Is a cross slide drill vise an overkill or good to have. I want to buy a drill vise for general purpose gripping....just saw the cross slide models. I'm currently drilling pen/stopper blanks and cue balls. Not sure what else I'm going to work on.
Get a 2 pieces of 12x12 3/4" thick plywood. Mark the center point on both, get a bolt that matches the threads on your lathe chuck. For this explanation, I will use 1-8TPI threads on the chuck. In the center of one of the pieces of plywood, drill a 1" hole, in the center of the other piece drill a 2" hole.
Glue the 2 pieces together, and use some 1 1/4" long screws to hold it together. When the glue dries. stick a 1-8TPI bolt about 2" long in the 2" hole so that it comes out of the 1" hole and screw your chuck down on the bolt.
Your chuck is now ready to mount on the drill press table. To line the chuck up, mark the center of a blank and insert in the chuck. With a drill bit in the drill chuck, you can center the chuck and clamp the plywood in place.
The bolt you use should be below the holding part of the lathe chuck, if too long grind or cut it shorter. You want your blank to sit I the bottom of the chuck, like it does on the lathe. The best chucks to use are the tommy bar kind, the cross handle on the keyed chuck can get on the way. Too solve that, make your plywood stand taller. I also suggest using a good grade of plywood, not the roof decking stuff.
This video will sort of help explain the process.
https://youtu.be/2_JjJ0-mStY