A while back I picked up an import 1440 lathe, and over all I have been
pretty happy with it. I wasn't 100% on the 4 jaw that came with it so the
vendor offered me a below market price new old stock Bison to replace it,
and also gave me enough trade in on the stock 4 jaw to be worth shipping it
back to him. I damaged an oil port and he sent me a bag of them. The cam
that locks the tail stock to the bed had roll a pin in it that was a little
to short, and I replaced it with a longer one. My plan has been to replace
that with a solid tapered pin, but the longer roll pin has been adequate.
The gear and pulley cover made a vibrating noise when snugged down tight so
I put spacers on the mounting studs, and snugged it down against those. No
more noise. I'm listing its deficiencies because really that's all of them.
Well except for this last one.

I'm not 100% on the drill chuck that came with it. Oh, don't get me wrong.
I've used the heck out of it, and its pretty concentric... for a drill
chuck, but I've slipped a few drills in the chuck. If I recall its either a
0-1/2 or a 0-5/8 chuck on an MT4 taper. Its tough. The chuck shows no sign
of wear even though I have used a cheater bar on the chuck key a few times.
I have worn a couple chuck keys. Ruined one when I welded on a permanent
cheater bar. It just doesn't seem to hold as well as I would like when I am
pushing the drilling capabilities of the machine. The lathe is only 3HP.
3HP isn't much for a lathe, but it is a lot for drilling I think. Anyway, I
am wondering if there is a better drill chuck out there for this
applications. Something that can grip those 1/2" shank stubby silver and
deming bits with authority. Maybe a keyless chuck, and then use pin
spanners in the holes. I have a 1/2" keyless for one of my smaller lathes
and another in my larger (drill press) and they seem to both work pretty
good, but neither machine is 3 HP. I think the little 8.5 x 18 lathe has a
1hp motor, and I am sure the drill press is only 3/4.

Anyway...