# Drift Key Origin



## Noab (Jan 24, 2010)

What's the origin of the name "drift key"? Poked around the web and found lots of pictures and keys for sale, but no hint of where the name comes from.


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## ChrisK (Dec 18, 2009)

drift - a driving movement or force; impulse; impetus; pressure
key - a small metal instrument specially cut to fit into a lock and move its bolt


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## S4S (Jan 22, 2011)

Very interesting . I googled ' keys ' and then found myself reading way too much about Egyptian locks ,and realized

I was way off track with that search . Then I searched the Kama Suta and all I could find was a

description of how it was used , but not the origin .

" The chuck slowly and sensuously, in turn, squeezes and releases the prana of the bit.
When the moment is right the drift key is inserted into the chuck , releasing it from
the cycle of rebirth in a climactic release of punarbhava . ~ Kama Sutra

Well , that was little help . I moved on to researching the murky history at the dawn of the 
industrial revolution . I was looking for a machinist's journal or something from the early days ,but found ,oddly,
that it's not a popular subject on the net ; it's not like it is trending on yahoo .

Of course in Boating and nautical terms we all know what a drift key is :

*Drift Key* : Key awarded to the member of the boating party who is deemed most likely 
to be sober enough to start the engine when the boat is *drifting *
periliously towards the rocks .










I found out tha you doin't need a drift key to start a drift car , regular 'ole ignition key is fine .










So , I didn't have any luck finding the true origin of 'Drift Key' , but happily I did find the

origin of ' *Chuck Key *'.....fascinating…............










*Chuck Key :* The key used by the cooks on wagon trains to lock away their valuable supply 
of beef jerky from hungry critters and sneaky cowboys .


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## IrreverentJack (Aug 13, 2010)

Drift key-drift pin. My guess is it has to do with the taper and that both move/align holes in metal. -Jack


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