Sherline & Taig Lathe & Mill Upgrades, Reviews for Saint Ann, MO 63074
Lots of are interested in ISO20, IS030, BT30 and 5C headstocks for both Sherline and Taig mills and lathes in the Saint Ann, MO. Automatic tool changers, or ATC, appeals to numerous individuals. There’s just on place to get the at an affordable rate and that’s GlockCNC. Updating to a ISO20 or BT30 is perfect for the mill. Going with a 5C is perfect for the lathes. Obviously, you would need to upgrade the headstock, bearings and motor. High speed balancing is also a bonus. The schedule of tooling for each of these models is outstanding. For 5C collet sets, you can get excellent quality from Hardinge.
Sherline headstocks and parts been available in a variety of designs from the factory. Normally ER16 and MT1. Both of which are extremely little. Sherline also provides WW collet sets for really small work. Primarily watchmakers and clockmakers utilize the WW collets. Many prefer ER25, ER32 and even ER40 collet sizes with a bigger spindle travel 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 barely like the ER16. An R8 spindle with a low profile would be best. It offers one of the most versatility and lots of tool choices. You can find lots of evaluations on both the lathe and the mill. Popular models are the 2000, 5400, 4000 and 4500 in metric and inch. The also been available in CNC, manual and CNC all set versions. Recently, they have actually added ballscrew versions for sale. This is far better than the older leadscrew type. Search the internet if you want an evaluation or contrast of ballscrews compared to leadscrews. There are suppliers near Saint Ann.
Taig likewise provides lathes and mills. It’s Sherlines main competition. In reality, you can find a great deal of videos and posts describing Taig vs Sherline. The Taig items provide far more stiff methods and normally more “heavy duty” in general. The Taig motors are pretty weak, similar to the Sherline motors. A high quality brushless motor can make the machine look like a totally different mill or lathe. Taig likewise provides a great CNC all set mill and lathe. You can likewise select their digital CNC system which utilizes closed-looped steppers and Mach3 software application. The Taig spindles have the exact same problems as the Sherline. They are far too little. The only exception is the 5C collet headstock model they offer. We will do a review of the 5C in the future. The great thing is that they now use a ballscrew alternative for their mill and lathe. Plus, the offer a “gang tool” lathe. The downside with both makes is the absence of severe upgrades.
Sherline provides numerous parts and attachments, however very little to make it a better machine. To start with, they headstock usages poor quality bearings and the bearings are too little. This means the spindle itself needs to be little. A spindle with extremely little mass means the lathe or mill the finish quality won’t be as good and subject to vibration issues. For instance, they use many lathe accessories, but you can’t get a 5C headstock or ER25, ER32 or ER40. Plus, the travel through hole has to be small because the bearings are small. There is a similar concern with the mill. You can just use ER16 collets and this restricts its use. Of course those in Saint Ann, Missouri 63074 may have different needs.
Video: Sherline CNC in Saint Ann
There are other machine choices too. You can also buy from Grizzly or Harbor Freight, in addition to other providers that offer Chinese mills and lathes. Naturally the quality isn’t real good. Lots of end up either very disappointed or doing a great deal of modifications to get the machine to do what they want. Exceptional upgrades are ballscrews, updated brushless motor, encoder for threading and so on.
If you prefer to choose a CNC machine, your best choice is the Centroid Acorn. The software application and hardware is far better than Mach3 or a lot of the hardware alternatives in the market. You can do stiff tapping and threading if you have an encoder. Plus, it offers consistent speed for turning applications. Mach3 and Mach4 were the standard for many years. However, they were cumbersome at best and truly only focused on amature usage. Centroid is a well established business manufacture of mills. Many of which are 5 axis makers. The very best servos to use 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 evaluations 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 small 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 built in. This can open up more alternatives for 5″ or 6″ chuck. Particularly if you choose bigger bearings.