Paul 25 years in and out of engineering workshops and I have never seen a new lathe. I thought they had to be old, isn't there a law that they need to be greasy, dirty, leaking with a faint smell of wee from the coolant and more lash than a cat o nine tails? Short answer do not know but will go out on a limb and say I doubt it unless stated in PUWER, bit like PTO covers and ROPS. Jeff

Spring loaded became the accepted stardard some years ago, due to the increase in accidents when the keys were left in the chuck. it is not manditory but i would expect it. I usualy find this is poor spceking when purchasing new equipment.

Rob, I'm not sure they are an 'accepted' standard, I usually find they have been removed by the turners. As an ex turner I can't stand them, they make it more awkward while loading the workpiece and closing the chuck. I can however see the benefit for stopping the key being left in although I'm not aware of any injuries through this. None of our apprentice training centre lathes have spring loaded keys as they need to learn the discipline of removing them. Mainly because it's pointless to train them with one key to find a different one in the workshops around site.