55 replies to this topic

[havlicek]

Not much more to say.  The Grizzly has served a good purpose, and honestly, if I were only playing with brass and aluminum, I might not have made the jump.  It'll still help me by going to flea-market-duty and paying a bit of the Sherline's cost...so there's that!

[Geary Carrier]

Will it cut wood too???

 

Your machining has improved an order of magnitude...

[Tim Neja]

I've had a Sherline lathe since the 70's!! Made right in SD the old USofA!! Very nice people and a nice small lathe.  Plenty of upgrade attachments if you're into that --like power feeds -- mill table etc.  Congrats John

[havlicek]

Will it cut wood too???

 

Cut wood?  Heck, it'd probably core a apple. 

[Geary Carrier]

It's hard cider time...

[Don Weaver]

At $340.00 the DRO is the best enhancement I've made to my Sherline.  Really makes accurate turning easy.

[dc-65x]

I have one too John. It's a good little machine for it's size and cost. I updated to quick change tool holders so I have half a dozen different tools ready to drop in and use. 

 

That DRO sounds nice too Don.

[havlicek]

At $340.00 the DRO is the best enhancement I've made to my Sherline.  Really makes accurate turning easy.

 

The DRO looks like something I could definitely use Don, but I have one thing for the Sherline mill I'm planning for:

 

 

 

 

I have one too John. It's a good little machine for it's size and cost. I updated to quick change tool holders so I have half a dozen different toolsready to drop in and use. 

Hi Rick,

      Bingo!...the quickchange tool holder seems like the #1 option to go for...well...aside from more tools!    This was all done with more than a little faith (*based on my experience with the mill) that I could do some work with easy-machining steel without taxing the machine too much.  I guess what they say is gonna happen..."we shall see". 

[Don Weaver]

The rotary table is also an excellent piece of tooling to have.

[Ecurie Martini]

Suggestion: Before you commit to the Sherline mill, take a look at the Taig.  IMHO there is an interesting split in small USA made machine tools..For lathes, the Sherline is better thought out and has a wider range of accessories and more capability.  In mills, just the opposite obtains.  The Taig is far more robust and rigid (perhaps the most important quality in a mill)  As an example, the Sherline uses 1/4" leadscrews, the Taig's are 1/2" You can even get the Taig with ballscrews for greater accuracy and precision and finally, conversion to full CNC is easy.

 

EM

[havlicek]

Suggestion: Before you commit to the Sherline mill, take a look at the Taig.  IMHO there is an interesting split in small USA made machine tools..For lathes, the Sherline is better thought out and has a wider range of accessories and more capability.  In mills, just the opposite obtains.  The Taig is far more robust and rigid (perhaps the most important quality in a mill)  As an example, the Sherline uses 1/4" leadscrews, the Taig's are 1/2" You can even get the Taig with ballscrews for greater accuracy and precision and finally, conversion to full CNC is easy.

 

EM

 

 

 I've had the Sherline for a while now, and it's why I got their lathe.   I really strongly doubt I will ever go CNC , although of course the Sherline can.

[Ecurie Martini]

Understood and sorry - When I looked back, it occurred to me that there are two ways to read your comment:

 

but I have one thing for the Sherline mill I'm planning for:

 

and I read it the wrong way.

 

EM

[Dave Crevie]

Good choice, John, in hobby machines. You can even get retro-fit CNC for them.

 

DON'T cut wood in it. Nor cast iron if you can help it. The shavings mix with the way

oil and make lapping compound. You would be surprised just how abrasive wood dust is.

[Phil Smith]

My understanding of DROs is:

 

DROs that read off of the feed screws are not ideal. Reading off of scales eliminates feed screw back lash error, which is the main reason for having a DRO.

 

 

You can use  digital calipers and magnets to make a poor man's DRO that eliminates back lash error for very little money. 

 

[Ecurie Martini]

Not only does a DRO eliminate leadscrew error, it essentially eliminates any layout effort.  I would use a very simple babyCad program or even a pencil sketch to note hole position, corners etc. all referenced to a single point, clamp the work, find two edges, zero out the DRO and then simply "crank to the numbers".  Obviously, if there is a tool change, the Z axis needs to be re-zeroed. (milling)

 

EM

[havlicek]

 

 

You would be surprised just how abrasive wood dust is.

 

 

Not really!  I used to run a print shop and our main paper cutter was a large (*I forget, but around 28") sonofagun, with equally impressive knives.  I had the best knives for that thing, and after coming back from sharpening would spend an hour or so installing them.  Just cutting paper, we had to get them sharpened every 1-2 weeks (*depending on how busy we were).

 

Understood and sorry - When I looked back, it occurred to me that there are two ways to read your comment:

 

but I have one thing for the Sherline mill I'm planning for:

 

and I read it the wrong way.

 

EM

 

No big thing Alan.  Probably my number one big ticket item (*possibly) for the mill is that rotary table though, but I would also need a three jaw chuck for it, so the cost goes up even more.  That means it's "further on up the road". 

[wbugenis]

The 3 jaw from the lathe fits on the rotary table with an adaptor

[wbugenis]

Also they have a nice collet fixture for the rotary table that uses lathe collets.

 

So many parts in the Sherline system  are interchangeable !! 

[havlicek]

The 3 jaw from the lathe fits on the rotary table with an adaptor

...and the four jaw as well Bill   But I would rather not be swapping the chuck every time.

 

Also they have a nice collet fixture for the rotary table that uses lathe collets.

 

So many parts in the Sherline system  are interchangeable !! 

 

Yes...and yes! 

[Jay Guard]

Hey John:

If you are looking for real precision (which I know you are) collets are definitely the way to go.  With a good bit more effort you can get there with chucks but it's just a lot quicker and more precise to go with collets.  In your case I would think that you normally wouldn't be dealing with many sizes of collets so the cost would be "reasonable". 

[havlicek]

Hey John:

If you are looking for real precision (which I know you are) collets are definitely the way to go.  With a good bit more effort you can get there with chucks but it's just a lot quicker and more precise to go with collets.  In your case I would think that you normally wouldn't be dealing with many sizes of collets so the cost would be "reasonable". 

 

Hi Jay,

     Yes, I use them where I can and it's convenient...but where on the lathe would I use them for what I do?  Mostly, I'm using a live or dead center on the tailstock when not using a drill chuck.

[Jay Guard]

I was thinking you might want to use one in place of the 3 or 4 jaw chuck and add a bushing in the tailstock chuck/collet if you wanted to accurately turn or grind an armature.  Sherline makes a "WW Collet" adapter for both the Headstock and Tailstock.

[wbugenis]

I am often turning or od grinding armatures, armature slugs, cans, endbels on 2mm

 

shafts or fixtures mounted on 2mm shafts.  You can , make fixtures mounted on 2mm shafts to hold cans and endbels.

 

(When you get your rotary table, you can use such a fixture on the mill to precision drill endbel mounting holes in cans) 

 

Back to the lathe,  I use a 2mm  ( 5/64 works too) in the headstock

 

and the Sherline adjustable tailstock collet fixture with a 5mm collet and a 2 x 5 mm oilite in the tailstock.  

[wbugenis]

Here is a picture of my commutator slotting setup on a Sherline mill ( 2mm collet in the index head  and  0.125" collet in the adjustable collet fixture in the tailstock:

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[wbugenis]

Larger view:

 

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