Sherline & Taig CNC Mill & Lathe Upgrades, Reviews for Syracuse, NY 13208
Numerous are interested in ISO20, IS030, BT30 and 5C headstocks for both Sherline and Taig mills and lathes in the Syracuse, NY. Automatic tool changers, or ATC, appeals to numerous people. There’s only on location to get the at a reasonable price and that’s GlockCNC. Upgrading to a ISO20 or BT30 is perfect for the mill. Opting for a 5C is ideal for the lathes. Naturally, you would need to upgrade the headstock, bearings and motor. High speed balancing is also a reward. The schedule 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 variety of models from the factory. Normally ER16 and MT1. Both of which are very small. Sherline also uses WW collet sets for very small work. Generally watchmakers and clockmakers utilize the WW collets. Many choose ER25, ER32 or perhaps 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 actually do not care for the MT1 and hardly like the ER16. An R8 spindle with a low profile would be best. It uses the most flexibility and numerous tool choices. You can discover many reviews 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 ready variations. Just recently, they have actually added ballscrew variations for sale. This is far better than the older leadscrew type. Browse the internet if you desire an evaluation or contrast of ballscrews compared to leadscrews. There are suppliers near Syracuse.
Taig also uses lathes and mills. It’s Sherlines primary competition. In truth, you can discover a great deal of videos and posts describing Taig vs Sherline. The Taig items use much more rigid ways and usually more “heavy duty” in general. The Taig motors are quite weak, similar to the Sherline motors. A high quality brushless motor can make the machine appear like an absolutely different mill or lathe. Taig also uses a nice CNC ready mill and lathe. You can also choose their digital CNC system which utilizes closed-looped steppers and Mach3 software application. The Taig spindles have the very same problems as the Sherline. They are far too small. 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 offer a ballscrew alternative for their mill and lathe. Plus, the deal a “gang tool” lathe. The drawback with both produces is the absence of severe upgrades.
Sherline uses many parts and accessories, however not much 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 little. A spindle with really little mass implies the lathe or mill the surface quality will not be as good and subject to vibration issues. For example, they provide numerous lathe accessories, but you can’t get a 5C headstock or ER25, ER32 or ER40. Plus, the go through hole has to be little since the bearings are little. There is a comparable concern with the mill. You can only utilize ER16 collets and this restricts its use. Of course those in Syracuse, New York 13208 may have different needs.
Video: Taig CNC in Syracuse
There are other machine choices too. You can also purchase from Grizzly or Harbor Freight, along with other providers that use Chinese mills and lathes. Obviously the quality isn’t real great. Lots of end up either very dissatisfied or doing a lot of modifications to get the machine to do what they want. Excellent upgrades are ballscrews, upgraded 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 and hardware is far better than Mach3 or a lot of the hardware options in the market. You can do rigid tapping and threading if you have an encoder. Plus, it offers constant speed for turning applications. Mach3 and Mach4 were the requirement for several years. However, they were cumbersome at best and actually only targeted at amature usage. Centroid is a well recognized commercial manufacture of mills. Many of which are 5 axis machines. The very best servos to utilize for CNC on the Sherline or Taig are either DMM, Clearpath or GlockCNC brand names. Combine 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 utilizing the Acorn hardware.
What about a better jaw chuck for the lathe? Lots of complain that the little chucks will not hold steel for cutting. The part will simply fall out. On option is to buy a headstock with a jaw chuck adapter built in. This can open more choices for 5″ or 6″ chuck. Especially if you choose larger bearings.