MT2 drill chuck for a lathe tailstock
Updated: 2026-10-23
The chuck seats, you wind the tailstock up, and the drill meets the bar with almost no quill left. A 16 mm keyless body and a long tang use travel you needed for the hole. This page is what 50 mm of quill gives you, and which bodies here are the shorter ones. Drift steps stay on the [how to fit an MT2 drill chuck](/hub/drilling-and-accessories/mt2-drill-chuck/sub/mt2-drill-chuck-how-to-fit) page. Prices stay on the [MT2 drill chuck comparison](/hub/drilling-and-accessories/mt2-drill-chuck). Mounts stay on the [MT2 drill chuck buying guide](/hub/drilling-and-accessories/mt2-drill-chuck/sub/mt2-drill-chuck-buying-guide).
The chuck seats, you wind the tailstock up, and the drill meets the bar with almost no quill left. A 16 mm keyless body and a long tang use travel you needed for the hole.
The chuck seats, you wind the tailstock up, and the drill meets the bar with almost no quill left. A 16 mm keyless body and a long tang use travel you needed for the hole. This page is what 50 mm of quill gives you, and which bodies here are the shorter ones. Drift steps stay on the how to fit an MT2 drill chuck page. Prices stay on the MT2 drill chuck comparison. Mounts stay on the MT2 drill chuck buying guide.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Clamping range | Weight | Arbor pairing | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Cocoarm Cocoarm 1–16 mm keyless | 1–16 mm | 1.21 kg | MT2-JT3 | 7.9 | about £26.00 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Flylin Flylin 1–13 mm keyed | 1–13 mm | 920 g | MT2-B16 | 7.4 | about £16.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  Ejoyous Ejoyous 1–13 mm MT2 | 1–13 mm | 872 g | MT2, chuck taper not named | 7.6 | about £22.59 | View offer |
On this page
What a short tailstock actually gives you
On the Warco Super Mini Lathe spec page, seen on 22 October 2026, the tailstock taper is 2MT and the quill travel is 50 mm. That 50 mm is how far the barrel moves, not how deep a hole you can drill with any chuck fitted. CGTK gives the MT2 taper a length of 65.087 mm. That is socket geometry, not quill travel.
You lose usable travel when the tang, or the ejector screw behind it, means the taper only locks with the quill already part of the way out. Kozelo's bullets state a shank length of 109 mm. That is longer than the 65 mm taper, so the listing is describing an overall shank with the tang included. It is not a measured bite out of a 50 mm quill.
A 13 mm chuck leaves more room than a 16 mm one
For a 50 mm quill the usual choice is a 1–13 mm chuck. The lighter bodies sit around 872 g for the Ejoyous and about 885–920 g for Kozelo, ZffXH, Flylin and Ausla. The 16 mm keyless bodies are heavier: Wakects about 1.17 kg, both Cocoarm listings about 1.21 kg, and Bohaner 1.33 kg. The WEN LA164K is a 5/8 inch keyed chuck at about 1.11 kg. Five eighths of an inch is 15.875 mm, so it is in the larger-body group.
Flylin is the keyed 1–13 mm listing that states MT2-B16. Leave ZffXH, YDHfdc, Ausla and Bohaner when the arbor is already disputed, as the best MT2 drill chuck page sets out. UK reviews call the Bohaner and the Wakects large on a mini lathe. If your bits stay under 13 mm, the lighter body gives the drill more of the 50 mm.
The tang helps on an ML7 and gets in the way on a mini lathe
A self-ejecting tailstock pushes the tang out when you wind the quill back in. A long tang forces you to start the hole with the barrel already extended, because the ejector screw meets the tang before full retraction. One UK Workshop owner of an Axminster AC305WL had 5 cm of travel. The chuck stayed seated only once the quill was already 3.5 cm out, so about 1.5 cm remained. Do not copy that 1.5 cm onto the Warco's 50 mm.
A Myford ML7 tailstock is open at the rear and is not self-ejecting, so you drift the tang from the back. The Super 7 self-ejects and has no rear access. Cutting the tang off would remove the drift feature the ML7 uses.
Do not grind the arbor, and do not use the headstock
Owners argue about cutting the tang shorter so the chuck seats further back. Ejection happens as you wind the quill in, so a tang cut too short means the quill will not eject the arbor at all. On a machine you drift from the side or the rear, the tang is what the drift hits. This page does not describe how to grind a tang. If the arbor will not enter the socket at all, stop.
Warco's arbor advice for the Mini Lathe and the Super Mini is a 2MT-B12, and they sell a version with no tang because it is shorter. A B16 chuck needs their 2MT-B16 instead. Nothing in this set is that B12 arbor. You still match B16 or JT3.
The Warco Super Mini spindle is 3MT. This MT2 chuck belongs in the tailstock, not in that headstock. No listing here confirms a drawbar thread. Axial drilling from the tailstock is the job these chucks are being chosen for.
Common questions
Will a standard MT2 drill chuck fit a mini-lathe tailstock?
It fits when the tailstock is 2MT, which the Warco Super Mini states, and the arbor really is MT2. A 1–16 mm body and a long tang can leave little of a 50 mm quill. A 1–13 mm body is the usual choice when your bits stay inside that range.
How much quill travel does a Warco super mini lathe have?
The current Warco spec page lists 50 mm of tailstock quill travel, a 2MT tailstock and a 3MT spindle. CGTK's 65 mm is the length of the MT2 taper, not a second travel figure.
Why does a tang shorten the travel I can use?
On a self-ejecting tailstock the feed screw meets the tang before the quill is fully back. The AC305WL owner had 5 cm of travel and about 1.5 cm left once the arbor stayed in. Keep that figure on that lathe.
Is a 16 mm keyless chuck too big for a small lathe?
UK reviews of the Bohaner and the Wakects call those chucks large on a mini lathe. The 16 mm keyless bodies run from about 1.17 kg to 1.33 kg, against about 872–920 g for the 13 mm cluster. It is the wrong first buy if your drills are under 13 mm.
Does a Myford ML7 eject the chuck by itself?
No. The ML7 tailstock is open at the back, so you drift the tang out from the rear. The Super 7 self-ejects and cannot be tapped out from behind. Shortening the tang removes the feature the ML7 uses to get the chuck out.
Should I grind the tang off to gain travel?
Not as the normal fix. A tang cut too short will not eject on a self-ejecting barrel, and a rear-drift lathe then has nothing for the drift to strike. Warco already sell a shorter arbor with no tang for their B12 chuck. That is a different part from the B16 and JT3 arbors in this set.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources from the research digest, last checked on 21 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures in the display file.
- ISO 296:1991, Morse taper standard (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- CGTK, Morse taper dimensions (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Arc Euro Trade, drill chuck taper dimensions (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- HSE INDG291, isolate before adjustment (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- HSE L22, PUWER Approved Code of Practice (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 11 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, accepting returns and giving refunds (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Axminster bench-drill manual, seat and drift (retrieved 21 October 2026)