Sherline & Taig Lathe & Mill Upgrades, Reviews for Walker, KS 67674
Numerous have an interest in ISO20, IS030, BT30 and 5C headstocks for both Sherline and Taig mills and lathes in the Walker, KS. Automatic tool changers, or ATC, attract lots of people. There’s only on place to get the at an affordable rate which’s GlockCNC. Updating to a ISO20 or BT30 is ideal for the mill. Opting for a 5C is perfect for the lathes. Naturally, you would need to upgrade the headstock, bearings and motor. High speed balancing is also a bonus. 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 been available in a range of models from the factory. Generally ER16 and MT1. Both of which are very small. Sherline likewise offers WW collet sets for extremely tiny work. Mainly watchmakers and clockmakers use the WW collets. Most prefer ER25, ER32 and even ER40 collet sizes with a larger spindle travel 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 barely like the ER16. An R8 spindle with a low profile would be best. It uses the most flexibility and many tool options. You can find lots of reviews on both the lathe and the mill. Popular models are the 2000, 5400, 4000 and 4500 in metric and inch. The likewise can be found in CNC, handbook and CNC ready versions. Just recently, they have included ballscrew variations for sale. This is far much better than the older leadscrew type. Browse the internet if you desire a review or comparison of ballscrews compared to leadscrews. There are suppliers near Walker.
Taig likewise uses lathes and mills. It’s Sherlines primary competitors. In fact, you can discover a lot of videos and articles describing Taig vs Sherline. The Taig products provide far more rigid ways and usually more “sturdy” overall. The Taig motors are pretty weak, similar to the Sherline motors. A high quality brushless motor can make the machine seem like an absolutely different mill or lathe. Taig also offers a great CNC prepared mill and lathe. You can also go with 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 small. The only exception is the 5C collet headstock model they use. We will do an evaluation of the 5C in the future. The great thing is that they now use a ballscrew alternative for their mill and lathe. Plus, the deal a “gang tool” lathe. The downside with both manufactures is the absence of major upgrades.
Sherline provides many parts and attachments, however not much to make it a much better machine. To start with, they headstock usages bad quality bearings and the bearings are too small. This means the spindle itself requires to be small. A spindle with extremely little mass means the lathe or mill the finish quality will not be as excellent and based on vibration problems. For instance, they provide lots of lathe accessories, but you can’t get a 5C headstock or ER25, ER32 or ER40. Plus, the go through hole needs to be little because the bearings are little. There is a comparable issue with the mill. You can just utilize ER16 collets and this limits its usage. Of course those in Walker, Kansas 67674 may have different needs.
Video: Taig CNC in Walker
There are other machine options too. You can also buy from Grizzly or Harbor Freight, in addition to other suppliers that use Chinese mills and lathes. Naturally 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, upgraded brushless motor, encoder for threading and so on.
If you want to choose a CNC machine, your best option is the Centroid Acorn. The software and hardware is far better than Mach3 or a lot 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 many years. However, they were cumbersome at finest and truly only focused on amature use. Centroid is a well recognized industrial manufacture of mills. A number of which are 5 axis devices. The best servos to use 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 an effective 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? Lots of complain that the little chucks won’t hold steel for cutting. The part will simply fall out. On alternative is to purchase a headstock with a jaw chuck adapter built in. This can open up more options for 5″ or 6″ chuck. Particularly if you choose larger bearings.