Sherline & Taig CNC Mill & Lathe Upgrades, Reviews for Fredericksburg, VA 22404
Many are interested in ISO20, IS030, BT30 and 5C headstocks for both Sherline and Taig mills and lathes in the Fredericksburg, VA. Automatic tool changers, or ATC, interest many people. There’s just on place to get the at a reasonable price and that’s GlockCNC. Updating to a ISO20 or BT30 is ideal for the mill. Going with a 5C is ideal for the lathes. Obviously, you would need to upgrade the headstock, bearings and motor. High speed balancing is likewise a perk. The accessibility of tooling for each of these models is exceptional. For 5C collet sets, you can get very good quality from Hardinge.
Sherline headstocks and parts come in a variety of designs from the factory. Typically ER16 and MT1. Both of which are extremely little. Sherline also offers WW collet sets for really tiny work. Generally watchmakers and clockmakers use the WW collets. The majority of choose ER25, ER32 or perhaps ER40 collet sizes with a bigger spindle pass through hole. The 5C collet for the Sherline lathe would be the very best. For Sherline mills, many actually don’t care for the MT1 and hardly like the ER16. An R8 spindle with a low profile would be best. It provides one of the most versatility and many tool choices. You can discover lots of reviews on both the lathe and the mill. Popular models are the 2000, 5400, 4000 and 4500 in metric and inch. The also come in CNC, manual and CNC all set versions. Recently, they have added ballscrew variations for sale. This is far much better than the older leadscrew type. Browse the internet if you want an evaluation or contrast of ballscrews compared to leadscrews. There are suppliers near Fredericksburg.
Taig also offers lathes and mills. It’s Sherlines primary competition. In fact, you can discover a lot of videos and posts describing Taig vs Sherline. The Taig products use far more rigid methods and normally more “sturdy” overall. The Taig motors are quite weak, much like the Sherline motors. A high quality brushless motor can make the machine look like a totally different mill or lathe. Taig also provides a good CNC all set mill and lathe. You can likewise choose their digital CNC system which utilizes closed-looped steppers and Mach3 software application. The Taig spindles have the very same issues as the Sherline. They are far too small. 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 provide a ballscrew alternative for their mill and lathe. Plus, the offer a “gang tool” lathe. The disadvantage with both manufactures is the lack of serious upgrades.
Sherline offers lots of 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 implies 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 based on vibration problems. For instance, they offer many lathe devices, however you can’t get a 5C headstock or ER25, ER32 or ER40. Plus, the travel through hole needs to be small since the bearings are small. There is a comparable problem with the mill. You can only utilize ER16 collets and this limits its use. Of course those in Fredericksburg, Virginia 22404 may have different needs.
Video: Taig CNC in Fredericksburg
There are other machine alternatives too. You can also purchase from Grizzly or Harbor Freight, along with other providers that provide Chinese mills and lathes. Obviously the quality isn’t real great. Many end up either really dissatisfied or doing a lot of modifications to get the machine to do what they desire. Exceptional upgrades are ballscrews, updated brushless motor, encoder for threading and so on.
If you desire to opt for 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 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. Nevertheless, they were cumbersome at best and really only focused on amature usage. Centroid is a well recognized business manufacture of mills. Much of which are 5 axis machines. The 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 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? Many 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 integrated in. This can open more alternatives for 5″ or 6″ chuck. Especially if you go with bigger bearings.