This post is an archival post from the original Datamancer.net blog, which is no longer online. It was written by Richard Nagy between 2009 and 2012, before he passed away. We have kept it public, unchanged apart from the layout, so the information stays available to as many people as possible.
Here’s a method I discovered that helps to keep your drill press chuck key from wandering away. Home Depot and Lowes sell a small $.99 gadget called a “Pencil Pull” (teeheeheehee ok, keep it together, Doc) which is a small, retractable spool originally meant to have a pencil wedged into it. You can repurpose this gadget by attaching it to your chuck key with a little tape and hanging over the front (or side) edge of your pulley covers. You can also use a magnet, but with the amount of computer equipment I usually have running in my garage, stray magnets make me a tad nervous.
