Recommendations For A Good Milling Machine

[Jim Rogers]

On 7/5/2018 at 1:15 PM, wefalck said:

The right-angle attachment for the rotary table is for setting up the same with a horizontal axis (other makes have this built into the design) and the tailstock supports longer items. With this arrangement you can mill-on polygons, e.g. squares, hexagons, octogons, etc. Binnacles, columns of various kinds (including flutes ones), spars, masts, etc. come to mind.

According to my communications and this photo sent to Sherline I am the only person to ever have this problem and they tell me they make no adapters to fix this problem. They told me to build an adapter. I find it real hard to believe they don’t have attachment to fix what appears to me to be a common issue. Right hand attachment plus rotary table with vise mounted on top does not align. Any suggestions

[wefalck]

This is a weird set-up actually ... at least me, I was talking about the right-angle attachment:

 

 

This allows to mount the rotary table so that its rotation-axis is horizontal. I understand that this axis then lines up with the tailstock:

 

Trying to line up something held in a vise with the tailstock is not something one normally does. So there would be no commercial solution for this.

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by wefalck

[Thistle17]

Yes Wefalck as I understand it is designed so. I can't tell you how impressed I am with the design of the machine, the accessories offered and the service of Sherline. and I thank you for your 90 degree suggestions. I will certainly put them to good use.

 

I logged on just now to extol the virtues further of this tool. In making a table for the Atlantis model I have had to bring on line another router table to fashion the legs. I bought a 1/4" aluminum mounting plate that was supposed to fit my router and allow a built in lift from the table top. When I assembled the plate and router I ran into an interference problem for the lift tool and the router plate, pre-drilled access point. I thought about filing the plate and living with a functional albeit awful looking access hole. In the "now what am I going to do" moment I thought of the vertical mill. It took a little bit of thinking but within just a few passes I had a clearance hole I could be pleased to look at time and time again.

 

This is just more testimony of this wonderful tool!

Joe

 

 

[Mahuna]

 

On 7/9/2018 at 6:56 AM, Jim Rogers said:

According to my communications and this photo sent to Sherline I am the only person to ever have this problem and they tell me they make no adapters to fix this problem. They told me to build an adapter. I find it real hard to believe they don’t have attachment to fix what appears to me to be a common issue. Right hand attachment plus rotary table with vise mounted on top does not align. Any suggestions

The photo shows a rotating mill base, not a rotary table.  The right angle tail stock is designed to be used with the rotary table held in a vertical position, not with the rotating mill base. 

Edited July 10, 2018 by Mahuna

[Jim Rogers]

24 minutes ago, Mahuna said:

That's a rotating vise base, not the rotary table.  The rotary table mounted vertically using the right-angle attachment does line up with the 

The photo shows a rotating mill base, not a rotary table.  The right angle tail stock is designed to be used with the rotary table held in a vertical position, not with the rotating mill base. 

Got it. I knew I had something wrong. Ordering rotating table. 

[Jim Rogers]

So I have received my Right Angle Attachment and my Rotary table. They send two L shaped useless brackets to use for mounting work.  So do I get a drill chuck or 3 or 4 jaw set to hold my round stock? And is there something else I don’t know about that I’ll need to get before I can use this?

[wefalck]

I would suggest that you get yourself a textbook on machining, for instance the one that was written by Joe Martin the deceased former owner of Sherline. This gives you ideas on workholding and machining techniques.

 

There are countless ways of holding workpieces on a rotary table. It depends on the size and shape of a piece and on what machining operations you want to perform.

 

Drill-chucks are for, well, drills and reamers. Do not use drill-chucks for work-holding, they are not designed for lateral forces. Most of them are also not precise enough.

 

Whether you use a 3-jaw or a 4-jaw chuck, or a collet (chuck) for workholding depends on the size of the workpiece and on the desired precision. Collets are the best way to hold small round parts. 4-jaw chucks come in a self-centering and in a version with indipendent jaws. The former is mainly good for square stock and parts, while the latter can be used on all round, square or rectangular materials and parts, but is more time-consuming to center.

[Thistle17]

Now this has nothing to do with ship modeling, but if you will, it has everything to do with the versatility of the Sherline Mill. Recently I bought the 4" rotary table and tooling plate for the mill as my first accessory. From several sources I had read how useful it is and this immediately proved to be so.

 

Now I am not a skilled machinist so you folk that are, will probably consider this elementary, but for a novice like me every use of the mill is a discovery and eye widening lesson in use. The rotary table can be mounted to cross slide in a traditional manner or can be mounted 90 degrees to the cross slide/table. This does require an additional part which I have yet to order. Sherline also offers a tail piece to mount in a similar manner.

 

I had to make a 3" wide collar for a repair of a glass table top that was damaged in a wind storm. I used a 5" piece of  Delrin bolted to a sacrificial plate which in turn was bolted to the tooling plate I had also ordered. I reasoned that if I centered the desired piece on the rotary table assembly and positioned it so that it was dead centered to the milling head tooling I could then index it in the 'X' axis 1 1/2" away (never touching the 'Y' positioning) I could cut an acceptable disc and receiving hole in the stock piece with accuracy and ease.

 

Again this is just more testimony into the applications of the Sherline Vertical Mill. This machine is a joy to use so if you are holding back in its purchase....DON'T, it is such a great machine!

 

Joe

Edited August 27, 2018 by Thistle17

[Thistle17]

Just checking back in to give some more feedback on my 5400 DRO milling machine from Sherline. It is all good news and made so by the use of the DRO feature of this machine. I am not a trained machinist but can  get by and have for quite a number of years. Now that I have the digital readout capability my work products have improved. This is so evident when parts replication is required. I do find that my blank mounting is somewhat of a challenge and I need to work on that. I think it can be improved with the Sherline's line of tooling plates. I plan to order one shortly. Right now they are on sale.

Joe

Edited February 12, 2019 by Thistle17