The swing up threading tool holder that I just did was in steel but I honestly can't tell any real difference in use. My lathe only has about a 350-400 watt motor so I really can't push them that hard. The A2Z CNC QCTP comes with aluminum holders. If I had a big lathe, be a different story. I also made them a bit beefier than the original ones, but that was to use the little 3/16 HSS tools. I can squeeze in a 1/4 bit as well but so far the 3/16 seems to do just fine and I really can't take really heavy cuts anyway.
The AL was my first time cutting dovetails and I was using scrap AL from work ( free- Yay! ) so if they don't hold up in the long run, there really is no loss.
The last update is that I finally bolted on the 4-jaw chuck for the first time and I bored out the last holder for a 1/4in round HSS bit that I am going to grind for boring. I am out of little 8-32 screws anyway so I can't make any more until I get the screws I have on order. I plan to make some more later. It just feels rich to be to the point of making stuff instead of having to buy everything. That gets old really fast.....
![:)](https://madmodder.net/Smileys/default/side2side.gif)
They are a lot of fun and I am getting in lots of practice.