Would like advice on Sherline purchase

[telder4336]

I'm new to the Benchtop mills and would like to know if the following configuration is good for an initial purchase with the Sherline and what else it would be a good idea for me to get. Any help is appreciated as I would like to make this purchase and get rolling within the next few days.

• Sherline 5400 Deluxe Vertical Mill
• CNC Upgrade Kit for 5400 series Mill
• Step Block Hold-down set
• Milling Collet Set
• Milling Vise
• Mill Tooling Plate
• #1 Center Drill, .046 tip dia., 1/8" shank dia, 3-flute round head
• 1/16" Mill dia., 1/8" cut, 1 1/4" length, 3-flute round head
• 1/4" Mill dia., 5/8" cut, 1 3/4" length, 3-flute round head
• 3/16" Mill dia., 1/2" cut, 3 1/4" length, 4-flute square head
• 1/8" Mill dia., 3/8" cut, 3 1/16" length, 4-flute square head

[Jason3]

Looks like you have your bases pretty well covered there.

What will you be cutting with your new machine? Without knowing that, the only thing i'd suggest is that perhaps you might get a bigger 1/4" square end mill, and perhaps another ball nose cutter around 1/8" - usually, most roughing on these smaller machines is done with a square end mill, then move to a ball nose tool for finishing.

If you're cutting Aluminum or plastics, you might look for 2 flute cutters - very generally, the harder the material, the more flutes you'd have on your cutter. Also, the 10,000 rpm pulley kit is not a bad idea for the softer materials.

Regards,

Jason

[escott76]

Originally Posted by telder4336 I'm new to the Benchtop mills and would like to know if the following configuration is good for an initial purchase with the Sherline and what else it would be a good idea for me to get. Any help is appreciated as I would like to make this purchase and get rolling within the next few days. Sherline 5400 Deluxe Vertical Mill CNC Upgrade Kit for 5400 series Mill Step Block Hold-down set Milling Collet Set Milling Vise Mill Tooling Plate #1 Center Drill, .046 tip dia., 1/8" shank dia, 3-flute round head 1/16" Mill dia., 1/8" cut, 1 1/4" length, 3-flute round head 1/4" Mill dia., 5/8" cut, 1 3/4" length, 3-flute round head 3/16" Mill dia., 1/2" cut, 3 1/4" length, 4-flute square head 1/8" Mill dia., 3/8" cut, 3 1/16" length, 4-flute square head

It might not be the advice you want to hear, but it might be a good idea to think about where you are in the learning curve of machining. Not that there's ever a finish, but if you are just starting out there are a couple things that may be more important to you.
If you've never milled anything before, starting with CNC control is going to be challenging. 1 of each of the cutters listed is going to quickly lead to more trips to the store, as you will break cutters while learning.
For a Sherline machine it's also going to make your life under CNC much easier if you know how the physical parts of the machine work first before trying to get a computer to move them. Things like adjusting the gibbs and axis backlash will help when the results that you get are not what you expected and you need to track down the problem. You may even consider going manual with the machine at first to get a feel for the process.
A couple big ones which you have not mentioned, but may already have. Measuring tools. A good set of calipers, dial, digital (or vernier) will let you check your work to ensure you are getting what you need to. A dial test indicator is vital to setting up your mill in square and straight manner. It will also allow you to align the vise to the table. Good versions of these tools are not cheap, a decent brand 15-0-15 is going to run $100 and up. Skimping on these will result in re-bought tools, as the cheap ones work good for a while, but then get knocked around and beat up quickly.
You don't mention an edge finder anywhere either. While it's often possible to work without one, I sure wouldn't want to. These are thankfully pretty cheap.
The Sherline is a good machine. I've produced a lot of good work on mine. It's all manual, I added the DRO option later. It's a great machine to learn on too, as it's shortcomings re-enforce the correct way to do things. You have to be cautious on a machine that size, but it builds good habits.

[Crevice Reamer]

I would strongly suggest that you save a bunch of money and get a more capable mill--A Taig.

Without a doubt, this is the least costly way to go. The Taig is small, but can do serious (albeit maybe more slowly than a larger mill) work. Even the long table 2019CR CNC ready Taig mill, coupled with a G540, Keling 185 and 270 motors and KL350-48 48V 7.3A PSU, comes in under $2000.

Just bolt on the motors, wire some motor cables with the supplied connectors, connect 2 wires to power supply, and plug a parallel cable between the G540 and the computer and you are ready to go. Mach3 trial version is free.

http://www.taigtools.com/mmill.html

http://geckodrive.com/product.aspx?c=3&i=14469

(2) http://kelinginc.net/KL23H256-21-8B.pdf X and Y motors

http://kelinginc.net/KL23H276-28-4B.pdf Z motor

http://kelinginc.net/SwitchingPowerSupply.html

Keling also sells the G540, so you can get all of the electronics in one place.

Taig 2019CR $1156
Total cost of electronics is $464:

G540 $299, 3 270 motors $117, PSU $60.

CNC ready mill plus electronics: $1632.00

Mach3 $175--Less if you buy it from Keling with motors.

Easy cam program integrates with Mach 3 and allows part design and gcode generation for $69:

http://www.d2nc.com/

Hook up some motor cables and plug it into your computer and Voila--You have CNC milling capability.

You will also need some other stuff:

A straight through male to male DB25 parallel cable:

http://www.cnc4pc.com/Store/osc/prod...products_id=76

You can use THIS wire for motor cables and home/limit switches. Ground the drain wire ONLY at the driver end.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Servo-Motor-Wire...3286.m20.l1116

You won't need any db9 motor connectors with the G540, as they come WITH it. The G540 also has circuitry for simple spindle speed control and outputs for dc relays to turn coolant pump on or off.

These inexpensive relays are very good :

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.as...tname=electric

You WILL need 2.7K 1/4 watt current limiting resistors, one for each motor. You can get them here:

http://www.digikey.com/

If you don't already HAVE them, these are excellent home switches:

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-CNC-LIMIT-SWIT...742.m153.l1262

They are NO, so only for home switches. Limit switches need to be NC. the whole set of 6 switches costs less than ONE switch would cost at Radio Shack.

These limits from Enco will do fine and only cost $2.34 each. Now you know what a deal the home switches are.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?P...PMPXNO=7908441

You will also need an estop switch. This one from Keling only costs 10 bucks and works fine:

http://kelinginc.net/CNCPackage.html

CR.

[Oldboy]

I have own and used my Sherline 5400 Deluxe for over 10 years.
Back then when i purchase it my Mill machine options were very limited.
Yes it has ben used to make some nice small parts & other things over the years. But it takes FOREVER to make the parts. The mill table is not Cast iron. Sucks!
I like a strong cast iron Table. I just prefer a stronger built Mill.
About a year ago i purchase and X2 mill. If i had the money i would have got an X3. Point is Bigger is better. Many on CNC Forms will tell you this for good reason. So if you think your going to be milling Steels,Cast Iron or hard metals someday? Think on getting a larger better stronger mill.
Bottom line i feel my Sherline Sucks. My X2 is able to cut faster,better ect.
Taig mill is next up on the scale of better mills from a Sherline. I have never used a Taig but just looking at one it looks better than a Sherline. Now the Shurline mill motor & Spindle Head seems to be good. The rest of the Shurline is crap. Point im making is if you mounted the motor & Spindle head on a stronger "Cast iron" x,y,z, mill bed. Then it would be a very good small mill. Able to cut Steel,Cast iron a lot better.
You better look into replacement cost of Shurline parts.

[HackMax]

Hurry up and buy the Taig so they can buy more bandwidth. LOL

Rick

[telder4336]

This is going to be machining small items out of plastics/composites, wood, and aluminum. I'm not going to be cutting steel or anything harder than Aluminum on this machine. I have larger floorstanding machines at the shop I can do that with, this is just for home so I want a decent home setup to play around with. Would it be possible to get a CNC ready Sherline, pair it with a Gecko G540 and the stepper motors that way? I already ahve all of the necessary software and such.

[Crevice Reamer]

Yes, you CAN get a CNC ready Sherline. BUT--Do you want an expensive toy--or something that actually WILL be decent?

CR.

[KTP]

Not to hijack this thread too much, but since it is boiling down to a Sherline vs others, which headstock would you prefer, Taig, Sherline or X2?

[vlmarshall]

Since you have access to larger machines, the little Sherline might not be a bad choice. I'm a machinist by trade, and my Sherline pretty much is an expensive toy at the moment. I'm enjoying refitting and upgrading it, and building a rotary table for it.
On the other hand, it's quite capable of turning out small parts.
I think that it's intended purpose is for jobs that require a small mill, and that it would be a great tool to learn with, as you'll have to rely on thought and planning, and not brute force.

I agree with everything Escott said in his reply. You'll absolutely need the things he's mentioned, and your tool list doesn't include a drill chuck, flycutter, or boring head.
Also, get Sherline's 3/8" toolholder, or consider A2Z's toolholders. You'll need the 3/8" diameter to hold an edgefinder or keyslot cutters, radius cutters, and chamfering tools that aren't available in a smaller shank size.
As a bonus, 3/8" tooling is often cheaper than the smaller diameters, and has the benefit of resharpening, which isn't always possible on small endmills.

[sansbury]

Given the small difference in price, it's always seemed to me like Taig gives you a LOT more machine for the money. The Taig machines do have this kinda funky look to them like they were pieced together from someone's odds-and-ends bin but by all estimates they are 100% function over form. The Taig is a bit heavier and a bit larger which may be an issue for guys who really do just little modeling, or maybe it's a bit more precise at the tiny end?

[telder4336]

Thanks for all of the assistance guys. I placed the order today for a Taig Mill from Deepgroove1.com with a Geckodrive G540 and trunion table. should be more than enough for what it's going to be used for and it seems that Taig is the way to go from what I'm hearing. I do need a few extra cutting bits though, anyone know where I can get some inexpensive ball nose bits for wood/aluminum ???