Sherline DRO question for you Sherline guys

Woodsman 22

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I notice that some forum members here have taken to installing aftermarket scales like igauging linear DRO's on their Sherline milling machines, ostensibly because the opinion is that the Sherline DRO counts handwheel revs and the backlash in the screws is unaccounted for. However, in their marketing description of their DRO Sherline has the following to say;

"Backlash can be electronically eliminated by setting its measured value into the readout box for each axis. When handwheel rotation changes direction, the backlash value is electronically subtracted before the readout counts in the other direction."

If Sherline's DRO electronics can zero out the backlash then wouldn't it make sense to go with their DRO as opposed to going through the trouble to install aftermarket linear (magnetic) units? Or is there a cost or other advantage to doing this that I am not aware of?
 
I installed aftermarket (igauging) scales to my Sherline Mill and love them - but I'm a cheap Ba$!a@d. the install was fairly straight forward (although you do have to make most of your own brackets). The Sherline DRO costs more, I believe, and I'm not sold on the "electronically eliminated" staying a constant as the machine wears. The magnetic scales only measure actual movement. Just my $.02

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I installed aftermarket (igauging) scales to my Sherline Mill and love them - but I'm a cheap Ba$!a@d. the install was fairly straight forward (although you do have to make most of your own brackets). The Sherline DRO costs more, I believe, and I'm not sold on the "electronically eliminated" staying a constant as the machine wears. The magnetic scales only measure actual movement. Just my $.02

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Thanks for your reply. Since I hadn't compared prices of the two systems, I didn't foresee that igauging system would be cheaper (but I should have, since Sherline prices seem high to me).
 
By the way, DHarris; after embiggening the photo of your workshop space, I noticed what looks like a REALLY large collet or collet holder on the spindle of your Sherline mill. What kind is it? Seems like it takes up a lot of real estate on the Z axis. Also, what size and brand of vise is that on the Sherline mill table?
 
The collet holder is an ER 32 & works great - yes, it does eat up vertical space, but when / if I need more z axis, I just simply unscrew the collet holder and use the standard collets. The vise is a Wilton - don't remember the model number, but I'm pretty sure that they don't make it anymore. Mikey turned me on to these vises, and we searched Amazon for quite a while before we found mine & I think it was the last one we found. Maybe Mikey will chime in with the model number as I've "cleaned" mine so thoroughly, that I've wiped off all of the ink printing on the vise!
 
As for cost, yep, the Sherline dro is ~$395.00. I found the igauging scales on Amazon (I think) for ~$140.00 +/- for all three. The lathe has a single scale and a "Yuri" Bluetooth connection to a tablet running Yuri's DRO software. It was originally intended for the Mill, but the motor on the mill is so old that the Brush noise interferes with the Bluetooth signal!! So, it's on the late with the new motor! I just use the readouts that came with the scales on the mill.
 
The collet holder is an ER 32 & works great - yes, it does eat up vertical space, but when / if I need more z axis, I just simply unscrew the collet holder and use the standard collets. The vise is a Wilton - don't remember the model number, but I'm pretty sure that they don't make it anymore. Mikey turned me on to these vises, and we searched Amazon for quite a while before we found mine & I think it was the last one we found. Maybe Mikey will chime in with the model number as I've "cleaned" mine so thoroughly, that I've wiped off all of the ink printing on the vise!

It's a Wilton SP-50. Back when we were searching for it, the only one we could find was on Amazon but I just found this: http://www.flexibleindustrial.com/FI-Products/Wilton-11708-Super-Precision-Milling-Vise. Yeah, that's about what they cost. They are pretty accurate little milling vises and are no longer made so this one is NOS.

The ER chuck is a Beall ER-32 chuck. Every Sherline owner should consider owning one. It works well on both the mill and lathe and is, for me, indispensable. If you get one, specify it is for a Sherline so they send the right one: http://www.bealltool.com/products/turning/colletchuck.php
 
As for cost, yep, the Sherline dro is ~$395.00. I found the igauging scales on Amazon (I think) for ~$140.00 +/- for all three. The lathe has a single scale and a "Yuri" Bluetooth connection to a tablet running Yuri's DRO software. It was originally intended for the Mill, but the motor on the mill is so old that the Brush noise interferes with the Bluetooth signal!! So, it's on the late with the new motor! I just use the readouts that came with the scales on the mill.
Well, one certainly cannot argue with a cost savings of $255! Regarding the ER-32 setup; what is the largest practical size endmill you can use in it? I am guessing that the weight of it adds a flywheel type of effect while it is cutting? And thanks for the info about both items.
 
It's a Wilton SP-50. Back when we were searching for it, the only one we could find was on Amazon but I just found this: http://www.flexibleindustrial.com/FI-Products/Wilton-11708-Super-Precision-Milling-Vise. Yeah, that's about what they cost. They are pretty accurate little milling vises and are no longer made so this one is NOS.

The ER chuck is a Beall ER-32 chuck. Every Sherline owner should consider owning one. It works well on both the mill and lathe and is, for me, indispensable. If you get one, specify it is for a Sherline so they send the right one: http://www.bealltool.com/products/turning/colletchuck.php
The vise is nice, I am going to get one. Well, so is the Beall chuck, but I have a Taig mill and with only 8 inches of room between the spindle and table I don't see how there would be much room left for anything but the cutter,lol! My Taig mill is nice, but when I saw that Sherline has an optional 15" mill column for added Z height, I started to wish I had bought a Sherline mill instead.
 
The vise is nice, I am going to get one. Well, so is the Beall chuck, but I have a Taig mill and with only 8 inches of room between the spindle and table I don't see how there would be much room left for anything but the cutter,lol! My Taig mill is nice, but when I saw that Sherline has an optional 15" mill column for added Z height, I started to wish I had bought a Sherline mill instead.

Oh, so you're one of them Taig guys, eh? Nah, just kidding. Taig makes a good mill. Too bad A2Z went under because they made column extensions.

I like the Wilton vise. It is like a normal milling vise but it doesn't have the angle-lok feature. It uses gib screws but a tap with a hammer seats the work easily and the jaws are accurate. Easily worth the money to me.

The Sherline extension does go 15" but you can also put a riser on the base of the column for additional height. That makes a Beall chuck a very accurate addition to the mill. Too bad you went to the Dark Side!
 
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