RB wrote:
After work today I will pick up an EMCO 8.6 lathe, with no tooling save
a faceplate. It's cheap enough to make it a no-brainer, tooling or no.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/tls/741503936.html

So what kind of spindle nose will this thing have?
Is there a source for chucks and collet closer at something less than
Austrian prices?
Anything else I need to know about these?
Part it out?
Suggestions?

It has a ******* variant of a DIN spec spindle nose, that is a bolt on
affair that uses studs on the chuck, through holes on the face of the
spindle.
The bad of that, is that the chucks are neither plentiful nor cheap.

It is a similar system to what is used on some of the cheaper small
Chinese lathes, on the plus side, and they may be able to be adapted.
Adapt the Chinese chuck to fit, rather than modifiying the spindle,
FWIW. You may have to recruit some help, or use a bit of "less than
Optimal" setting up to get done what needs, but you should be able to
get a useable chuck for pretty cheap from the likes of Harbor Freight etc.

Having the exactcorrect pitch gears is great if you are filling in a
set, but if you have to build the whole set, buy as cheaply as you can,
all the same pitch, and you will be workin'.
Of course, if you can get a stock set... so much the better, but if
all you need is feeds and a few threads, you can build a set accordingly.

Your best bet on a collet closer is a manual drawtube type. Easy to
make, or adapt. At least for being affordable.
There are chucks made for the Chinese lathes that use ER series
collets. Not fast to load and unload, but still collets.


Cheers
Trev