Paul,
My experience is not with that lathe in particular, but I have worked with all of those types, by far the easiest to use is the QCTP(with seperate holders). 4 way turrets are good on some lathes and others they are a pain, but given the choice i would still go with a QCTP. Lantern style holders(the old style tool post) are nice for some things, but for the most part not needed. My grizzly has a 4 way turret but you can really only use 2 of the 4, and its about as easy to change the bit as it is to use the turret feature. QCTP are rated on the swing of the lathe, I believe that a 10" is into the 200 or B series, I could be mistaken though, they normal specify what size range the holder is. The aloris is pretty much the standard by which all others are judged, I have used a generic no name, phase II, and a aloris, the aloris was the nicest but the phase II would suit just fine. I recomend a wedge type if you are planning on doing some heavy cutting, the pistons work OK, but they are not as firm as the wedge, again the wedges are also almost double the price. If you are using HSS you will find the ablity to easily change height with the thumb wheel makes on center cutting easier, with insert and cemented tools thats not as much of an issue as they normally are on center or really close. Doing that on a turret is a pain and on a lantern style post its slight chore.
One other thing you might want to get is a machinst level, when you set up your machine you will want it as level as possible, a starret #98 is a good example, leveling the bed and the table if possible.
Chris  |