Sherline CNC Mill

[rgreenfield]

I currently use a non CNC Sherline mill for small hobby work and fine it adequate for my needs. I would like to make the move to CNC so I'm considering the hardware required. Is there a clear advantage one way or the other for using Sherline's 4 axis driver box and stepper motors or using drivers and steppers from a different sources such as Gecko, etc?

Rick

[SORCHEROR]

if your interested i have for sale a complete 3 axis system,brand new i put together my self,control box motors and cables,ready to run plug and play,with e stop,let me know
i could let it go for 400 bucks

[gerryv]

Hi, I'd be interested if Rick isn't. Could you PM me? Thanks much, Gerry

[Climatepro]

Rick, Geckos would be way oversized for a Sherline. You would just be spending far too much money as you wouldn't need as much current as a Gecko can supply. I haven't seen Sherline's stepper drivers, so I can't comment on them. You're probably going to want size 23 steppers, so there are many many choices of drivers that would work. I'd suggest you do some shopping around before purchasing.

[Stepper Monkey]

Geckos would indeed be massive overkill, with motors to match you could fold the Sherline in half with them. By the same token the Sherline package seems well overpriced considering it's performance specs. The steppers are really overpriced, too. You can get the same ones or better for half as much elsewhere.
I would suggest something as simple as a Xylotex board would serve beautifully and cost a lot less than the Sherline setup. Has slightly more power too.
Sherline uses EMC, a Linux-based driver software, but it is not specific to Sherline - if you want to use it, it works with the Xylotex or other boards as well. I would suggest checking out Mach3 instead if you can afford it though. It is much favored by folks on here and seems to be almost the standard now.