Subject: Sherline Mill Opinions?

From: [email-masked] (Felice Luftschein)
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 17:02:24 GMT

The money fairy has seen fit to enable the purchase of a sherline
mill. I need to know if they are rigid, and if people out there are happy
with theirs. Also, if I do get one, is the 5400 model with the extra y axis
travel worth the extra $125? Call me paranoid, but I just don't trust
the endorsements in the sherline catalog. Please I especially want
negative, critical comments. Finally if anyone has a used mill/drill
for about $500 in the Willamette valley of Oregon, I would probably want that 
instead.
Thanks

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From: Mike DeMetz <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 22:47:46 -0700

Check out http://hre.com for their review. I have never heard any 
complaints about the Sherline.

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From: [email-masked] (Ron Ginger)
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 08:40:58 LOCAL

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Felice Luftschein) writes:
>From: [email-masked] (Felice Luftschein)
>Subject: Sherline Mill Opinions?
>Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 17:02:24 GMT

>for about $500 in the Willamette valley of Oregon, I would probably want that 

I think Sherline is a fine tool FOR ITS SIZE. If you are also looking for a 
mill/drill, you are not looking at two tools of the same size.  If you expect 
to do BIG work on the Sherline, forget it, get a mill/drill.

If you want to do work that fits on the Sherline, and for a mill Id say thats 
a part no larger than about 3"x4"  then get a Sherline. 

Im not convinced the larger Sherline is worth it. I have the samll one, a 
friend has the larger one. I havent seen the job suitable to a big one that 
wont also be suitable for the small one. But then, I have a much bigger 
Clausing Mill, so I can put a job where it belings.

If you need a pickup truck, buying a Honda civic because they are cheaper is 
not a good solution.

Ron Ginger
my signature is http://www.ultranet.com/~ginger

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From: [email-masked] (Nick Irias)
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 16:16:04 GMT

>for about $500 in the Willamette valley of Oregon, I would probably want that 

The Sherline is a good mill if your work will fit on it and if you
dont want to cut a lot of stainless steel.  It cuts aluminum and soft
steel just fine.  I can usually cut within .001" and a skilled
machinist can probably get better accuracy out of the Sherline.   

I have a 10 year old Sherline, and it could use some additional y axis
travel.  But what it could use even more is a shield for the y axis
ways and feed screw.  These parts are exposed, and cuttings on the
feed screw and ways  jam up the works.  And if you dont keep the feed
screw threads clean enough, the anti-backlash nut sticks to the feed
screw and breaks free of its retainer.  I usually try to set things up
so that most movement is with the  the x axis feed, and I leave a
piece of folded card stock over the y axis feed and ways  to shield
them. 

I dont know how much extra y axis travel you get for your $125 so I
dont know if its a good deal.  I would definitely pay $125 for a
shielded y axis feed mechanism. 

Despite my  complaints about the y axis, I still think the Sherline is
a great machine for the money.

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From: [email-masked] (Russ Kepler)
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 21:42:11 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
Michael Latcha  <[email-masked]> wrote:
>Having heard no bad things about any Sherline equipment, and being
>perfectly happy with all of mine (lathe, milling column, almost all of the
>accessories), the tone of your post seems strangely negative. 

I failed to see any of the faults that you did in the post - I saw
it as an honest "tell me about the warts" sort of request.  Nothing 
wrong with this request at all.

-- 
Russ Kepler posting from home  [email-masked]

                      Please don't feed the Engineers

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From: Michael Latcha <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 08:04:09 -0400

Felice:

Having heard no bad things about any Sherline equipment, and being
perfectly happy with all of mine (lathe, milling column, almost all of the
accessories), the tone of your post seems strangely negative.  If you
really don't want a Sherline mill, for whatever reason, then don't buy
one.  You will never be happy with it if you really didn't want it or
thought you could trust Sherline, or their equipment, in the first place. 
If what you really want is a mill/drill, then look hard for a used one
that you can afford or try to talk the money fairy into a grant. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael A. Latcha, PhD                     VOICE: (810) 370-2203
Associate Professor                        FAX:   (810) 370-4261
Department of Mechanical Engineering       Email: [email-masked]
Oakland University
Rochester MI 48309-4401

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From: [email-masked] (BILLG63475)
Date: 12 Jun 1996 18:35:46 -0400

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Felice
Luftschein) writes:

>if people out there are happy
>with theirs.

I have both the 3" and 5" mills. I have been extremely happy with them. I
have a CNC conversion on the larger machine and I feel that the extra
travel is definetly worht the extra money in my application. I use the CNC
machine almost daily in a commercial application have cut all sorts of
materials from chrome vanadium to soap. The most important thing to
remember is that the Sherlines are SMALLmachines and they make SMALL
chips. I cut mainly aluminum and plastics, but have on occasion used the
machines for operations they were not really designed for. I have replaced
the X and Y leadscrew nuts and backlash nuts with custom pieces that I
designed and manufactured on the Sherline lathe. This modification has
really slowed down the wear and the number of adjustments that I had to
make to keep the machine operating without excessive backlash. We use the
machine to perform modifications mainly, but have used it to produce
prototype parts as well. recently we ran about 2300 pcs of  glass filled
polycarbonate parts using a high speed (29K) spindle (also custom) and a
Sumitomo Tin coated Solid Carbide end mill to perform a modification. 

I give the highest recomendations for the Sherline machines, accessories,
and their service.  But if the machine is not of the proper size for the
parts you want to make, no sense in beating a dead horse. 

Bill

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From: [email-masked] (J.A.Harvey)
Date: 15 Jun 1996 15:05:58 GMT

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Felice
>for about $500 in the Willamette valley of Oregon, I would probably
want that 

It all depends on what you plan on machining. If your work will entail
small parts with a need for high precision, the SHERLINE mill will suit
you just fine. If, however, you plan on taking a slab of stainless and
hoggin our some pockets and Islands, I think you will be very
disappointed. When used for the work it was designed for, the SHERLINE
is an outstanding piece of equipment. I ahve been using them in my shop
for some time now, and I liked them so much that I became a dealer.

I think that if you ask anyone who owns one how they like it they will
answer in the affirmative. Well made, good price. It is NOT a Mill
Drill by any means and to compare the two is pointless.

Jim Harvey
[email-masked]
http://hre.com/

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From: [email-masked] (Peter Brooks)
Date: 14 Jun 1996 22:58:33 GMT

Felice Luftschein ([email-masked]) wrote:
: The money fairy has seen fit to enable the purchase of a sherline
: mill. I need to know if they are rigid, and if people out there are happy

[deleted]
: the endorsements in the sherline catalog. Please I especially want
: negative, critical comments. Finally if anyone has a used mill/drill

I might have to disappoint you, there.  I'm pretty happy with mine, although
it *always& seems you can use a little more space.  (I suppose I could have
one of the factory sized mills and run into the same problem.....)

I got the standard mill, but if I had to do it over again, I would get the
delux mill.  Not only does the extra Y axis travel help, but the resettable
wheels make it a bit easier to handle large/wierd sized traverses.  I've had
a few times where I had to move over 1.0625" and forgot where I started
from.  I finally got to the point of writing it down or keying it into a
calculator...

Ok, you want negatives?  Here are a few:  If you do a lot of X axis 
traversing, the gib plastic will end up wedging it self tight after a while.  
This will make the end of your travel less than fun.  Lube often and check
the gibs.

You will end up spending about as much on accessories as you paid for the
mill.  You will want that rotary table a lot sooner than you think.  (The
table does not come with a resettable wheel, either.  Dunno if it can be
retrofitted.)

"Daylight" is at a premium.  Try to keep your setups low.  It's hard to mount
a center-finding indicator.  I thought about designing one to hold a
DTI horizontally to save space.

I'm not completely thrilled with the Sherline vise.  When I've had to reset
it, it occasionally gets hung up between the detents and the table.  I've
since gone to a 4" toolmaker's vise (about 10 pounds, but works pretty well)
for most work.

See the Morton Machinery web page for ordering information.  They give 20%
off to web-heads, and that's better than Eastern Tool & Supply for the
deluxe mill.  The stuff will be shipped from Sherline's plant in San Marcos, 
CA, for what it's worth.  Good luck at finding used.  They don't seem to
get sold.  :-)

Pete Brooks