Several reasons: My 7X16 is variable speed so I'm used to that, I don't need huge capacity, I'll be ordering the 5" D1-3 chuck for it and that's all I'll need. I like the D1-3 chuck, like my 7X16 I used the 3" chuck for certain jobs and the 4" chuck for others. Bonus is no bolts to fiddle with on the D1-3! The quality is also something that really caught my eye, Hardened 3-way V - Bed, oil or grease fittings on everything, 1-1/8" spindle bore, hand scraped dovetails, etc. etc.. Set up was easy, I'm just swamped at work so I can't get back to it! Tonight I threw a piece of ground rod in the chuck to see where that's at. First shot was 1.5 thous. at the chuck and same three inches out. Trouble is if I re-chucked it got worse. My fault, I didn't totally clean the chuck and look for burrs etc. If it's still all over after the proper cleaning then bummer! Let's wait and see what the weekend brings. The ONLY other snag I've run into is the spindle sleeve being off . I'm sending it to Miller Machine to fix. Thing is, SB sells the sleeves for $10.00 and Miller Machine gets $60.00. I would expect to pay more for tighter tolerances. I don't think the MT4.5 spindle sleeve and the chuck are up to the standards of the rest of the lathe. The 5" SB chuck is a true D1-3 with two piece jaws and the 4" that comes with it is bolted to a D1-3 adapter and no two piece jaws. Also it doesn't say South Bend on it so I know it's not made in the same factory as the top of the line SB chucks. Hey, I'm not complaining, I knew this going in, but it does have an oil fitting and is better quality than what came with my 7X16 for sure. The 10K comes with the 5", I wish you could order a lathe with the chuck you want. I 'd pay more for that option. Actually I will be!
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