Sherline & Taig Lathe & Mill Upgrades, Reviews for Mobile, AL 36612
Many have an interest in ISO20, IS030, BT30 and 5C headstocks for both Sherline and Taig mills and lathes in the Mobile, AL. Automatic tool changers, or ATC, appeals to lots of people. There’s just on location to get the at an affordable cost and that’s GlockCNC. Upgrading to a ISO20 or BT30 is perfect for the mill. Choosing a 5C is ideal for the lathes. Naturally, 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 exceptional. 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. Typically ER16 and MT1. Both of which are extremely small. Sherline also provides WW collet sets for extremely tiny work. Mainly watchmakers and clockmakers use the WW collets. Many choose ER25, ER32 or even ER40 collet sizes with a larger spindle go through hole. The 5C collet for the Sherline lathe would be the very best. For Sherline mills, most actually do not care for the MT1 and hardly like the ER16. An R8 spindle with a low profile would be best. It offers one of the most versatility and numerous 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 come in CNC, handbook and CNC ready variations. Just recently, they have actually included ballscrew versions for sale. This is far better than the older leadscrew type. Search the web if you desire a review or comparison of ballscrews compared to leadscrews. There are suppliers near Mobile.
Taig likewise provides lathes and mills. It’s Sherlines primary competitors. In fact, you can find a lot of videos and posts referring to Taig vs Sherline. The Taig items provide much more rigid ways and usually more “strong” in general. The Taig motors are quite weak, just like the Sherline motors. A high quality brushless motor can make the machine seem like a completely various mill or lathe. Taig also uses a nice CNC ready mill and lathe. You can also opt for their digital CNC system which utilizes closed-looped steppers and Mach3 software. The Taig spindles have the very same issues as the Sherline. They are far too small. The only exception is the 5C collet headstock model they provide. We will do a review of the 5C in the future. The good thing is that they now use a ballscrew option for their mill and lathe. Plus, the offer a “gang tool” lathe. The downside with both makes is the absence of severe upgrades.
Sherline uses many parts and accessories, however not much to make it a much better machine. To begin with, they headstock usages bad quality bearings and the bearings are too small. This suggests the spindle itself needs to be small. A spindle with very little mass suggests the lathe or mill the surface quality won’t be as great and subject to vibration problems. For instance, they provide numerous lathe devices, 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 similar concern with the mill. You can only utilize ER16 collets and this restricts its use. Of course those in Mobile, Alabama 36612 may have different needs.
Video: Taig CNC in Mobile
There are other machine choices too. You can also purchase from Grizzly or Harbor Freight, together with other suppliers that use Chinese mills and lathes. Of course the quality isn’t genuine great. Numerous end up either really dissatisfied or doing a great deal of modifications to get the machine to do what they desire. Excellent upgrades are ballscrews, updated 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 application and hardware is far much better than Mach3 or much of the hardware options in the market. You can do rigid tapping and threading if you have an encoder. Plus, it offers consistent speed for turning applications. Mach3 and Mach4 were the requirement for many years. However, they were cumbersome at best and truly just targeted at amature use. Centroid is a well established business manufacture of mills. A lot of which are 5 axis devices. The best servos to use 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? Many complain that the small chucks won’t hold steel for cutting. The part will simply fall out. On alternative is to buy a headstock with a jaw chuck adapter built in. This can open more choices for 5″ or 6″ chuck. Particularly if you go with larger bearings.