ML7 Quick Change Tool Holders

Apologies if this is a repeat thread,

Does anyone have any up to date experience of ML7 compatible Quick Change or 4-way indexable toolholders? There are older posts slating the imported types, but I've also read that the quality of Chinese goods has improved lately.

I'm a big believer in buying the best tools I can afford, but with 3 kids, I can't spend money unecessarily.

Should I dare to buy Chinese? or is it genuine Myford all the way?

Opinions gratefuly received

I've found THESE or THESE quite OK for my S7.

I have quite a few!

Norman

Yes the ones I have are OK - and I do have a lot but of course you don't need to buy them all at once - you can just add extra boats as funds allow. I do think the major advantage of the system is that each tool has its own boat which you can pick up and know that the centre height will be just right when fitted. You can, of course, change the tools over in the boat but the Quick Change then becomes the Not So Quick Change!

I'm a bit unhappy at giving a blanket approval to either company I've linked to as I've had my system for some time - however, over the years, I've dealt with both companies for quite a few items and they have always been OK about replacing/ refunding in the odd case where I had problems with items supplied.

Norman

Edited By NJH on 09/10/2013 17:19:52

H,

I'm entirely with norman on this; I have a size S00 Dickson set for my S7, with over 25 holders acquired over many years and from a variety of sources. All of them have proved entirely satisfactory, though the ones bought from Myford have a slightly better finish. I also have a size S1 set for my M300, which is equally good, though a lot more expensive.

My personal view is that 4-way tool posts are the spawn of the devil. You can usually only get 3 tools in them if you want one of them for boring, and one of them is always perfectly placed to stab you - but the real problem is the limit of tools ready for instant use. Yes, advocates say that you can keep a piece of shim with every tool - but that still takes many times longer than a QC, and you can't put the tool back in exactly the same place for repeat parts like you can with a QC. I sold the 4-way that came with my S7, after many many years of it gathering dust.

As for tool boats, well frankly you'd have to be desperate.

David

Edited By David Littlewood on 09/10/2013 17:51:52