I am thinking about purchasing a Haas SL-10 and have a question concerning the tool holders for the standard BOT turret. I would like to have a few tools that are drill bits so I can predrill my stock so a boring bar can be used. What would be the best way to go about this? Can I use a shank style collet chuck mounted in a boring bar holder? How about a drill bit directly in the boring bar holder? If these are not safe ideas, what would be the best way to go about holding a large enough drill bit?

Any other help regarding the SL-10 would be greatly appreciated.

What size drills are you planning on using? We use the shank type collet holders ER25 and ER16 for small drills. We also use straight boring holders with a bushing for larger drills up to 1" with 1/2" shanks. I have also made custom gang type tool holders for spot drill, drill and tap to reduce the number of tool changes when tapping small threads in small diameter round bar. I have also made custom holders that use 5C collets and R8 collets for drills and taps.

I think the largest drill would probably be about 1" so I could use a 3/4" boring bar. If it is possible to use a sleeve/bushing in the boring bar holder than I think that is the route I will take. I even found some Morse taper bushings to fit the boring bar holder so I don't have to get rid of all my MT drill bits I had from my manual lathe. Thanks for the input, it helps make deciding what maching I want to buy a little easier.