Sherline DRO question for you Sherline guys

Good luck with selling the Taig so you can move on. When you are ready, give a shout and we'll be here for you.

I was thinking that just about everything I know about machining was taught to me by my Sherline equipment. A lathe is a lathe and a mill is a mill and everything transfers to larger machines. It took a week or so to learn the features of my larger lathe and almost no time at all to use the larger mill. Had it not been for the small size of my Sherline lathe, I may not have invested the time to learn to grind HSS tooling. Had it not been for the small 5400 mill, I might not have learned how best to choose and use milling cutters. There is much to be said for these small machines, especially for hobby guys. The interesting thing is that when I need to hold really tight tolerances on a part that fits my Sherline equipment, I will use that in preference to the larger machines! I have an Emco Super 11 lathe and it is as fine a lathe as I could want but when I need to get that piece really precise I would rather do it on the Sherline. Interesting, eh?

I guess what I'm saying is that should you go with Sherline stuff and later decide to upgrade to larger machines, the knowledge and skills will transfer without any problem.

If we can help in the future, just let us know.

Mike
 
I have an Emco Super 11 lathe and it is as fine a lathe as I could want

Oooooh! I am jealous- seriously! I know that those are quality machines. You are lucky to have snagged one.
And yes it is easier to work to tighter dimensions (at least on small items) using a machine that you can get close to, if you know what I mean- you don't have to lean waaay over to see if that tool bit is lined up with the center of the lathe axis and so on. Also, thank you so much for the offer of help with selecting a machine and tooling as well as general help; I really appreciate that!
 
Woodsman 22, I have a sherline and I installed the igaging scales on both axis. I used Yuri's guide to do this and it is great.

I am considering redoing the setup, the lead screw is no issue but the igaging mount on the cross-slide limits my travel and ability to use the tailstock but I have an idea to neutralize that and if it works I will share my setup with photos. at present it is not ideal. I chose this for 2 reasons, first cost - the price difference was too much to ignore and I too was concerned on the backlash. My changes are being driven by my decision to set up CNC on this and then my little Unimat 3s.

I am considering a DC motor and speed control for my unimats to cut down on belt changes and looking at options there. Part of my solution includes linear bearings to support the weight of the servos and I am using an Aluminum plate to perform the mountings. I have the plate stock, bearings, servos, arduino and motor controllers. I would prefer to locate truly micro sized scales and readers but I think I will have to build that out as I learn more.

I am treating this like a RC model plane where the issue is mostly mounting the things you need to a wing and fuse that will not impede the primary function of the plane.
 
I will share my setup with photos

Kevin I look forward to the photos of your setup when you get it done. I will look up Yuri's guide to this process and see if I am up to it. Yes, I totally get that the price difference between Sherline's DRO and the igaging setup makes the latter the better choice (although I am thinking Sherline would not put out a DRO that wouldn't live up to their claims- but yes, the price ...sheesh).

I setup my Taig mill with a DC motor and speed control from Rockler Woodworking and that unit was less that $140 with speed control, but Rockler doesn't offer it anymore and instead they have a new one listed that is almost 5 times more expensive. The motor and speed control on my Taig mill is the same as the unit you see pictured here on this Taig lathe (but I took this pic off the net and I do not own this Taig lathe - I don't remember what site I copied this photo from).:

This motor and speed control works well and if you can find a similar one, it might be suitable for your Unimat. It is about 1/2 HP. I could go snap a pic of it on my mill, but it is late at night here and I'm not gonna do it now. Taig dupl VS motor.jpg
 
Kevin I look forward to the photos of your setup when you get it done. I will look up Yuri's guide to this process and see if I am up to it. Yes, I totally get that the price difference between Sherline's DRO and the igaging setup makes the latter the better choice (although I am thinking Sherline would not put out a DRO that wouldn't live up to their claims- but yes, the price ...sheesh).

I setup my Taig mill with a DC motor and speed control from Rockler Woodworking and that unit was less that $140 with speed control, but Rockler doesn't offer it anymore and instead they have a new one listed that is almost 5 times more expensive. The motor and speed control on my Taig mill is the same as the unit you see pictured here on this Taig lathe (but I took this pic off the net and I do not own this Taig lathe - I don't remember what site I copied this photo from).:

This motor and speed control works well and if you can find a similar one, it might be suitable for your Unimat. It is about 1/2 HP. I could go snap a pic of it on my mill, but it is late at night here and I'm not gonna do it now. View attachment 259088
nice duplicator
 
bbf7f5e36e74e72f419eac23bca1a6fa.jpg

Don’t want to get into a spy vs spy discussion but here is my little lathe. I also have a Taig mill with the iguaging DROs. Maybe after work I can get a pic of that.
 
Hey Chip, is that a 3ph Baldor motor there? I bet you have no issues with power!
 
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