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Broke down and bought a Sherline Mill

B

BradNSW

Joined
Jan 31, 2021
Messages
705
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Location
Loveland, CO
Pushed the purchase button!!!

Should have a 12" manual Sherline mill (w/accessory package) delivered in the next week or so!!

Watching the results many of you achieve using mills, I decided one was a "must have" before I proceed any further on my scratch build of La Salamandre!

Now I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas to arrive...Hope UPS is faster than Santa!!!!
 
BradNSW said:
I decided one was a "must have" before I proceed any further on my scratch build
Click to expand...
:) :) :)
You are not alone. It is not the most used machine on my work bench but I LOVE the mill and it works great. I worked around not having one with a small press and hand tools for 40 years and now regret I did not get it a lot sooner.
Allan
 
I have a Sherline lathe and for milling a column that sets up the lathe for milling. Works great but having to break down the lathe for milling is a nuisance. It would be nice to have a separate mill.

Roger
 
What is the old saying "to each, their own" I have a mini-Unimat unit which can also be converted from lathe to mill, but then it needs reset and aligned each time you change over.
 
The Sherline is nicely engineered so that realignment from lathe to mill and vice versa is not necessary. They claim that the conversion takes about a minute which is probably correct but the cross slide must then serve as the milling table and mounting the milling vise is a fiddily job for these old fingers.

Roger
 
Unpacked the Sherline, put it together and mounted it, with accessories on a table in the shop (pictures below).

Tonight, read the instruction guide and section on milling machine operations.

Tomorrow...clean off the shipping grease, then add a light layer of machine oil on all surfaces and accessories.

Then, start the process of "squaring" / "tuning" the mill. while I start to learn the capabilities and potential this tool offers!!

1) Packing was superb. Several smaller boxes inside a large box, with the base attached to thin plywood.
20251017_132132.jpg20251017_132157.jpg

Everything was well labeled and came through shipping with no damage at all.
20251017_133212.jpg

Several hours later she was mounted on a white board, with eight rubber feet (to dampen vibrations) and accessories were "mounted" to the white board so (fingers crossed) the milling station remains neat and organized.
20251017_191612.jpg20251017_191725.jpg
 
Nice Brad - you will find working with a Sherline or in my case a TAIG invaluable to building a fully framed model. I can not you have gotten as far on Salamander without one ! Have fun
 
Kurt Konrath said:
I have a mini-Unimat unit which can also be converted from lathe to mill, but then it needs reset and aligned each time you change over.
Click to expand...

Simple sixteen buck solution for quickly and accurately aligning your Unimat DB/SL. Just slide it into the loosened headstock and tailstock and they're aligned! Tighten the headstock and tailstock mounting screws, remove the alignment bar, and you're good to go! From Lathe City or Amazon.

UNIMAT lathe alignment bar from LatheCity - Amazon.com

UNIMAT lathe alignment bar from LatheCity - Amazon.com
www.amazon.com
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CLB said:
Nice Brad - you will find working with a Sherline or in my case a TAIG invaluable to building a fully framed model. I can not you have gotten as far on Salamander without one ! Have fun
Click to expand...
40 years without a mill, one learns "work arounds". Bonhomome Richard (below) was completed with a thickness sander and micro table saw.

However, at this age, I found making jigs for each new piece was too slow and limited progress!!

Serapis lights.jpg
 
Brad, I'm certain you will be very pleased with your new toy. I have both Sherline mill and lathe and could not be happier, and I'm not easy to please, you can ask my...... ah, never mind. I wish I had a chance to chat with you prior to your purchase. I would have made a compelling case for the DRO option, which, in my opinion, has great value, especially for us with fading eyesight. The ability to make repetitive passes and reset to zero speeds things up exponentially.

In any case, enjoy your new tool. If you have any questions about your mill, feel free to reach out. Additionally, Sherline has one engineer who handles technical questions. Karl/Carl, if memory serves me correctly. He's been with them for like 40 years and is a patient man.

Have fun!
 
I’ll spend some more of your money. I have a good Sterrett dial indicator and a couple of el chepo magnetic bases. It works great for setups and sometimes I use for indexing during machining. I have a Sherline Lathe and use a detachable milling column. The bed of the lathe is steel so the magnetic base works well. With the stand alone mill the table is probably aluminum so the magnetic base works base wouldn’t work. I have also made homemade fixtures for clamping the indicator.

Roger
 
Wow, good for you Brad! I’m now convinced I’m getting one too! Been watching a build by a guy (anonymous) on a website (I think it’s EZ Model) who uses his milling machine to fabricate various parts and it seems great. Me, I use hand tools and rotary drills and don’t seem to do that bad but a milling machine would work wonders!
Where did you buy yours and how much did it cost?
 
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