I hve been looking at Sherline lathes and comparing them ot Grizzly
and others. The Sherline has no power feed and you need to buy extra
assesories for thread cutting?
Whats the deal. The Sherline is much more expensive.
Robert
On Fri, 7 Nov 2003 18:30:00 -0800, Finite Guy wrote
(in message ):
Sherline does have a power feed. It's an extra-cost accessory and only one
speed. I have a Sherline lathe and its quality is MUCH higher than Grizzly or
any of the imports, in my opinion. I also have a Clausing 12x24 lathe and
tend to use the Sherline with anything that will fit on it.
Hmm. Smallest american made lathe *with*
power feeds?
Does the investigation require power crossfeeds,
as well as longitudinal feeds, or could it be
carriage feed via leadscrew and halfnuts?
If the latter, then the answer is probably one
of the AA products machines.
Jim
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Hi:
I am completely and totally confused about your reply ot this post.
I guess that means that I'd better do some reading about lathes and
become more knowlegable about this stuff.
I took some machine processes courses about 35 years ago at Wentworth
Institute, Boston MA USA. I ended up continuing my education to
become a Mechanical Engineer. Most of my work is in Finite Element
Analysis ( where the name "Finite Guy" originated) and I have
forgotten all of my machining skills. If I buy a lathe I hope it
comes back to me.
Anyways, thanks for your reply. This is a really great newsgroup.
Robert
Depends on what you want to do with your lathe. I've plunked my bucks
down on a 7x, just because it has a cast iron bed, a #3 Morse taper
headstock with bore to match and has thread-cutting capabilities,
price was considerably cheaper than a Sherline dressed to match.
Downside is that if you need hand-holding, you aren't going to get a
lot from your retailer but
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has about
everything you need to keep the thing running and/or improve upon the
original equipment. The spindle size and the bore was the clincher, a
lot of small lathes have pretty flimsy spindles, this one is
constructed more along the lines of a large lathe. It's about the
largest lathe that you can still manhandle around, I up-end mine over
the trash can when done to get rid of the chips, then it goes back on
the shelf. For $250, it's a lot of capability. Note, buy one at a
store, not by mailorder. You can see what you're getting on the spot
and don't have to play around with shipping.
Stan
The basic Sherline has no power feed, but there are a number of options
for adding it. Sherline makes a basic AC motor power feed with a single
speed. Or you can get Sherline's one-axis CNC controller to drive the
leadscrew at variable rates and for adjustable distances. Or you can
get the "Frog" single-axis CNC system, which does threading as well as
power feed. Or you can get the CNC version of the lathe, mount a pair
of stepper motors, add drivers and a computer, and have a full CNC
lathe.
Sherline's threading attachment provides change gears for a wide range
of thread pitches, both US and metric. But the spindle is hand-cranked
when using it, so it isn't practical to use as a power feed. Also note
that the Frog can do electronically-controlled threading under power, by
synchronizing the leadscrew motion to the spindle rotation.
The 7x10 minilathes come with threading and power feed, but they are by
most accounts somewhat rough when delivered and need some cleanup. In
addition, you may have some problems getting replacements parts when
things fail. The spindle drive uses plastic gears, and people have
reported failures in these gears. The variable-speed drive electronics
sometimes fail too. The Sherline uses belt drive with two metal
pulleys; not much to break there. The Sherline variable-speed motor
drive is also American-made, and I haven't read any reports of
failures.
The Sherline is American-made to generally higher standards, which is
responsible for the substantial price difference. But it's a smaller
lathe, using many aluminum parts instead of cast iron, and has a smaller
swing and smaller tapers. The 7x10s will handle things that won't fit
in a Sherline.
Sherline makes a large array of accessories - you can get 4-jaw scroll
and independent chucks, drill chucks, and so on. You can get an adaptor
to turn the lathe into a small milling machine, or buy a complete mill
minus the headstock/motor and use the one from your lathe on it. With
the 7x10, you'll have to buy third-party chucks and adapt them to the
lathe. If you're already a machinist, you'll probably be able to cope
with the 7x10 just fine, but if you're a beginner with no machining
background, Sherline provides a larger system that you can just assemble
and use.
There is a yahoogroups mailing list specifically for the minilathes, so
you can get lots of additional info there. There's a Sherline list
there too, as well as one dedicated to Sherline CNC. Join the lists and
read the archives to learn more than you ever wanted to know.
Dave
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