Sherline DRO advice wanted

[SherlineGuy]

I've got a Sherline Lathe & mill. I know, I know, expensive toys...BUT, I have access to full size units here at work should I need to do any large or strong work.

My question is about the Sherline DRO. I have an opportunity to buy a 3-axis Sherline set-up, but wanted to solicit feedback first.

Since the DRO uses the leads screw rotation for the input, isn't it going to be subject to the slop in the screws?

Would I be better served to mount some of these 'digital-caliper' based DRO units and just measure movement??

Any advice appreciated.

Gene

[escott76]

I have one, and I was reasonably happy with it. It's nice in that it was bolt in installation, and it had a tach which is kind of nice. It does the job, but there are no frills like tool comp, bolt circles, or inch/mm conversion.
It has backlash compensation settable, and it's ok at what it does. I generally used mine like I would a regular hand wheel, trying to only approach a dimension from the one I took my zero in. As long as you are realistic about your tolerances, and keep track of the backlash in the nuts (they wear and need regular adjustment) you can do pretty well. Although you certainly can hook up a caliper arrangement but the size of the parts make mounting a little tricky.
The Sherline tools are limited to be sure, but as far as expensive toys, I've made a good deal of accurate, complex parts with mine in aluminum, various plastics, even some titanium. It ain't fast, but you can get work done with them.

[SherlineGuy]

Thanks escott76.
That's about what I figured, it's like watching the wheels, only digital and no need to keep track of the number of times around. You still gotta keep track of the screw slop yourself.

I was big on Sherline when I joined here, but have since read all the bad press here about them and put in that 'expensive toy' line for 'those guys'. (it's actually a quote from someones thread here)

I do very small parts, for work, and for my hobby of H.O. Slotcar racing, the Sherline is just right for that. It IS slow, and it DOES flex alot when cutting SST, etc.

thanks for your reply, I probably will not go for the DRO, as I already have 3 of those Chinese DRO-caliper jobs, but must go thru the trouble of somehow mounting them.

Gene

[vlmarshall]

Originally Posted by SherlineGuy I was big on Sherline when I joined here, but have since read all the bad press here about them and put in that 'expensive toy' line for 'those guys'. (it's actually a quote from someones thread here) I do very small parts, for work, and for my hobby of H.O. Slotcar racing, the Sherline is just right for that. It IS slow, and it DOES flex alot when cutting SST, etc. Gene

Ah, don't let 'em get to you. I run the big stuff at work, I don't WANT to come home and sweat over production jobs. The Sherline is great for small jobs, and I enjoy running it.