What small CNC Lathe should we buy?

[goldhntr]

The company I work for is considering a CNC lathe. I am the sole machinist in the shop and the company's focus is R&D. It is my opinion that a lathe with a 6in chuck capacity with a relatively hight RPM (think mostly aluminum) and live tooling is what we would need. The Haas ST-10 fits our requirements and cost. Is there any others that we might consider or is the best bang for the buck. Keep in mind that this is a R&D shop. Ease of use is more the issue than high volume.

[mechematt]

For the money and lower volume, primarily aluminum work you are talking about a small haas is a fine choice, and the redesigned ST series is almost a real machine tool (just kidding...sorta). I would only say that if you can swing a little $ look at the -20 instead. I have an SL20 and an ST-20, they are small. you will outgrow the 10 fast especially if you intend to do anything with the live tooling (not a lot of room there for clearing tools such).