Subject: Sherline mill question

From: [email-masked] (Robert Nichols)
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 02:37:45 GMT

I've been looking at upgrading to a Sherline mill, possibly the model
5400/5410, which has a larger base and comes with a headstock spacer to
increase the throat distance.  I would also be getting the horizontal
milling conversion.  I'm wondering, though, whether the unit really has
the extra rigidity needed to make all those features useful.  My old
Unimat SL1000 just doesn't have the rigidity needed for milling, and I'm
not at all eager to get another machine that is lacking in that
department.  I've seen the Sherline lathe on display, but I can't find a
local dealer with a mill that I can examine.  I'm not trying to machine
hard materials here, but I'd like a mill whose capability includes
slotting brass with a 3/16" end mill, for example.  My SL1000 starts to
chatter its teeth in fear even before the cutter touches the work if I
try that, and I'm getting tired of ruining the edges of cutters that
way.

On a related topic, what is the current wisdom regarding English
vs. metric feeds?  Does the English version of the Sherline have any
features to assist in the problem of moving, say, 0.427" on a feed where
one revolution isn't an integral number of thousandths?  If I have to do
a manual calculation for that, I might as well just multiply by 25.4 and
have the benefit of a simple, linear scale afterward.  I've never been
able to find even a picture of a Sherline with English feeds.  (Perhaps
that fact alone should answer my question.)

Blue Sky Dept.: If anyone has a recommendation for a fairly low-cost,
rudimentary CNC adaptation for Sherlines, I'd like to hear about it.

(I think that replies in the newsgroup would probably be more
appropriate than e-mail here.  This information is likely of interest to
others.)

aTdHvAaNnKcSe

-- 
Bob Nichols         [email-masked]

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From: David Eiman <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 05:48:21 -0700

Robert-

The Sherline will be much more Rigid than the old Unimat.  It won't be 
as rigid as a Bridgeport. You can get the adjustable (zero) handwheels 
and can also attach a dial indicator to the spindle to get readings for 
.427".  You have to decide which system (inch or metric) you work in 
most often. 

If you want to trade in the old Unimat or just get a good discount, drop 
me a note when you are ready to order.  I am a Sherline dealer and can 
have the factory drop ship your machine to you.  The factory then 
handles any problems directly.  I act more as a broker.  You save $$.

   David Eiman                            AWI 18405
             Fresno, CA                             NAWCC 0072811

************************************************************************                                             
Collecting, buying, selling and trading antique and modern watchmakers                      
lathes.  Agent for Starrett WW collets and authorized Sherline dealer.                                                                                                                                                         
************************************************************************

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From: [email-masked] (Felice Luftschein)
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 16:26:48 GMT

Well, having asked the same questions that you asked, I bought
a 5400 deluxe mill and am delighted with it. I found it didn't like 1/2 dia
end mills, but other than that it is rigid. The head slipped once on an 
angular cut, and the gibs are a bitch to tighten (need knobs). I've milled 
3/16" brass with no problem. and roughed out a toolmakers vice from solid 
aluminum stock. I got mine from morton machinery by e-mail for a 20% discount
which saves you $125. You will need a vice, a dial indicator and end-mill 
holders. I made mine from blank arbors supplied by Taig, which are way
cheaper than sherlines. I've run a slitting saw 3/4" deep in aluminum as 
well. I also have tried usind a 45 deg dovetail cutter with success. Sherline
has a www site with an online catalog. 

In article <[email-masked]> 
[email-masked] (Robert Nichols) writes:>From: 
[email-masked] (Robert Nichols)>Subject: Sherline mill 
question>Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 02:37:45 GMT

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From: [email-masked] (Mike Folenta)
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 20:30:57 GMT

Bob,

     You can check the Sherline web page at, umm, 
 http://www.electriciti.com/sherline/

     You can also check out Harvey racing engines web
 page at http://www.hre.com/.  They/he have some good
 things to say about the Sherline stuff.

  By the way, do I know you???

-- 
       ***** These are my opinions.  Get your own. :-) *****
      Michael Folenta          | U.S. Army ARDEC
 Concepts and Analysis Branch  | Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806-5000
  email [email-masked] | (201) 724-3257  [DSN 880-3257]

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From: [email-masked](J.A.Harvey)
Date: 26 Jul 1996 21:58:57 GMT

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Mike Folenta)
> things to say about the Sherline stuff.

Just a minor point, Our web address is just http://hre.com/ No need for
the www before hre. ( SOme browsers won't find us if you add www.)

We also have gotten in some of the SHERLINE/VALENITE tools and from our
preliminary tests, this is really the way to go. Finishes on CRS that
looks like a mirror single pass. Excellent tool life ( naturally with
VALENITE inserts ) and typical SHERLINE quality.

I'll try to get some photos up soon at the web site. If anyone is
interested further, they can email me at 

[email-masked]

Thanks

Jim Harvey

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From: [email-masked] (Robert Nichols)
Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1996 02:17:12 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
Felice Luftschein <[email-masked]> wrote:
:Well, having asked the same questions that you asked, I bought
:a 5400 deluxe mill and am delighted with it. I found it didn't like 1/2 dia
:end mills, but other than that it is rigid. The head slipped once on an 
:angular cut, and the gibs are a bitch to tighten (need knobs). I've milled 
:3/16" brass with no problem. and roughed out a toolmakers vice from solid 
:aluminum stock.

Thanks, that's the sort of opinion I was looking for.  I can state with
some confidence that my machine would never see a 1/2" dia end mill.
Most things I make aren't much larger than that to begin with.

BTW, ignore my question about English vs. metric feeds.  After some
digging around, I found that the lead screws on the "inch" Sherline are
20 TPI (not 16), which gives a nice .050 advance per revolution with no
tricks needed to make sense out of the handwheel readings.  I'm not sure
where I got the idea it was 16 TPI.  Perhaps I had it confused with the
Emco-Maier Compact 5, which *is* 16 TPI in the English version.

:   You will need a vice, a dial indicator ...

I have several vices.  I discuss them mainly in certain "alt" groups,
where I post via an anonymous server.  Sherline's *vise*, OTOH, looks
like a big improvement over the Unimat version.

I have a dial test indicator, too.  That's how I know just how much
rotational slop there is in my Unimat's carriage (rotational slack of
almost 2 minutes in the main slide, which isn't a killer for a lathe but
translates into about .0005" per inch error when milling).  It took me a
while to figure why a part aligned with the feed within .0001"
end-to-end generally ended up with a taper after I milled one side.  :-(