Mark Main wrote:

Coolant through the tool is a prominent feature of CNC machines. Since you do not know about that, chances are pretty good that they amount to a feature you do not need to spend money on.

Thanks, my cutoff work will be manual for quite awhile I think; I just
want to ask while I try and figure out what tools to buy.

I see that Iscar makes other tools; does anyone know how they stack up
against Aloris brand? I ask because I generally read the praises of
Aloris but so far I've only seen people write about Iscar Cutoff blades
and tools, but not their other tools.

I appreciate the help as it's obvious with my simplistic (and sometimes
dumb) questions that I'm learning here.

I was/am unaware of the Aloris cutoff tools. I know that they make
toolosts. Can't say, therefore, whether they are going to be useful to
you or not.
I would steer clear of any tool that uses inserts that can only be got
from one source, as it's likely to become an orphan sooner than later.

Hmmmm...

A quick look at Google finds that Aloris makes two different styles of
toolpost holder for holding cutoff tools. Is this causing confusion? The
Aloris holders will work with cutoff tools from anybody, almost, but
they are not cutoff tools in their own right. They both hold standard
size tooling that is available from just about anywhere.

Got a link to what you are looking at? This is a page of Aloris tooling
http://machinetoolsforsale.com/Aloris.htm with the cutoff holders a bit
past halfway down the page.

Cheers
Trevor Jones