In article ,
Cuezilla wrote:
Quote
" Later, you can pick up some of the specialized Aloris tool
holders -- they will fit the wedge style Phase-II with no problems.
I've got a mix of Phase-II and Aloris."

Will they fit the piston type should that be my choice?

This seems to be a function of just how deep the center of the
dovetail is cut. The Aloris ones, I believe, are all intended to be
used on their wedge style posts. But I think that they are still very
consistent, even when it doesn't matter for their toolpost. The piston
posts are sensitive to the depths of the center of the dovetail, and
I have read posts by some others about having to glue a shim in the
bottom of the dovetail for some of the cheaper brands. The *width* of
the dovetail is much more consistent than the depth between
manufacturers, I believe. (Note that there are a bunch of cheap
(relatively) brands -- sometimes sold as house brands, and these can
vary much more.) There are also other *good* brands, such as Dorian,
which is not really wedge or piston, but sort of a hybrid. It does use
a cam-operated piston, but the piston acts out the back edge of the
dovetail, pulling it down as tightly as the wedge does.

Note that somebody else mentioned having a wedge style stick.
I've never seen that when using an Aloris at work, or when using a
Phase-II here at home. (I did once have the hollow center post start to
unscrew, so I pulled it apart, cleaned and lubed it, and used LocTite
on the screws at the bottom of the center post, and have had no trouble
with is since. I suspect that the wedge style sticking may have come
from swarf working down into the threads which drive the wedges, if
things aren't kept clean enough all the time.

Good Luck,
DoN.
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