Tools For Lathe And Mill From Shars And Enco

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I pretty much stopped even looking at the Shars website because of the shipping costs.
When it is all said and done, Enco ends up being the same or cheaper because of shipping costs.
Enco also has great return service. I have actually told them I just don't like it, and they take it back with no arguments.
You will also want to watch their sister company MSC. Enco will often have the same exact item for less, but MSC is much easier to shop at, and has a wider and better range of tooling. If you live in a large city, you might even have an MSC in town.

Most of the stuff Shars carries is low grade, but I have a few things from them I am happy with. Their black faced 1" travel dial indicator has turned out to be a real winner. I have two live on one machine or another all the time. They has been dropped, crashed, covered in hot chips and lube, and it just keeps working. I got a deal on three new Fowlers that I expected to replace my Shars unit with and they are still in their box's unused. Probably the best deal on a cheap indicator on the planet. I have their 8" 4 jaw, it is decently balanced, the jaws are approximately square, and it cost less than $200.00 including the adaptor. I also have one of their 6" dial calipers, it has out lived my Fowler "drop proof" that has never been the same since it got dropped.

I have a 1" travel 1/10ths indicator that sticks a lot. I have a 1/10ths DTI that jams a lot. They are both junk.

Enco has 1-2-3 blocks on sale, get them they will be just as good as the Shars "precision" ones.
If you really must have precision 1-2-3 blocks (you probably don't), then get them from MSC (they carry the stuff made by Suburban Tools). Be sitting when you see the price.
I also agree with all the others. Do not bother with a tramming thingy, just sweep the table with your indicator - it is not hard. Build the tool shown in the video, it is an excellent project to learn on, the tool itself does not have to be anything even remotely close to being a precision instrument - it is just a rigid base for holding a precision instrument.
Definitely no on the electronic edge finder. Get a high quality traditional one, Fowler at the worst, Brown and Sharpe is the best for these imo (I really like B&S tools).
 
I recently purchased some AXA-1 tool holders from them thru eBay, Discount MAchine. They finally fixed the problems with the loose set screws. They are all nice and snug! had to use a Allen wrench to turn the set screws!
 
There were a several items I compared price wise between Enco and Shars and Enco was much more expensive so I ordered them from Shars. However, you're correct about Shars shipping, and one of the items I ordered excluded my order from their flat rate shipping cost so I won't know the final total until it's too late. However, even after taking into consideration the 25% off and free shipping codes with Enco (which I'll still use for other items I need) compared to Shars 20% off Black Friday sale and their exorbitant shipping costs, the identical items from Shars should end up costing significantly less.

Here are the 4 more expensive items I purchased along with the prices from both Enco and Shars. I compared the specs and pictures from each place, and as far as I could tell the items are identical. Obviously I'm not buying the same items from both places, so I can't say for sure, but if anyone with these items from Enco wants to exchange pics and details (once I get my order) I'm willing to do the same.

Import 1/8" Thin Style, 10 Pair Parallel Sets (Enco $63.65) (Shars $30.95)
Interstate 20 piece TiN Coated Centercutting 3/16 to 3/4 2 flute and 4 flute End Mill Set (Enco $127.74) (Shars $79.95)
4 Piece Edge / Center Finder Set (Enco $49.22) (Shars $20.95)
Co-Axial Indicator Set (Enco $128.41) (Shars $79.95)

The above items before any discount (Enco $369.02) vs (Shars $211.80). After their respective discounts (Enco $276.77) (Shars $169.44) for a difference of $107.33. If Shars shipping comes anywhere near that difference, I'll have a field day ruining their reputation. Otherwise, that difference is pretty major as far as I'm concerned.

None of this surprises me. It's obvious Enco is where everyone goes just based on the comments posted within this thread alone, including the slamming of Shars. I've seen Harbor Freight do the same as Enco and both places appear to be blindsiding their devoted customers. I'm not saying I'm 100% correct, but unless I find out otherwise, I'm not about to simply buy everything from Enco and not look elsewhere.
 
Thanks Charles. I noticed Ken (above) used them as well. I'll definitely keep them in mind, especially if I need something but don't have any discount codes to use at Enco and Shars. At the moment, what makes this difficult is I'm just starting out... and with both a lathe and mill at the same time... plus I've never used either machine before... so I need a lot of tooling, much of which I have to figure out what task they even perform. Once these initial purchases are done, it will be easier for me to check other places as well. After what I've seen so far, I have no plans on going straight to Enco. I'll be bargain shopping... crap, I'm getting old. Okay, I am old. :)
 
Shars has some really nice stuff like high end USA made boring bars. They have some crap. Enco is the same way, some really nice stuff, and some complete crap. The best thing you can do is shop around.
 
Compared to a "Tramming Aid", an indicator on a bar, sweeping 8 or 10 inches either side of the spindle will be FAR more accurate. Measuring .0001, 2 1/2 inches from the spindle compared to .0001 8 inches from the spindle makes the latter far more meaningful. Sure the tool is nice, but the cost is not returned in usefulness.
 
Dan_S said:
Shars has some really nice stuff like high end USA made boring bars. They have some crap. Enco is the same way, some really nice stuff, and some complete crap. The best thing you can do is shop around.
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Exactly. And that's much easier to do now days considering everything is online. Try doing that back when the only way to check was by looking at paper ads, catalogs, visiting the stores, or making calls... and getting put on hold for half an hour.

T Bredehoft said:
Compared to a "Tramming Aid", an indicator on a bar, sweeping 8 or 10 inches either side of the spindle will be FAR more accurate. Measuring .0001, 2 1/2 inches from the spindle compared to .0001 8 inches from the spindle makes the latter far more meaningful. Sure the tool is nice, but the cost is not returned in usefulness.
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Funny you would bring that up because one of the main reasons I didn't buy that tramming tool was due to short distance of the dials from center. There are always other ways to get things done. The bar idea sounds good. Thanks.
 
The only promo code Enco has at there site is 15% off till Nov 30th. Im not seeing anything on 25% off or any shipping discounts at there web site.
 
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