Very true about the nearly negligable costs involved, but I think hobby work really isn't about getting things done cheaper.. It's about getting satisfaction out of doing things, but there is definitely a tradeoff between doing what you really desire and what you need to get the job done. I'm taking 16 courses as a part of my final year in electrical engineering, so I guess time isn't a luxury.
I have searched quite a bit for quick tool changers that'll work well with my machine. I have found two solutions, neither of them are particularily attractive. First, is
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/pro...ProductID=2461
This is constructed out of 6061-T6 aluminum, which I don't believe is the right material for something like this. It will fit the lathe without a hitch, but it only holds 3/8" tooling and will probably scratch and wear easily due to it being aluminum. I don't think anyone can dispute this, aluminum is simple not even close to being ideal for something like this.
My second solution was promising due to the quality of the construction and the price being nearly equivalent to LMS.
http://cgi.ebay.com/6-12-PISTON-QUIC...QQcmdZViewItem
But, it needs to be modified in a huge way to get it to fit, as detailed here..
http://www.fignoggle.com/machines/8x...Phase2QCTP.htm
It seems like a ridiculous modification, something I would do if I bought something that didn't fit the job and I really wanted to make it work.
Not to bash LMS, but I have found much better prices from Discount Machine Shop for exactly the same products. In some cases, the same product for 2X the money of LMS. I would really prefer to get the best bang for buck from DMM, but I might have to resort to inferior aluminum QTC that is probably marked up a significant amount.
Steve