What Sherline Mill Accessories To Buy And When?

[Too_Many_Tools]

I am starting to tool up a Sherline CNC mill.

And of course I want all the accessories NOW. ;<)

What would your suggestions be in regard to buying which Sherline (and
non Sherline) accessories and in what order?

Any suggestions for lower cost alternatives are welcome.

Thanks

TMT

[Too_Many_Tools]

Originally Posted by Too_Many_Tools I am starting to tool up a Sherline CNC mill. And of course I want all the accessories NOW. ;<) What would your suggestions be in regard to buying which Sherline (and non Sherline) accessories and in what order? Any suggestions for lower cost alternatives are welcome. Thanks TMT

Okay...let's try a different question.

I am looking for a list of tooling and accessories that I would be buying from Sherline and any vendors that would be needed for their CNC mill.

If you had a $1000 to spend, how would you spend it to tool up your CNC mill?

Thanks

TMT

[hoss2006]

they have some recommendations here.
http://www.sherline.com/millinst.htm

[under-dog]

This might be a good start:

Collet set
end mills and cutters
a vise
a rotary table and mounting plate if you intend to do 4th axis
stepped clamp set
Flycutter is nice to level material off
software if you dont have it already (gcode converter......)
measuring equipment(calipers etc. etc.)

[Too_Many_Tools]

Thanks for the responses.

I appreciate them.

Anyone else?

I would think this would be a subject that would interest anyone with a small mill.

TMT

[roland88]

Hi there,

I am in the same boat, so to speak. You could get quite carried away with all the accessories on offer. It's hard not to be a collector for the sake of buying new toys.

Sometimes I buy an accessory because I just want it, then find something to do with it when it arrives.

The more sensible, and cost effective approach would be to buy the accessories when the need arrives.

Under-Dog has made a few good suggestions, I would add a slitting saw to his list (mine is on order with sherline, along with some parallels).

I also bought myself a milling plate from Derek at www.hightechsystemsllc.com, which includes a cool way of holding your work.

I have my eyes on a larger vice, and maybe the high speed pully set - but these 2 are really on the want rather than need list.

[Fixittt]

its all geared towards what you plan on doing.......
Work holding is a must. I made a tooling plate. Its great! A must have I feel. A good vise, Collets, Cutters but dont forget dial indicators, calipers ect. The mill is useless unless it has been trammed and a vise is useless unless it has been indicated in ect. You will soon find out that tooling will surpass the cost of the mill ten fold.

As far as fly cutters someone mentioned, I recommend a shell mill instead of the traditional single blade fly cutter. The small mills are not ridged enough to handle the vibrations of an off balance tool.