Speedy Lathe Chuck Wrench

[gatz]

Had this Craftsman 'speed wrench' laying in a toolbox since the '60's. I don't think I ever used it once for the intended purpose......
so, I cut off (yikes) about 3" of the end that had the 3/8" drive to use in a cordless drill.



Worked great.

Later on, I made an adapter to use a cordless drill to spin the lathe chuck jaws in/out. Just a short piece of steel with a 3/8" hex on one end and a 7/16" square on the other to drive the key socket of the chuck. Saved a lot of time; especially when changing the set of jaws from Outside to Inside or vice-versa.

One day, much later, I happen to notice the remnants of the speed wrench in a box under the bench and decided to add the adapter to it. Cut the 3/8" hex off and drilled a hole to match the end of the speed wrench. Pinned it with a 1/8" roll pin.









Actually, this works out better because now I don't have to hunt down the cordless drill every time the lathe chuck jaws need some quick change in diameter.