Z011 3-Jaw Lathe Chuck, Mini Lathe Chuck with Connecting Rod and Short Sticks, Self Centering Wood Turning Chuck, Power Lathe Accessory

I bought this to use with hand drills and a benchtop drill press, with the goal of holding larger stock than the drills' chucks can accommodate. So far, this little chuck has performed admirably, effectively holding wood, plastic, carbon fiber, aluminum, steel, and stainless stock, while running at up to 3000 RPM. Most tasks have been light duty, such as sanding, polishing, and chamfering, but I'm pretty confident it'll hold well for heavier duty stuff, like machining small profiles, if I add a tailstock. Quality is actually much better than I was expecting at the price, with a clean die casting on the housing, reasonably precise machining of the jaw channels, and deburring of the machined edges. Adjustment and tightening is smooth and the jaws have very little play when loose. Centering is precise and runout is minimal (even on long stock), and while it's probably not suited to true machining work with high feed rates, it's excellent for how I'm using it. Finally, it is nicely compact: 48mm (1.9") diameter, 21mm (0.825") height, with 8.4mm (0.331") wide jaws. [UPDATE] Six weeks in, I’m still impressed. The chuck holds stock securely, and it runs straight/true. I get a little bit of runout, but since I’ve got a daisy chain with the drill’s chuck and this chuck (and it’s 6mm/.25” arbor/shank) , I think that’s more than understandable, and not a fault of this chuck. I’ll probably replace the arbor/shank with a larger version (honestly, it’s as simple as buying an M12x1.0 wheel stud), which will help with runout and allow the unit to withstand more radial force. When gripping the inside diameter of something like a pipe, the chuck does grip nicely, but you have to be careful to not put too much radial force against stock that isn’t supported (i.e. like a tailstock); the jaws are small, so this is acceptable.

I wasn't expecting much from this but I'm actually pleased with the quality and functionality so far! Of course ots not for heavy duty machining or anything but for small hobby stuff it's pretty great. I used to use the chuck of my drill to clamp small parts into that I wanted to spin for polishing or whatever reason but I thought there had to be a better way. This is it for now. The jaws are made of a much softer metal than a drill chuck so I won't risk marring other metal parts. The pin setup for locking it closed is pretty cheese ball but I'll probably figure out a better way. At least use some real pin punches or something.

The jaws do not stay tight and hold any material; wood, metal, plastic. The mechanical portion of the chuck is delicate. As it does not hold well, the attempt to tighten appropriately resulted in the chuck separating. I would not recommend this product for any kind of serious attempt at doing work. If you are a hobbyist, occasionally doing crafts, this product may suffice. DO NOT BUY IF YOU NEED DEPENDABLE AND ACCURATE!

It works great and was easy to install on my old jewelry lathe.

Really cheap but works ok.

This 3-jaw is ok for low precision work but you get what you pay for here. One thing people do not know is that the installation sequence for the jaws depends upon which side you are going to have facing inwards. Mine was shipped with the sawtooth grabbers facing outward and this uses the install sequence of A,B,C which is stamped on the mount as well as the jaw teeth. If, however, you are going to use the sawtooth jaws facing inward, then the sequence is backward, so Jaw C goes to A slot, B to B slot and A to C slot. Otherwise, jaws will not be spaced properly and will not close completely in the middle. Hope that helps.

Not very strong

Very nicely manufactured tool, I didn't have any problems with burrs or see any inherent weakness. The jaws, however, only have an effective grasping length of 10mm. Look at my other review of the mini lathe I used this chuck on, and there I explain my project and how this chuck was barely better at holding material centered than the lathe's rudimentary 4-setscrew chuck. If the jaws had been longer (maybe15mm?) this thing would've supported my work instead of simply pinching it at the end in imprecise fashion. As it is, I couldn't use this chuck in any precise manner without resorting to the aid of the tailstock on my lathe (and that didn't work, either). Again, nice idea, but the jaws need to be longer to support and keep the work centered while being turned.

I was pleased to receive the adaper for the chuck to fit a regular drill if needed.