Hello folks,
I'm researching toolholding options for my PM25-MV while it's on its way, and a lot of people seem to prefer Tormach's TTS for CNC work on these machines (G0704 etc). However, looking into brand name vs knockoffs it seems that while the knockoffs (igstools etc) are about half the price, their quality isn't that consistent. This makes me think of the old warning "buy nice or buy twice".

I realize the PM25-MV isn't the pinnacle of craftsmanship, but I'd like to get the best out of it that I can, which makes me wary of cheaping out on toolholding. Looking at the variability in the knockoff stuff made me wonder about the brand name parts, since I couldn't find any information on Tormach's site. I reached out to their tech support people and inquired about the runout specs of their R8 to TTS adapter as well as their TTS ER collet chucks, and was told that they don't have an official spec for runout, but the tech said that he'd expect it to be about 0.001" to 0.002" depending on distance from spindle nose. This was followed by instructions on how to use ER collets.

These numbers basically demolished everything I'd been reading for the past few days, as others have reported runout much lower than this for the unbranded mystery parts. My concerns about buying "quality" ER collets ($100/set) vs unbranded ones ($20/set) seem rather moot too. What good is <.0003" runout collet on a 0.002" chuck?

Am I barking up the wrong tree here? Is the sort of precision I can expect from a PM25-MV not deserving of these sorts of concerns? Or is my enthusiasm for quick change tooling getting the best of me, and I should just stick with R8 collets if I want better precision?