Recommendations requested

As I've been bemoaning my lack of access to a proper metal shop I've come to realize that about 80% of the milling and lathing could be done on table top machines.

I've never done any metal machining but to my untrained eye the Serline products look pretty good (and their CNC software is GPLed).

Opinions?

Reply to
Mark Healey
Loading thread data ...

Bob Swinney

Reply to
Robert Swinney

Not if involves rebuilding engine heads.

What kind of work do you plan on doing?

Jim

Reply to
jim rozen

stumbled upon this link recently, could be of service to someone in your position.

formatting link

Reply to
John Sullivan

Mostly small. Things I could fit in my pocket.

Very little, A 1 bedroom apartment.

It depends on what I want to forgo. I'm planning to sell a 71 vw Type 3 which should yield me about U$1,500, and I can add to that if I have to.

Hence the question. Serline is the only one I can find any detailed information on.

Reply to
Mark Healey

On Tue, 6 Sep 2005 12:13:08 -0600, the opaque "Mark Healey" spake:

For the record, that's "Sherline", but take a peek at

formatting link
for lathe info. For mini-mills, see
formatting link
formatting link
is another great site for the minis.

----- = Dain Bramaged...but having lots of fun! =

formatting link
Comprehensive Website Development

Reply to
Larry Jaques

A little bit bigger, little lathe.

formatting link
Wayne D

Reply to
Wayne

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 18:27:24 -0500, the opaque Wayne spake:

Wow, that looks almost identical to the Harbor Fright lathe.

formatting link
is different, and it's 8x12 vs. 8x14, but very close.

- DANCING: The vertical frustration of a horizontal desire.

---------------------------------------------------------

formatting link
Full Service Web Programming

Reply to
Larry Jaques
[The Sherlines are excellent tools, for small work. Another brand you might look at is Taig. They also make tools in the US (Arizona), and their mills are a bit larger and more rigid than the Sherlines, for about the same price. Their lathe is comparable to the Sherline, but costs a little less. The finish on them isn't quite as nice as on a Sherline, and they don't have as many accessories available, but they work about the same. See
formatting link
for details.]

Andrew Werby

formatting link

----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Healey" Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2005 9:49 AM Subject: Re: Recommendations requested

Reply to
Andrew Werby

Given this information, Sherline is a good starting place for you. As others have said: well-made tools, high resale value (bargains on used equipment are so rare you might as well dive in and buy new), very active support and discussion groups on Yahoo, and many accessory suppliers.

I use both lathe and mill - now CNC'd and with DeskCNC software. They handle aluminum (6061 T6, NOT big-box store extrusions) and Delrin with aplomb, steel with care (12L14 is good).

Be prepared for sticker shock on everything you need *after* you have the basic tools! $3000 would be a reasonable starting budget, including a healthy amount for *good* measuring instruments.

Reply to
Fred R

I hope you're not planning on setting up your shop inside your living spaces. Metalworking involves taking large chunks of metal and cutting off tiny chips to make smaller pieces of metal. Those sharp little chips are nasty: I wouldn't want them in my home.

- Michael

Reply to
DeepDiver

Yeah, been there and tried to do that.

In my youth I bought a used Unimat lathe and thought I could do little pocket-sized projects in my apartment. Basic issues like rough-cutting stock, chips, general lack of guts with the machine and space made it almost impossible.

Besides, if you *really* want to make precise, pocket-sized machines, you need to think about a Hardinge or Monarch tool room lathe. That's the real ticket.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

I would, respectfully, beg to differ. There was a recent thread on the PracticalMachinist board about just this subject, and the photos that folks posted about how they had adapted small living quarters to machine tools was pretty amazing.

I myself put my first (9" atlas) lathe in the kitchen of our apartment. Later on I installed a tiny shop in a large closet of an apartment in NY. It was equipped with a 7" pratt & whitney bench lathe among other items.

It can and has been done, and no doubt will be done many times by others in the future.

Jim

Reply to
jim rozen

HI Mark:

This is a very generic question with not really enough info to answer properly.

Bob's "kind of short" retort is not really meant to turn you off metalworking (he is a good guy, usually with very good comments and posts) but you need to do some work too.

Like: What are you making -- big stuff, small stuff? We all started small , and most have upgraded to bigger, better stuff. Remember, you can do small stuff on big machines, but not vice versa. How much space do you have? How much money do youo have? Have you done a google search on Sherline? Have you checked out the mini mills and mini lathes from all the suppliers? (My opinion only but MUCH better deal for what you get -- again, do a google search and read/see what othe poeple are doing). There are literally hundreds if not thousands of sites on the web.

Bottom line, thte Sherline stuff is good. It is precise, well made and SMALL! Like really small. You cannot go wrong buying it -- or reselling it if you find you need to upgrade.

Let us know if you need more specific recco's,, and this group is pretty good about responding.

Steve Koschamnn

Reply to
Steve Koschmann

Come on Mark... just google mini lathe mini lathe 196,000 hits via google.. realistically, there are about 25-30 sites that are very good.

TONS AND TONS of info out there. Google Minilathe and Sherline via the "search groups" command.. even more "pro and con" commments from the peanut gallery. And, these are REAL people with REAL life/use comments... not just some marketing hack.

If you want to go a "better" than Sherline that will still fit in yo ur one bedroom apt, , look at the Prazi lathe from Germany. Cost wise about

1.5x and maybe a 1.5x betterlathe. But in reality, it is the person behind the controls that makes a part fit.

And now, with your add'l info, we can start to make some recco's:

And I think you are right... the Sherline may be the best bet for you. Right out of the box, it will work. The minimill and mini lahte need some tweaking and I don't think you are up to that yet. (give yourself about 3-6 months, though and you easily could be)

Since you are doing "shirt pocket projectz" you can will do very excellent work with the Sherline lathe and mill.

Looke at the book Table Top Machiniing by Joe Martin... excellent reference for the beginner.

Good luck... keep posting with specific detailed questions and you will get a ton of info back...

Steve

Reply to
Steve Koschmann

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.