Hey guys,
thanks for this wonderful new forum!

If anyone is interested in getting a sherline and into cnc I have many things on my site including my entire setup to example parts! This should give someone a good idea of what is capable on a sherline lathe and cnc mill.

later,
tauseef

http://www.cuttingedgecnc.com

What drivers, CAM software etc are you using?

Hey,
check out my setup page for my sherline setup, drivers, power supply, programs, enclosures, etc.

http://www.cuttingedgecnc.com/cncsetup.htm

In a nutshell, Camtronics 2A drivers and a varity of CAM software from ace converter, deskcam, cncwizard, visualmill, writing by hand, any free demo, etc.

later,
tauseef

tauscnc what was the overall cost for your cnc mill and rotary table.

I am considering getting the sherline 5400 and everything. However I have to do it on a student budget as I am still in school and well I am poor ;)

Tauscnc,

thanks for the link.

I just had the opurtunity to pick up a Unimat and was wondering about spare parts. Perfect timing !

Think its worth 100 bucs (no power feed) ?

Thanks for the info. I recently got the CNC Bug and I bought a package from stepper world and I am waiting on it to get here now. I have the Sherline 2000 mill and I hope that it will be able to stay square with CNC. I have a problem with the 2000 "pushing" out the head if I push the limits.
On your Rotary Table, did you convert that to a stepper or is it a factory kit from somewhere?

Hey guys,

Sorry for the poor responce time! Thanks you for writing. I check my email each day but only so often here. Below are anwers, or so I hope :)

Tazzer:
I would put my mill right around $2000 range. I bought brand new steppers before knowing about surplus stuff so that was $400 right there. I would still bank on around $2000 for the CNC and a little more for tooling. Nice thing is, you can build up to it piece by piece.

CAMando,
I am not sure what the older Unimat is worth. I would check ebay and see what people are willing to pay for it. Personally, its a collectors item and getting $100 buck in the long run is nothing for it. Its a nice little maching. For parts and books check out Doug's site here :http://www.unimat.homestead.com/

warfinge,
The rotary table is stock and after I ruined one of my steppers opening it up to see how it works its power went to half. It sat on the shelf untill I finally figured I could use it on the rotary table. I just made that mount manually using the mill. Not much to it and it works well (for me). I think if your making turbine blades you would want a more tight setup with proper coupling and such. For general work its fine.

Later
tauseef
www.cuttingedgecnc.com

I was reading about how you have glued aluminum to a Jenga block. I just can't believe that would hold with a mill working on it.

Do you have to use a rotary table to get your part trued up to the table? Or if not, how to you squarely attach the part to a block?

I just ordered a 5400 Sherline CNC machine, and a laptop off of ebay to run it. I don't know ANYTHING yet, but Im doing a lot of research, especially on the software side of things.

Thanks,
Swami

Swami, it's great to see you here! I'll give you a call tomorrow and try to confuse you a little bit more about cnc.


Tauscnc, Your parts look great! I noticed that you run a Hacker Brushless system. How is that preforming for you? I fried my Hacker Sport Opto 9 months ago and am still waiting for a replacement unit:(

Man,
Could I be worse at responding :)

The jenga blocks with CA (superglue) work and many of my parts are held that way. One of the BEST mounting things I have found is Scotch Double Side tape. It holds more of my parts then one can believe. I clean them with denatured alcohol first.

The brushless system is awesome! I can't believe how far rc has gotten. Things are getting smaller and more powerfull. I was wondering when a brushless motor is going to over take my brushed motor on my sherline :)

taus
www.cuttingedgecnc.com