Sherline & Taig Lathe & Mill Upgrades, Reviews for Syracuse, NY 13220
Many 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 place to get the at an affordable cost which’s GlockCNC. Upgrading to a ISO20 or BT30 is perfect for the mill. Opting for a 5C is ideal for the lathes. Of course, you would require 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 come in a range of models from the factory. Generally ER16 and MT1. Both of which are extremely small. Sherline also provides WW collet sets for very small work. Mainly watchmakers and clockmakers use the WW collets. Most choose ER25, ER32 or even ER40 collet sizes with a larger spindle travel through hole. The 5C collet for the Sherline lathe would be the best. For Sherline mills, most actually don’t care for the MT1 and barely like the ER16. An R8 spindle with a low profile would be best. It offers the most versatility and lots of tool options. You can find numerous 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, handbook and CNC prepared variations. Recently, they have included ballscrew versions for sale. This is far much better than the older leadscrew type. Browse the internet if you want a review or contrast of ballscrews compared to leadscrews. There are suppliers near Syracuse.
Taig likewise provides lathes and mills. It’s Sherlines primary competitors. In reality, you can find a great deal of videos and short articles referring to Taig vs Sherline. The Taig items offer much more rigid ways and normally more “sturdy” overall. The Taig motors are quite weak, just like the Sherline motors. A high quality brushless motor can make the machine look like a completely different mill or lathe. Taig also uses a nice CNC ready mill and lathe. You can also choose their digital CNC system which uses closed-looped steppers and Mach3 software application. The Taig spindles have the exact same issues as the Sherline. They are far too small. The only exception is the 5C collet headstock design they provide. We will do a review of the 5C in the future. The great thing is that they now provide a ballscrew option for their mill and lathe. Plus, the offer a “gang tool” lathe. The downside with both produces is the lack of serious upgrades.
Sherline offers numerous parts and accessories, however very little to make it a better machine. To begin with, they headstock usages poor quality bearings and the bearings are too little. This indicates the spindle itself needs to be little. A spindle with really little mass suggests the lathe or mill the surface quality won’t be as great and based on vibration problems. For example, they use lots of lathe accessories, but you can’t get a 5C headstock or ER25, ER32 or ER40. Plus, the pass through hole has to be small because the bearings are small. There is a comparable problem with the mill. You can just use ER16 collets and this limits its usage. Of course those in Syracuse, New York 13220 may have different needs.
Video: Sherline CNC in Syracuse
There are other machine options too. You can also purchase from Grizzly or Harbor Freight, together with other providers that use Chinese mills and lathes. Obviously the quality isn’t real excellent. Many wind up either very dissatisfied or doing a great deal of modifications to get the machine to do what they desire. Outstanding upgrades are ballscrews, upgraded brushless motor, encoder for threading and so on.
If you prefer to go with a CNC machine, your best choice 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 uses constant speed for turning applications. Mach3 and Mach4 were the standard for several years. Nevertheless, they were cumbersome at finest and truly only focused on amature usage. Centroid is a well recognized commercial manufacture of mills. Many of which are 5 axis makers. The best servos to use for CNC on the Sherline or Taig are either DMM, Clearpath or GlockCNC brand names. Integrate that with the Centroid Acorn and you will have an effective machine. We will also produce evaluations of the Taig CNC mill and Sherline CNC mill using the Acorn hardware.
What about a much better jaw chuck for the lathe? Many grumble that the small chucks won’t hold steel for cutting. The part will just fall out. On option is to purchase a headstock with a jaw chuck adapter integrated in. This can open more choices for 5″ or 6″ chuck. Especially if you choose bigger bearings.