Questions about my cnc sherline mill

I just recently purchased a Sherline 5500 mill with a Microkinetics conversion on it. I have some questions that I seem to be having more trouble than I thought finding the answers to.

here is the ebay link

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  1. When I turn the handles that are attached to the stepper motors there is quite a bit of resistance and a sound kinda like that of gears turning. Putting oil on my machine helped a bit but not much. The question is, is the resistance because of the stepper motors or because something is wrong with my mill.

2.What's a collet? Why do I need it? Where the heck does that long bolt thing go(I could be getting two things confused). Why can't I just use a chuck to hold endmills.

3.What are some things I should know. I mean.. most of the sites on the net go like this. Here is the box my mill came in! Oh look I put it together! Look how it works! yay! They rarely tell me anything tho. Things like what not to do ever. Or what to adjust most often. etc..

  1. Is xylotex a good brand as far as controller cards go?

  2. With the mill came 4 endmills, a jacobs chuck, and a hand-tighten jacobs chuck. What other tools/accessories will I most definately need before I can cut something?

  1. Any other tips?

Reply to
codeninja42
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Reply to
Garlicdude

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[The cranks are an alternate means of positioning your mill. You shouldn't try to use them when the machine's powered on - you're fighting the motors in that case. If the motors aren't engaged, you'll still notice a little periodic "cogging" resistance as you turn past the steps in the motor, but nothing major - it should turn fairly easily and silently.]
[A collet is a way to hold specific sizes of endmills. It's more concentric than a chuck, and better able to deal with side-loading. Don't try milling with endmills held in the Jacob's chuck - that's just for holding drills. My guess is that the long bolt you refer to is for securing the Jacob's chuck through the spindle, but I can't tell you that for certain.] >
[Who sold you this mill? Won't they share anything about it?]
[Yes, they have a good reputation, especially for their low price. Is that what Microkinetics is using in their controllers these days?]
[You'll need a way to firmly hold the material to the bed of the mill - this can be a vise, a threaded plate, or a set of hold-down clamps.]
[You might download some software for making models and converting them to G-code files which will run on the mill. Try Rhino
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and Deskproto
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as a start, if you don't have programs like this already.]

Andrew Werby

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Reply to
Andrew Werby

============================ You need far more information that you can obtain from a newsgroup or a book. Save yourself a bunch of money and quite possibly injury. I doubt that you could kill yourself with a Shearline (other than electrical), but loss of an eye or finger is very possible.

Sign up for an introductory machining class at your local community college, and learn how to do it right/safely. After the intro to machining class, see if you can take an intro to cnc class.

Unka George (George McDuffee)

...and at the end of the fight is a tombstone white with the name of the late deceased, and the epitaph drear: ?A Fool lies here, who tried to hustle the East.?

Rudyard Kipling The Naulahka, ch. 5, heading (1892).

Reply to
F. George McDuffee

eh? what? you mean pay 700$ to go take a class to learn how to use my

700$ machine? Man.. I dunno. I'm almost entirely certain that I can figure it out. I mean... Yea a class would help. But.. I'm not gonna be diving right into metals. Ten-to-one I'll be sticking strictly with balsa untill I figure it all out.

Plus, it's a bit odd that you assume that i will kill myself with electricity or put my fingers in the path of a spinning tool (or not wear saftey glasses around spinning pieces of metal)...

And for the record I could kill myself with a sherline if I really wanted to. So there!

Reply to
codeninja42

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