converting a sherline 5000 to cnc

[conradpi]

Hi everibody

I am new to this forum and I read a lot of your posts.
I am attempting to convert a sherline 5000 mill to cnc
I have the controller(xylotex),the steppers,and the software(mach3)
I must say it is a great combination I have already tested the
cnc setup with the motors not hooked up to the mill and it is working
like a charm.

next step is hooking the motors to the mill.

I will keep you informed on how I am doing.

[BusterCNC]

Hi,

Hows the conversion going so far?

What stepper motors are you using. Is it the 269oz

Cheers

[athomas]

I have the same setup on my sherline 2000 mill. It works quite well.

[BusterCNC]

what sort of travel speed do you get on the x-z axis on the Sherline 2000? ( IPM on average)

Cheers

[athomas]

I run around 15ipm. I could get more, but I run it pretty tight to keep the backlash down to a minimum and don't want to risk missing steps.

[conradpi]

My mill is finished and i must say I am impressed with the machine.
I did a couple of tests at 10 ipm and the precision is good.
I used it mainly for engraving so far I engrave 1/2" letters and getting good results I will try smaller when I get the cutters.
One thing I have problems with is getting single line fonts
I use corel to export hpgl then I convert it to g-code but always have 2 lines
I understand that TTF needs to be closed path.
I would like some ideas if you got some.