Converting a very old Sherline to CNC - Build Log

[Twmaster]

I've had this old Sherline milling machine for a few years now. Never used it much and stopped using it all-together once my new Jet benchtop mill was setup.

Being basically lazy I procrastinated a long time putting off the effort to sell the little Sherline. I'm kinda glad I did not. I'm going to convert it to CNC and get some experience with CNC and the little mill.

I recently ordered the mechanical parts kit from Sherline to make the conversion. Since I want to run this off a modern PC without a parallel port I'm going to use a GRBL compatible board for control over USB.

The Sherline parts arrived in the mail yesterday. This afternoon I cleared space on a workbench and began disassembly.

Here's the base machine before any molestation.



Right away I ran into a couple of issues. #1 being my 8-32 tap appears to be worn out and will not cut. No worry. Trip to the tool store fixed that. The bigger worry is the machine is quite old and has one-piece lead screws on the X and Y. This means I either need to machine the ends to match current or drop the $40+ on new parts (shipping etc)

Have not decided. I'll likely try machining them first. Worst case is a parts order.

More to come later.

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[Algirdas]

What is accuracy / repeatability? Small machine is effort worth if it can cut with micron accuracy.

[machinehop5]

...sell it. make more room