Sherline & Taig Lathe & Mill Upgrades, Reviews for Chacon, NM 87713
Numerous have an interest in ISO20, IS030, BT30 and 5C headstocks for both Sherline and Taig mills and lathes in the Chacon, NM. Automatic tool changers, or ATC, interest numerous people. There’s only on location to get the at a reasonable cost which’s GlockCNC. Upgrading to a ISO20 or BT30 is ideal for the mill. Going with a 5C is perfect for the lathes. Of course, you would require to upgrade the headstock, bearings and motor. High speed balancing is likewise a perk. The schedule of tooling for each of these models is outstanding. For 5C collet sets, you can get great quality from Hardinge.
Sherline headstocks and parts been available in a range of models from the factory. Generally ER16 and MT1. Both of which are really little. Sherline also offers WW collet sets for very small work. Generally watchmakers and clockmakers utilize the WW collets. Most prefer ER25, ER32 or even ER40 collet sizes with a bigger spindle go through hole. The 5C collet for the Sherline lathe would be the very best. For Sherline mills, most really don’t care for the MT1 and hardly like the ER16. An R8 spindle with a low profile would be best. It provides the most flexibility and many tool choices. You can find many evaluations on both the lathe and the mill. Popular designs are the 2000, 5400, 4000 and 4500 in metric and inch. The also been available in CNC, manual and CNC prepared variations. Just recently, they have included ballscrew versions for sale. This is far better than the older leadscrew type. Search the web if you want an evaluation or contrast of ballscrews compared to leadscrews. There are suppliers near Chacon.
Taig likewise provides lathes and mills. It’s Sherlines primary competition. In fact, you can find a great deal of videos and posts referring to Taig vs Sherline. The Taig products provide a lot more rigid methods and normally more “sturdy” overall. The Taig motors are quite weak, just like the Sherline motors. A high quality brushless motor can make the machine appear like an absolutely different mill or lathe. Taig also provides a nice CNC ready mill and lathe. You can also select their digital CNC system which uses closed-looped steppers and Mach3 software. The Taig spindles have the same problems as the Sherline. They are far too little. The only exception is the 5C collet headstock design they offer. We will do an evaluation of the 5C in the future. The great thing is that they now offer a ballscrew alternative for their mill and lathe. Plus, the offer a “gang tool” lathe. The downside with both makes is the absence of serious upgrades.
Sherline offers many parts and attachments, however very little to make it a better machine. To begin with, they headstock usages poor quality bearings and the bearings are too little. This suggests the spindle itself needs to be small. A spindle with very little mass indicates the lathe or mill the finish quality won’t be as great and based on vibration problems. For example, they provide numerous lathe accessories, but you can’t get a 5C headstock or ER25, ER32 or ER40. Plus, the pass through hole has to be small due to the fact that the bearings are small. There is a comparable issue with the mill. You can only utilize ER16 collets and this limits its use. Of course those in Chacon, New Mexico 87713 may have different needs.
Video: Taig CNC in Chacon
There are other machine choices too. You can likewise buy from Grizzly or Harbor Freight, together with other providers that use Chinese mills and lathes. Obviously the quality isn’t real great. Many end up either really dissatisfied or doing a great deal of modifications to get the machine to do what they want. Exceptional upgrades are ballscrews, upgraded brushless motor, encoder for threading and so on.
If you desire to opt for a CNC machine, your best option is the Centroid Acorn. The software application and hardware is far better than Mach3 or many of the hardware alternatives in the market. You can do stiff tapping and threading if you have an encoder. Plus, it provides consistent speed for turning applications. Mach3 and Mach4 were the standard for several years. However, they were clunky at best and truly just targeted at amature use. Centroid is a well established industrial manufacture of mills. A lot of which are 5 axis makers. The very best servos to utilize for CNC on the Sherline or Taig are either DMM, Clearpath or GlockCNC brands. Integrate that with the Centroid Acorn and you will have a powerful machine. We will also produce reviews of the Taig CNC mill and Sherline CNC mill using the Acorn hardware.
What about a better jaw chuck for the lathe? Many complain that the little chucks will not hold steel for cutting. The part will just fall out. On choice is to purchase a headstock with a jaw chuck adapter integrated in. This can open more options for 5″ or 6″ chuck. Specifically if you opt for larger bearings.