Graham Tools Master Chuck Keys - Tool Time

Ever had to conduct a treasure hunt in your garage trying to find the correct chuck-key for a certain drill motor? Yeah, I know, a lot of current drills are fitted with keyless chucks, but most heavy-duty, high-torque models still use the keyed type because of their ability to clamp a bit more securely. Between my drill press and several other drills that I bought before the keyless era, I need about a half-dozen different keys to keep them all in use. With corded drills, I’ve tried hanging the appropriate key on a rubber lanyard that attaches to the cord, but either the lanyard eventually breaks or the key slips out of it unnoticed, prompting the need for another search.

Graham Tools (www.grahamtool.com) has an innovative solution with its Master Chuck Keys (part #12060 large, 12050 small; $19.95). Each key contains four different sizes and has a powerful neodymium magnet in the center that allows the key to cling tenaciously to any ferrous surface, such as a toolbox, a drill press, a twist-drill index, etc.

Twenty bucks a pop is a bit steep for such a tool, even if it does have four sizes; but when you’re in the middle of an important drilling job and can’t find the right chuck key, $20 can seem like a cheap solution.