The 4-jaw chuck is the most versatile of all the chucks. It can hold round and square shaped materials. Unlike the 3-jaw chuck (self-centering) each jaw on the 4-jaw chuck is adjusted independently of the others.
Some features of the 4-jaw chuck are:
- Hardened steel jaws with steps
- Jaws are independently adjusted in pairs
- Setting a workpiece off center creates crankcase and cam shapes
- Parts may be machined to run very true (this will require more time to center than a self-centering 3 jaw chuck)
- 4-jaw, 3 1/4 inch diameter lathe chuck 3/4-16 thread mount, jaws adjusted independently (reversible heat treated steel jaws)