Subject: Sherline Milling Adapter

From: [email-masked] (Jerome Kaidor)
Date: 28 May 1995 16:55:47 -0701

Hi!
   I'm reading this group because I just  ordered a Sherline lathe
>from  JC Whitney.  Or did I order the lathe from JCW because I started 
reading this group?  No matter, here I am, and the lathe is on its way.
I've always liked to build things, and the idea of being able to fabricate
precision metal parts is quite seductive.

  JCW may not have been the best place to buy this thing - they say 
"allow three to four weeks for delivery".  Gaak!  How can I wait that long?

   Meanwhile, I ogle the Sherline catalog and the copy of "Home Shop
 Machinist" that I scored at the bookstore.  

  It seems that one can't do all that much with just a lathe;  everything
you make will be round :-).  For the ultimate in hobby pleasure, a mill
is also needed.

  Sherline has a "milling column" to fit their lathes.  Quite reasonable,
too.  I'm tempted.  Has anybody used the milling column?  Does it
work well?  Is it worth bothering with, or should I save some more
shekels and go for a mill?

   A few possible problems I can imagine with a milling column:

   *  The lathe crosslide doesn't move very far.
   *  The lathe bed is not as stiff as a mill base.
   *  The base of the lathe is narrow, so with the motor unit suspended
      way up there, the whole thing could be subject to tipping.  

   Comments?

                                 - Jerry Kaidor

---

From: [email-masked] (Mark Fraser)
Date: 29 May 1995 00:35:14 GMT

I went exactly that path, found what you predict, the travel on the
lathe slides is limited for some things.  Found that when I 
finally talked myself into ordering an xy table, the consistency of what
I was doing got a lot better as well.  I'd put that up to longer 
surfaces of contact between slides, giving just that little bit more 
rigidity.

I got an extra headstock, too, since it seemed like a good idea at the
time, and I'm glad I did, since I've found more uses for it.  Maybe I'll
make that toolpost grinder; maybe I'll make a vertical mill attachment
for the Atlas that I just couldn't avoid.  See Bill Smith
(of clockmaking fame in HSM and PIM) article in PIM on using the 
Sherline Headstock....

I think you decided on the right brand - I've had excellent service
AND advice from Sherline, including Joe Martin - see another 
article in this group. / Mark

Jerome Kaidor ([email-masked]) wrote:
: Hi!
:    I'm reading this group because I just  ordered a Sherline lathe
: from JC Whitney.  Or did I order the lathe from JCW because I started 
: reading this group?  No matter, here I am, and the lathe is on its way.
: I've always liked to build things, and the idea of being able to fabricate
: precision metal parts is quite seductive.

:   JCW may not have been the best place to buy this thing - they say 
: "allow three to four weeks for delivery".  Gaak!  How can I wait that long?

:    Meanwhile, I ogle the Sherline catalog and the copy of "Home Shop
:  Machinist" that I scored at the bookstore.  

:   It seems that one can't do all that much with just a lathe;  everything
: you make will be round :-).  For the ultimate in hobby pleasure, a mill
: is also needed.

:   Sherline has a "milling column" to fit their lathes.  Quite reasonable,
: too.  I'm tempted.  Has anybody used the milling column?  Does it
: work well?  Is it worth bothering with, or should I save some more
: shekels and go for a mill?

:    A few possible problems I can imagine with a milling column:

:    *  The lathe crosslide doesn't move very far.
:    *  The lathe bed is not as stiff as a mill base.
:    *  The base of the lathe is narrow, so with the motor unit suspended
:       way up there, the whole thing could be subject to tipping.  

:    Comments?

:                                  - Jerry Kaidor

---

From: [email-masked] (Rick DeNatale)
Date: 29 May 1995 00:48:20 GMT

>    *  The lathe crosslide doesn't move very far.

True. But you can do quite a bit with the crosslide.

>    *  The lathe bed is not as stiff as a mill base.

I don't know if this is true or not.

>       way up there, the whole thing could be subject to tipping.

This shouldn't be too much of a problem. You should mount the lathe to a
board anyway. I used one of those pre-fab laminated shelves that you can
buy at a home-center.  
>    Comments?
Sherline sells the X-Y milling table base separately (or at least they used to).
You can start with the lathe and the milling column and then if you decide
you really need the full mill buy the mill base.

-- 
Rick DeNatale
Still trying to come up with a really cool Signature

---

From: [email-masked] (Charlie Lear)
Date: Mon, 05 Jun 1995 17:17:30 -0400

> you make will be round :-).  For the ultimate in hobby pleasure, a mill

I'm sure I'm just the first of ten million people who will point out
that lathes aren't restricted to round things - I've turned a perfect
cube in mild steel as a project, and I've used a lathe to face flat
surfaces on all manner of things.

When you've unpacked your shiny new lathe and have discovered the
therapeutic value of reducing a piece of metal to a pile of beautifully
curled swarf, you'll start looking for ways to use your lathe to do
everything you used to do with hand tools in a quarter of the time.
Think faceplate.  Think four-jaw chuck.  Think cross-slide and
flycutter.  Start imagineering... ;-)

--
Charlie 'The Bear' Lear          All day: [email-masked]
Wellington, New Zealand          All night:    [email-masked]
Hutt Valley Model Engineering Society                DoD#221

---

From: [email-masked] (Nigel Cliffe)
Date: 5 Jun 1995 13:17:46 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] wrote:
>........

Yep, I've been there, spend two hours setting up a piece of work on the
machine, which I'd done previously in 10 minutes with a hammer, hand file
and a 1/2inch Black&Decker powerdrill. 

I think I've followed your meaning correctly, :-)

> flycutter.  Start imagineering... ;-)

"[email-masked]" is correct  - think about how to use the machine to its
full extent.

- Nigel.

-- 
Nigel Cliffe, Human Factors, BT Labs, Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, UK
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Jerome Kaidor)
Date: 5 Jun 1995 13:50:38 -0700

In article <[email-masked]>,
Barry Workman <[email-masked]> wrote:
>
>Take real good care of the bed ways.  As I recall, they're 
>aluminum and can be damaged very easily.

*** Having read this, I ran home and applied a magnet to the
ways of my new Sherline.  Steel.  Whew!

          - Jerry

---

From: Charles Lamont <[email-masked]>
Date: 6 Jun 1995 10:33:55 +0100

> > flycutter.  Start imagineering... ;-)

And the most important accessory after the faceplate & chucks is
(IMO) the vertical slide (preferably swivelling, first and plain later).
With one of these you have, within limits, a vertical miller, tipped
on to its back.

-- 
Charles

---

From: [email-masked] (Barry Workman)
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 1995 21:20:41 GMT

>          - Jerry
I'm glad to know this.  I've seen aluminum being used all to much
recently in power tools.  I don't like the idea that most tablesaws
now come with cast aluminum tops.  It may take them 10 years to
wear out but then they do.  My ST has a CS top and is still doing
well after 20 years of strong use.
-- 
    - Barry Workman

---

From: [email-masked] (Barry Workman)
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 1995 21:23:03 GMT

>flycutter.  Start imagineering... ;-)
                         ^___________  (r) TM Walt Disney Corp.

-- 
    - Barry Workman

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From: [email-masked] (Peter Brooks)
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 1995 18:48:49 GMT

/ hpcc01:rec.crafts.metalworking / [email-masked] (Jerome Kaidor) /  3:45 pm  Jun  5, 1995 /

>   The first project I want to try making is a brass collar I need for a
>ham antenna.  This is a ring about 1 & 1/4" O.D., 1" I.D. and about 1/4"
>wide.  It is the only part I need to make the antenna go, and it is
>unobtainable.  The company that made the antenna is out of business.
>
>  The day after the lathe came in, I stopped at Alan Steel & Supply in 
>Redwood City, and bought a 4"-long piece of 1&1/2" diameter brass round
>stock.... Almost $10! Yeouch, am I starting up another Expensive Hobby?

Yeah, even Sims LMC want's $1.75 a pound for brass, and 1.5inch stock is
massy.
>
>  That evening I found a few spare moments to play with my new piece of
>brass.  I chucked it into the three jaw chuck and started to play.  First
>thing I noticed:  1.5" brass stock is *heavy*.  Second thing:  that
>Sherline 3-jaw chuck doesn't get much of a "bite" on the work. Result:
>The piece didn't rotate very precisely.  Not only that, but the lathe
>tool would dig in a bit, jam into the work, and knock it off kilter in
>the chuck.
>

OK, I'm a newbie at this myself, but partly for the exercise for myself, here's
how I'd try to do it.  (I have a few evenings of work on my new Taig, my
Sherline mill just arrived, and I'm going from a few old highschool shop
memories and some of what I've read.  Will any experienced machinists please
critique my methods?  I wanna learn!  LBJ was president when I last touched
a metal lathe...)

Mark and center drill one end of the chunk of brass.
Turn the OD to something over 1.25", say 1.30".  However, while you're using
either a 3-jaw or a 4-jaw chuck at the headstock, use a proper tailstock to
hold the other end.  Turn about 2.0" to the rough diamter.

If the tailstock end is really ragged, face it with the center in place.
Otherwise, cut the 2.0" slug (bandsaw, or hacksaw and patience) and chuck
it in the 3-jaw, the best side facing the faceplate.  Face turn the slug,
reverse the thing, and face the other end.  You now have a 2.0" long
slug about 1.3" in diameter.  There should be enough sticking out of the
threejaw to give you enough room to make the ring.  

Finsish turn the end of the slug.  Try to make a couple of rings, if only
for practice....

Use a center drill and drill a hole as close to 1" as you can.  My first
attempt was a 1" hole starting from 0.5", but I'm going to start at 3/4"
the next time.  Maybe 7/8" when I get to the store....

Set up the boring tool and bore the slug to 1" ID.  You now have a 1.25"
diameter cup about 2" long.  Part a ring 0.25" long.  If your bore is deep
enough, you might want to do another.

You are now the proud owner of a couple of rings.  Hmm, I'd guess I'd drill
any setscrew holes when they were in the 'cup stage....

Experts:  is this more or less OK?  

Pete Brooks

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From: [email-masked] (Charlie Lear)
Date: Mon, 05 Jun 1995 17:17:30 -0400

---

From: [email-masked] (Nigel Cliffe)
Date: 5 Jun 1995 13:17:46 GMT

- Nigel.

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From: [email-masked] (Jerome Kaidor)
Date: 5 Jun 1995 13:50:38 -0700

- Jerry