Greg:

I have proven to myself time & time again that I must walk before I can
crawl. My journey started with an 8" craftsman "table saw" to the 3hp
Powermatic 66. With several models between those two.

Ultimately it's likely you'll spend more on tooling than on the machinery.
But getting there is what's fun.

I nearly purchased an omnipost (I am susceptible to marketing, particularly
if it contains the words "professional" or "industrial"). However, I
purchased the import AXA toolpost set, the Aloris clone. My steps this time
were - Home made AL block tool post for my Taig Lathe, a 4-tool turret tool
post for the Dalton 6 and eventually the AXA set. I still have the AXA set,
I've purchased more tool holders - when they're on sale they're fairly
inexpensive, and I've made my own. They go on sale fairly frequently. And
they are the subject of much bandwidth here, the piston -vs- wedge issues
come up regularly.

Anyway, my personality fits the quick change tool post. Being able to switch
at will between facing, chamfer, turning, parting, and boring - all of these
tools ready to cut, allow me to produce parts significantly faster. And that
provides a sense of satisfaction to me.

If your chuck is mounted on a back plate, it is standard practice to true
the back plate on the lathe it will be used. It was one of my first
operations for my South Bend 10K, so skill level is moderate, patience is a
virtue.

One of the best things you can do is to lurk here. The signal to noise ratio
is usually fairly good, and there is always a good mix of subjects.

Good luck.

"Greg Menke" wrote in message
...

I recently scored a decent SB heavy 10, complete but no tooling. I'm
probably going to spring for a reasonable set of used stuff, maybe a
KRF omnipost as well. On a couple occasions I've read of new chucks
being trued on the lathe on which they'll be used, I was wondering at
what skill levels or for which applications the need for chucks set up
like that starts to become apparent.

Also, if anyone has hints/tricks that might be of help while I'm
cleaning off the crud and tightening it up, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Gregm