Question on the Lee 3 jaw trimming chuck....

[3006guns]

I recently inherited a little drill press.....a home built job by a machinist from years ago.........and my first thought was to dedicate it to shortening/trimming cases. An ordinary RCBS reamer (cutter) will go into the little drill chuck, but what method to hold the case?

I'm familiar with the Lyman style case holder that mounts to the drill table, but they cost money so I'm thinking of using a Lee 3 jaw chuck instead. My thought is to make a threaded mount, clamped to the table with the Lee chuck. Now the question:

Does the Lee chuck tighten when the outer ring is turned? I assume so, but does it rely on any portion of the mounting stem for tightening or do the jaws come in independently on their own?

Edit: Okay, I got it. A video on YouTube demonstrates that the case head seats against the mounting stem as the jaws come in. I'll just build my own version of the mounting stem!

[n.h.schmidt]

Maybe I can help save you some work. I have made a drill press trimmer using this chuck. If you order the lee cutter& lock stud #90110 or the case conditioning combo # 90950 ,you will get a mounting stem with a 1/4" hex shank. What you do is clamp what you want to use as base plate to the drill press .Then drill a 9/32 hole in the base plate. With this you can easily press the lock stud hex shank into the hole. A bench vise will do this nicely.Your lee chuck will go on the lock stud and you are ready. You can also use the cutter that comes with it. Use the lee threaded pilots in the cutter. The cutter can sometimes chatter though so play with the speed to get best results.
n.h.schmidt