Brad,

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Just to clarify, 3-jaw self-centering lathe chucks (the most common type) will get your work-piece within a few thousandths of an inch of center IF the chuck is well made, and is in good condition.? Such a chuck is adequate for almost all of the work that a hobbyist might do.? If you need to center your work more accurately, (for making very small diameter screws for example), you can switch to an independent four-jaw chuck and using a dial test indicator adjust the individual jaws to minimize the centering error (called run-out).? Drawbacks to using this technique is that it takes some skill and practice to learn how to do this quickly, and if you have to remove the piece from the chuck to do something else to it, you will have to center it all over again when placed back in the chuck.? For the greatest accuracy, one first finds the center of the piece and drills a small center hole at that location.? One then flips the piece around to find and drill a small center hole in the end opposite the first.? As previously described, the piece is then mounted, supported, and free to rotate ?between two lathe centers (one in the headstock and one in the tailstock).? For machining, the piece is then made to rotate by driving it with a lathe dog.? This setup has the added advantage of being able to remove the work piece from the lathe and then remount it or even flip it end to end, and it will remain centered. ?

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Hope this helps.

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Jerry F.

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