To get a small bit chucked into a drill press, use a 1/4″ chuck and thread a 3/8″-diameter bolt into it, then clamp this smaller chuck unit into the large one.
My wife recently took up scroll sawing, and she needs to drill small starter holes for the blades to make tiny cutouts. Some of the drill bits are so tiny that the 1/2″ chuck on my drill press won’t grip them.
To solve this problem, I bought a 1/4″ chuck and threaded a 3/8″-diameter bolt into it. I secured the bolt with a locknut and cut off the head. Now I can clamp the smaller chuck right into my larger one, and it holds those tiny drill bits securely.
