch the handpieces? I do that often.
harbor freight tool co sells a 4" diameter power miter saw for about
$20. It works very well on sterling and soft metals. It makes
perfect 90 Degree cuts easily and quickly on sterling tubing, bead
wire, gallery wire, Etc. It will do just what you want and at a very
reasonable cost.
Excuses, excuses… I have the same problem with my nose. (lol)
Next time you are cutting a straight line, let the sheet of gold
overlap your bench pin with the line to be cut just over the right
edge of the pin. Use the pretty square edge of the pin to help guide
your blade straight. Also, there is something to be said about the
quality of the blades you are using so if that tidbit doesn’t help
much, try switching to a more expensive set of blades.
Check out: Proxxon tools http://www.proxxon.de/ They have good
quality miniature tools. including 3 types of sawing tables (I would
mail to them to see if blades are available for sawing metal) I’ts a
german company but they have the site in English
I have the same problem with my nose. (lol)