Sherline millling cnc mill

[Metal Mickey]

Do any members use cnc milling equipment from the American tool company Sherline? If so what do you think of it?

Mike

 

[PTsideshow]

I own their CNC rotary table, and both the 8 axis knee mill and long bed lathe with digital readouts. But I did buy them with the though of upgrading in the future. I can say that I am well satisfied with both for the money. I do have some of the attachments for the lathe I bought the riser blocks for all the section to give it more Dia turning.

Their CNC and equipment has been around long enough that the bugs are worked out of them. I have seen some amazing stuff that make and bring to the shows. I have been with the NAMES group for a number of years 8 to ten and they are always at the shows and very helpful to answer any questions and on the phone. I haven't upgraded mine yet only because life seem to get in the way and haven't had time to play with them enough.

If you haven't seen or read this book, I recommend it for any table top machining and CNC http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=391.0
This link will take you to my review of it.
All the standard disclaimers apply, just satisfied customer

 

[ksouers]

Mike,
I haven't used the Sherline CNC equipment. But I do have a Sherline lathe I've had for 15+ years. It's a very fine piece of machinery, though quite small. It will handle the type of stuff we do quite readily.

As for quality, the bed is steel with a cast base. The saddle is 6061 aluminum, anodized. The tailstock is also anodized aluminum. Fit and finish is excellent. The motor is PMW variable speed DC with two speed ranges via a drive belt and pulley arrangement, I'm still using the original belt by the way.

I only have the 3-jaw chuck, and I think that is the weak point. Mine is worn out, it will hold small diameter work but will no longer reliably hold anything over 3/4 inch. It will loosen up.

Sherline mills are based on the lathe and there are a lot of common parts between the two. In fact they sell the mill column separately so I could convert my lathe to a mill if I wanted to.

I know this isn't exactly the kind of information you were looking for. But I thought maybe an impression of the quality of the machines might help.

As I state earlier, I think the only drawback to the machines is the small size. That's why I went to the Chinese machines, they simply had much greater capacity. The Sherline quality is definitely top of the line.

 

[Metal Mickey]

Hello ksouers and PTsideshow, thanks very much its just the sort of thing I am looking for and the book looks good to. thanks for the reply.

Mike