Sherline & Taig CNC Mill & Lathe Upgrades, Reviews for Ventura, CA 93006
Numerous have an interest in ISO20, IS030, BT30 and 5C headstocks for both Sherline and Taig mills and lathes in the Ventura, CA. Automatic tool changers, or ATC, appeals to many individuals. There’s just on place to get the at a sensible price and that’s GlockCNC. Upgrading to a ISO20 or BT30 is perfect for the mill. Choosing a 5C is perfect for the lathes. Naturally, you would require to upgrade the headstock, bearings and motor. High speed balancing is also a perk. 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 been available in a variety of designs from the factory. Typically ER16 and MT1. Both of which are really little. Sherline also uses WW collet sets for very tiny work. Primarily watchmakers and clockmakers utilize the WW collets. The majority of choose ER25, ER32 and even ER40 collet sizes with a larger spindle pass through hole. The 5C collet for the Sherline lathe would be the best. For Sherline mills, a lot of really don’t care for the MT1 and barely like the ER16. An R8 spindle with a low profile would be best. It uses the most versatility and lots of tool choices. You can find many reviews on both the lathe and the mill. Popular designs 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 added ballscrew variations for sale. This is far better than the older leadscrew type. Search the web if you want a review or contrast of ballscrews compared to leadscrews. There are suppliers near Ventura.
Taig likewise provides 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 usually more “strong” overall. The Taig motors are pretty weak, much like the Sherline motors. A high quality brushless motor can make the machine appear like an absolutely various mill or lathe. Taig likewise offers a good CNC ready mill and lathe. You can also select their digital CNC system which utilizes closed-looped steppers and Mach3 software application. 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 provide. We will do a review of the 5C in the future. The great thing is that they now use a ballscrew choice for their mill and lathe. Plus, the offer a “gang tool” lathe. The disadvantage with both makes is the absence of major upgrades.
Sherline uses many parts and attachments, however very little to make it a better machine. To begin with, they headstock usages bad quality bearings and the bearings are too little. This indicates the spindle itself needs to be small. A spindle with very little mass means the lathe or mill the finish quality will not be as excellent and subject to vibration issues. For instance, they offer lots of lathe devices, however you can’t get a 5C headstock or ER25, ER32 or ER40. Plus, the pass through hole needs to be small because the bearings are small. There is a comparable issue with the mill. You can just use ER16 collets and this restricts its use. Of course those in Ventura, California 93006 may have different needs.
Video: Sherline CNC in Ventura
There are other machine choices too. You can also buy from Grizzly or Harbor Freight, along with other providers that offer Chinese mills and lathes. Naturally the quality isn’t real good. Many end up either very dissatisfied or doing a lot of modifications to get the machine to do what they want. Exceptional upgrades are ballscrews, upgraded brushless motor, encoder for threading and so on.
If you desire to opt for a CNC machine, your best option is the Centroid Acorn. The software and hardware is far much better than Mach3 or a lot 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 standard for several years. However, they were cumbersome at best and truly only focused on amature usage. Centroid is a well established commercial manufacture of mills. A number 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. Combine that with the Centroid Acorn and you will have an effective 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 purchase a headstock with a jaw chuck adapter built in. This can open up more alternatives for 5″ or 6″ chuck. Especially if you choose larger bearings.