Help me buy tools and tooling for my inbound Sherline mill!

H

heliyardsale

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Looking for suggestions to start outfitting my new mill! What can't I live without? I did buy the value starter kit. This is for a non-CNC 2000 8-way mill.

Measuring tools?
Bits?
Boring bar?
Rotary table?
I'm open to suggestions! Vendors?

Fire away!
 
Congrats on your new mill!

Here are what I consider basics you will need:
  • A good vise. Sherline's vise is okay. A better one is the Wilton 11708 for general milling. The screwless Wilton 11714 is more accurate but you have to move the pin to expand range, like all screwless vises.
  • A good Dial Test Indicator. Like your vise, I suggest not scrimping on this one. Buy a good one and buy it once. Mitutoyo, Compac, Interapid, B&S all make good ones. My preference is the Compac 214GA. You will need this to tram your mill and milling vise.
  • I prefer a collet chuck to the Sherline end mill holder. For the mill, an ER25 would be ideal but finding one to fit the 3/4" spindle might be a challenge. I use an ER32 system and it works great. If you cannot afford or prefer not to use a collet system then get one Sherline end mill holder and copy it on the lathe.
  • Parallels - if you can only have one set, buy the thin (1/32" thick) set. It steps up the height of the bars in 1/16" increments and allows you to drill close to the edge of a work piece. Trust me; parallels are a must have item. Enco sells a set of three 1/8" thick X 3" long parallels for only a few dollars that will serve for most work, and there are other complete sets from US makers and importers that work fine.
  • Center drills - I suggest Titex, Cleveland or Keo. For this size machine the number 1 and 2 work best.
  • Drills - you don't have a lot of Z-axis room so jobber drills can be a bit long on larger projects. I suggest buying screw machine drills if you can afford them. Precision Machine, Triumph, and others make good ones. You will eventually need fractional, number, letter and metric drills. I suggest you start with number drills and add the others as you go.
  • Some sort of deburring/chamfering tool. I like the Keo zero-flute type.
  • End Mills - if you buy on eBay, buy them new. Used end mills are false economy. Niagra is really good, as are Royal, Brubaker, and many others. Buy HSS, uncoated for general use. Avoid inserted tip carbide end mills - your mill doesn't have the power, speed or rigidity to use them. Cobalt works very well, as do solid carbide end mills. However, solid carbide works best with a lot of speed, are fragile if you drop them, and are more expensive. HSS is the way to go for now. Buy 2-flute for aluminum, and 3 or 4 flute for steel. Actually, aluminum works best with a high helix made for that material. I usually use roughing end mills to, well, rough and switch to standard end mills to finish. Good end mills are expensive and last much longer if you choose not to rough with them. Stick with fine pitch roughing end mills on the Sherline mill.
  • The Sherline boring head is okay but it is very light duty and has a limited range. I prefer a small Criterion head and like the S-1-1/2A. Very precise and bulletproof. It takes 3/8" shank bars.
  • For boring bars, I suggest the 3/8" shanked HSS/cobalt sets. Borite sells a really good cobalt set if you can find a set on eBay. LMS also sells one but I haven't used it and cannot attest to the quality. Solid carbide is expensive and inserted insert bars won't work well on your little mill.
  • Buy a good drill chuck for your mill. I prefer a 3/8" Albrecht and like Rohm chucks, too. Expensive at retail but cheap on eBay. You can get away with a good Jacobs chuck but you will tire of that chuck key at some point.
  • Whatever you do , do not pass up the inserted tip carbide flycutter from Sherline. It is, by far, the most useful accessory they sell for the mill. It uses DNMG inserts, which last a long time and will put a really nice finish on your parts. Almost all projects on the mill begin with squaring and this device will do it well.
  • Strongly consider the Sherline Angle Table. You mount a vise on it to machine angles on your work piece. I have found Sherline's table solid and versatile. For shop-grade work I use an import angle block set and it works fine to set angles. You can also use a vernier protractor if you have one. I leave my Sherline vise bolted to this table.
  • The Rotary Table is well made, versatile, and is indispensable for some work. However, it is expensive and, in my opinion, can wait until you have the other tools you need.
  • Finally, a guided tap-holder. Not vital but very nice. This is basically a standard tap holder with a shaft at the back of it to fit into a drill chuck. It helps you tap holes with less chance of breakage by keeping the tap vertical. Walton makes two sizes that take all the taps I commonly use. I can recommend this tool, especially if you work with very small threads.

That's it for the basics. Pretty deep pool you stepped into, isn't it?

Hope that helps,

Mikey
 
I typoed Royal end mills and meant Regal-Beloit.

I also forgot a decent edge-finder. The Starrett 827a works well.

At some point you will need to fab or buy some clamps for odd-shaped work that won't fit securely in a vise.
 
Mikey,
Thanks for taking the time to share all This info! Can you recommend an online vendor to purchase from?
 
Most of this stuff is expensive, especially the non-Sherline items, if bought retail. I would buy as many of these items as possible on ebay. Go to the Long Island Indicator Service website and look at the different brands of instruments you are interested in. Find out which will suit your needs and wait for it to come up on ebay for a fraction of its retail cost.

Most of the major industrial suppliers (MSC, Travers, Enco and others) will carry both brand name and import items and will often have sales on a particular line from time to time. I think I bought my Wilton machine vise for $135.00 from Traver's on sale; it now lists for $229.00 and is a good vise even at that price. Don't forget to check Amazon - they often beat the industrial houses and ebay on new stuff.

From Sherline or one of its many vendors I would buy the fly cutter and, when you can afford it or need it, the angle table and rotary table.

To get started, I suggest at least one 3/8" end mill holder and reproduce it in your shop. I personally don't like these holders because they hold the end mill in place with a locking set screw. That screw can come loose under heavy load, believe me. Sherline also sells a collet set that holds 1/8", 3/16" and 1/4" end mills or drills and they work well, but they limit your end mill size options.

Take your time and buy wisely. It's easy to spend a ton of money on this stuff. If you hit a snag or are at all uncertain about something then ask here on the forum. Lots of smart, experienced guys who are more than willing to help. If you are bashful about doing that then PM me.
 
i got a lot of my new stuff from littlemachineshop.com
just search for sherline and it will give you a list of what they have available
steve
 
Having a blast buying tools and tooling on eBay but its sucking my bank account dry! Must restrain!
 
Ah, money. Reality bites sometimes, doesn't it? Glad you're having fun!
 
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