Runout test: Tormach vs. YinSheng (AKA "eBay") quick change ("TTS") collet chucks

Testing the runout of 10 Tormach, 10 YinSheng Machinery, and 4 Novakon quick change collet holders. As you can see at the beginning and end of the video, the runout of my spindle and my TTS R8 collet is somewhere between 2 and 3.5 ten-thousandths of an inch. This is far from ideal. All the measurements of these collet holders could be off by that much or more. So, a tool holder with a measurement of 4.0 ten-thousandths of an inch in this test could have anywhere between 0.5 and 7.5 ten-thousandths of an inch of runout. Actually, the runout range could be even greater given that I was testing the collet holder a little farther down from the spindle (distance amplifies runout). I used a Sharpie to number each tool holder before I started the test. I located the number at roughly the same place on each holder. I did this to make sure I inserted the tool holders in roughly the same orientation every time. I have found that rotating quick-change tool holders relative to the spindle nose can have a dramatic impact on the runout. Since finding the optimum orientation of each individual tool holder would have been tedious I decided to just insert each tool holder so the written number was close to a reference sticker stuck to the spindle. Adhering to this procedure helped eliminate any inadvertent bias which could have tainted the results. I selected the tool holders at random. The Tormach holders may have had a little bit of use. The YenSheng holders were new for all intents and purposes, and the Novakon holders were new. The measurements (to the nearest half of a ten-thousandth of an inch) 01. (T) more than 2.0 02. (T) less than 7.0 03. (T) less than 4.5 04. (T) close to 3.0 05. (T) less than 3.5 06. (Y) less than 13.0 07. (Y) close to 5.0 08. (Y) more than 14.0 09. (Y) less than 5.5 10. (Y) close to 1.5 11. (T) less than 3.5 12. (T) close to 3.5 13. (T) close to 3.0 14. (T) less than 4.5 15. (T) close to 3.5 16. (Y) less than 1.0 17. (Y) more than 5.5 18. (Y) less than 7.0 19. (Y) more than 4.0 20. (Y) more than 4.5 21. (N) more than 12.5 22. (N) more than 15.5 23. (N) less than 17.0 (ER32 collet chuck) 24. (N) close to 10.0 (ER32 collet chuck) (T) = Tormach (Y) = YinSheng (N) = Novakon Although this test isn't perfect, I do think it can be helpful to someone trying to decide which brand of quick change collet chucks they wish to buy. The Tormachs have the lowest average runout (~3.8) but they're the most expensive. The YinShengs had a higher average (~6.1) but are also the most affordable. The YinShengs also had the two lowest measurements. The four Novakons in this test had a very high average (~13.75). It's unfortunate that I didn't have more to test. Perhaps with a greater sample size they would have fared better. They are the only company selling TTS-style quick change ER32 collet chucks (that I've seen) which makes them an appealing brand to look at if you want to use ER32 collets.