Sherline & Taig Lathe & Mill Upgrades, Reviews for Colorado Springs, CO 80906
Lots of are interested in ISO20, IS030, BT30 and 5C headstocks for both Sherline and Taig mills and lathes in the Colorado Springs, CO. Automatic tool changers, or ATC, interest numerous individuals. There’s only on place to get the at a reasonable rate which’s GlockCNC. Updating to a ISO20 or BT30 is ideal for the mill. Going with a 5C is perfect for the lathes. Of course, you would need to upgrade the headstock, bearings and motor. High speed balancing is likewise a reward. The availability of tooling for each of these models is outstanding. For 5C collet sets, you can get very good quality from Hardinge.
Sherline headstocks and parts can be found in a range of models from the factory. Typically ER16 and MT1. Both of which are extremely small. Sherline also offers WW collet sets for very tiny work. Mainly watchmakers and clockmakers utilize the WW collets. Many prefer ER25, ER32 or even ER40 collet sizes with a larger spindle pass through hole. The 5C collet for the Sherline lathe would be the very best. For Sherline mills, many really don’t care for the MT1 and barely like the ER16. An R8 spindle with a low profile would be best. It provides the most flexibility and many tool options. You can find many reviews on both the lathe and the mill. Popular models are the 2000, 5400, 4000 and 4500 in metric and inch. The likewise been available in CNC, handbook and CNC all set versions. Just recently, they have added ballscrew versions for sale. This is far better than the older leadscrew type. Search the internet if you want an evaluation or comparison of ballscrews compared to leadscrews. There are suppliers near Colorado Springs.
Taig also offers lathes and mills. It’s Sherlines main competitors. In truth, you can find a lot of videos and articles describing Taig vs Sherline. The Taig items provide a lot more stiff methods and normally more “heavy duty” overall. The Taig motors are pretty weak, similar to the Sherline motors. A high quality brushless motor can make the machine look like a totally various mill or lathe. Taig likewise offers a great CNC all set mill and lathe. You can likewise go with their digital CNC system which uses closed-looped steppers and Mach3 software application. The Taig spindles have the same issues as the Sherline. They are far too small. The only exception is the 5C collet headstock design they provide. We will do an evaluation of the 5C in the future. The great thing is that they now provide a ballscrew alternative for their mill and lathe. Plus, the offer a “gang tool” lathe. The downside with both produces is the absence of serious upgrades.
Sherline uses lots of parts and attachments, however not much to make it a much better machine. To start with, they headstock uses poor quality bearings and the bearings are too little. This indicates the spindle itself needs to be small. A spindle with very little mass suggests the lathe or mill the surface quality will not be as good and based on vibration issues. For instance, they provide many lathe devices, however you can’t get a 5C headstock or ER25, ER32 or ER40. Plus, the pass through hole needs to be little since the bearings are little. There is a similar concern with the mill. You can only use ER16 collets and this restricts its usage. Of course those in Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906 may have different needs.
Video: Sherline CNC in Colorado Springs
There are other machine options too. You can likewise buy from Grizzly or Harbor Freight, along with other providers that provide Chinese mills and lathes. Obviously the quality isn’t genuine good. Many wind up either extremely disappointed or doing a lot of modifications to get the machine to do what they want. Outstanding upgrades are ballscrews, updated brushless motor, encoder for threading and so on.
If you want to choose a CNC machine, your best bet is the Centroid Acorn. The software application and hardware is far much better than Mach3 or much of the hardware choices in the market. You can do stiff tapping and threading if you have an encoder. Plus, it uses consistent speed for turning applications. Mach3 and Mach4 were the requirement for several years. Nevertheless, they were clunky at finest and truly only targeted at amature use. Centroid is a well established industrial manufacture of mills. Many 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. Combine that with the Centroid Acorn and you will have a powerful machine. We will likewise produce reviews of the Taig CNC mill and Sherline CNC mill utilizing the Acorn hardware.
What about a better jaw chuck for the lathe? Lots of grumble that the little chucks will not hold steel for cutting. The part will simply fall out. On option is to purchase a headstock with a jaw chuck adapter integrated in. This can open up more options for 5″ or 6″ chuck. Especially if you go with larger bearings.