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Couple questions of Sherline Mill purchase


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All,

 

I have a couple questions.

 

I have been granted permission to purchase a mill.  I have decided on a Sherline 5400.

 

Where has everyone purchased their equipment?  Directly from Sherline?  An authorized dealer?  Obviously I'm looking to get the best deal I can.

 

Also which does everyone prefer, imperial or metric?  I don't want to start a debate, but just looking as to which direction everyone goes and why.


What about DRO (Digital Read Out) seems like it would be a nice feature to have.  

 

What about CNC, I've never used CNC before and for what I will be using the mill for it doesn't really seem to be an option I would really need right now.


Any guidance would be appreciated.


Thanks


Shawn

 

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I bought mine after the NRG conference direct from Sherline and got a 10% Conference discount.  THey had a "Senior Citizen" 10% discount as well but not both.

Maury

 

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I ordered my Sherline mill from an authorized retailer for significantly less money.  The name escapes me but it was somewhere on the East coast.  The advantage of buying direct from Sherline is the advise you will receive to guide your purchase.  Don't forget, the accessories will cost you at least as much as the mill itself, so plan your purchase accordingly.

Toni


Chairman Nautical Research Guild

Member Nautical Research and Model Society

Member Midwest Model Shipwrights

 

Current Builds:     NRG Rigging Project

Completed Builds: Longboat - 1:48 scale       HMS Atalanta-1775 - 1:48 scale       Half Hull Planking Project      Capstan Project     Swallow 1779 - 1:48 scale               Echo Cross Section   

Gallery:  Hannah - 1:36 scale.

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Look to buy the mill and accessories on eBay - I saved quite a bit of money doing so.  The Sherline products are really well made that used items still hold up very well generally.

Mike

 

Current Wooden builds:  Amati/Victory Pegasus  MS Charles W. Morgan  Euromodel La Renommèe  

 

Plastic builds:    SB2U-1 Vindicator 1/48  Five Star Yaeyama 1/700  Pit Road Asashio and Akashi 1/700 diorama  Walrus 1/48 and Albatross 1/700  Special Hobby Buffalo 1/32  Eduard Sikorsky JRS-1 1/72  IJN Notoro 1/700  Akitsu Maru 1/700

 

Completed builds :  Caldercraft Brig Badger   Amati Hannah - Ship in Bottle  Pit Road Hatsuzakura 1/700   Hasegawa Shimakaze 1:350

F4B-4 and P-6E 1/72  Accurate Miniatures F3F-1/F3F-2 1/48  Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat built as FM-1 1/48  Special Hobby Buffalo 1/48

Citroen 2CV 1/24 - Airfix and Tamiya  Entex Morgan 3-wheeler 1/16

 

Terminated build:  HMS Lyme (based on Corel Unicorn)  

 

On the shelf:  Euromodel Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde; Caldercraft Victory; too many plastic ship, plane and car kits

 

Future potential scratch builds:  HMS Lyme (from NMM plans); Le Gros Ventre (from Ancre monographs), Dutch ship from Ab Hoving book, HMS Sussex from McCardle book, Philadelphia gunboat (Smithsonian plans)

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I bought my Sherline gear from Discount Campus http://www.discountcampus.com/store/sherlineonline.htm and got a better price than Sherline was offering. No complaints at all on the service I received.

 

I heartily recommend getting the DRO on the mill. It really can be helpful. I didn't get CNC because I wouldn't know how to use it and don't really have a lot of interest in investing the time to learn it. Aside from that, it adds significantly to the cost since you also have to factor in a computer and software.

 

Although I live in the US, I bought my mill in metric. I just find it much easier to use than Imperial. I can divide by 10 in my head much more easily than I can divide by 16. I work in metric for all my measuring, not just the mill. That said, you'll likely be working with cutters measured in Imperial, such as 1/8" or 3/16". Sometimes you need to be able to move half the width of your cutter, so you have to convert to metric. I just made up a simple conversion chart that I tacked to the wall behind the mill. No big deal.

 

Cheers -

John

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Sa far as the metric question.  Buy what you are used to using.  My machine is in metric but I don't think in metric, so it's always b problem to change my thinking for the job and a lot of the time I make mistakes in the conversions.

 

Bob

Every build is a learning experience.

 

Current build:  SS_ Mariefred

 

Completed builds:  US Coast Guard Pequot   Friendship-sloop,  Schooner Lettie-G.-Howard,   Spray,   Grand-Banks-dory

                                                a gaff rigged yawl,  HOGA (YT-146),  Int'l Dragon Class II,   Two Edwardian Launches 

 

In the Gallery:   Catboat,   International-Dragon-Class,   Spray

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Discount Campus is who I purchased my mill from.

Toni


Chairman Nautical Research Guild

Member Nautical Research and Model Society

Member Midwest Model Shipwrights

 

Current Builds:     NRG Rigging Project

Completed Builds: Longboat - 1:48 scale       HMS Atalanta-1775 - 1:48 scale       Half Hull Planking Project      Capstan Project     Swallow 1779 - 1:48 scale               Echo Cross Section   

Gallery:  Hannah - 1:36 scale.

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I have not used a Sherline but this chap is doing some amazing work in metal on one, and has some interesting comments about the handles.

http://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,6515.60.html the page is talking about machining stainless plates for a steam hauler, if you scroll down there are some pictures of his model ship building, which is very nice too.

 

Overall it looks like a very nice machine. if I were looking for a lathe and mill combination I would seriously consider this machine, Bob's comment about the cutters is useful, remember that you can purchase metric cutters as well.

 

Michael

Current builds  Bristol Pilot Cutter 1:8;      Skipjack 19 foot Launch 1:8;       Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 14 1:8

Other projects  Pilot Cutter 1:500 ;   Maria, 1:2  Now just a memory    

Future model Gill Smith Catboat Pauline 1:8

Finished projects  A Bassett Lowke steamship Albertic 1:100  

 

Anything you can imagine is possible, when you put your mind to it.

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The ship is very nice.  The background story is amazing. 

Toni


Chairman Nautical Research Guild

Member Nautical Research and Model Society

Member Midwest Model Shipwrights

 

Current Builds:     NRG Rigging Project

Completed Builds: Longboat - 1:48 scale       HMS Atalanta-1775 - 1:48 scale       Half Hull Planking Project      Capstan Project     Swallow 1779 - 1:48 scale               Echo Cross Section   

Gallery:  Hannah - 1:36 scale.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Not sure why you'd want a Sherline, seems to me there are far better options for roughly the same price. Little Machine Shop is where I have always bought my machine tools. The micro mill is better than the Sherline, but it's the mini-mill for about $100 more than yours that's an order of magnitude more capable with a far greater and varied ecosystem of accessories and modifications and DROs that can be added.

 

Edit, the HiTorque versions are preferable as those can handle machining steel no problem, but if you're willing to machine steel a bit more slowly, see the Sieg X2 Mini Mill that's on sale for $599. Out of the box I think it's a considerably better choice than Sherline. The HiTorque mini mill is just a Sieg X2 modified per LMS' specs to have an upgraded motor.

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If you happen to own a Sherline lathe already, then check the website.  Last night I saw that the vertical milling columns were on sale from $160-300.  They fit the lathe - remove the headstock and mount it on the vertical column, and then mount the vertical column at the headstock position.  About inch vs. metric, it really doesn't matter - the inch screws are 20TPI, so one revolution of the wheel is 0.050", and the wheels are graduated in 0.001 increments.

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I have both the mill and the milling column for the lathe.  The milling column works really well, but the x-axis is limited to the travel of the lathe's cross-slide.  It would be a good way to start milling, and I've found having both to be a great advantage when I have repetitive milling activities that would require frequent changing of tooling.

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