On Mon, 06 Oct 2014 18:21:18 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

On Mon, 06 Oct 2014 18:04:10 -0400, Ed Huntress wrote:

On Mon, 06 Oct 2014 17:49:18 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 06 Oct 2014 14:19:03 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

I have a motor that has a keyed shaft, and I need to remove the key.

The shaft is about 15mm diameter, the key is about 6mm wide (it's a
German motor, so it's all in mm), with rounded ends. The keyway is
only slightly longer than the key. It looks like the keyway was milled
with an end mill, and the key either glued or pressed into the keyway.

The thing came from the factory with a rubber retainer* around the key,
which gives me hope that the key can be removed -- but I haven't been
able to do it just by grabbing it with a vice grip and pulling.

Any suggestions about how the key may be retained in there, and how to
get it out without damaging the shaft?

* Really it's a rubber band. But it's not a piece of office-supply
crap -- it's a rubber band sourced by German machinists who take pride
in their work, so it's black and thick and can probably be soaked in
gasoline for a day, be wiped off, and still be like new. So I can't
quite call it a rubber band.
To remove the key - which, from your description, is a "woodruff" key
bump it on the end with a drift - a brass one if you are really fussy -
and it will walk right out of the keyway.

I think he's talking about a Pratt & Whitney key, which is like a plain
square key but which has rounded ends.

Yes, it's a Pratt & Whitney key, in a slot that fits it all around with no
room to move it any direction except for up out of the slot.

Or, since it's from Germany, maybe it's a BMW key, or a Junkers Key, or
something like that.
OK - I can picture it now. Drift wouldn't work too well.