When it comes to hobby stuff, I tend to be frugal these days. Sometimes too frugal.
I needed a small chuck so I can build or do maintenance on pool cues. Pool cues are usually between 1/2" dia. to 1-3/8" dia. depending on which end you're working on.
So, I bought the Harbor Freight 2" chuck. It comes with a MT1 shank, so I ordered an MT1 to MT2 adapter from eBay to fit my lathe.
What I found out:
- The maximum "normal" grip diameter was only 1-3/8". Not 2". And, flipping the jaws end for end and using the steps in the jaws for stuff larger than 1-3/8" did not grip well at all.
- The jaws had a camber due the sloppy slots in the chucks body that caused the jaws to angle outward. Therefore, they only had a small point of contact with the turning, and wanted to spit the turning out after 30 seconds.
- The MT1 to MT2 adapters from eBay introduced a lot of vibration. The runout was visibly noticeable from 10 feet away.
Here's a picture essay of what I did to make this chuck functional. Therefore, I do not recommend this chuck to anyone. I see similar offerings by others for about twice the price and these come with an MT2 shank. I cannot comment if these chucks share the deficiencies as the HF.
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