# Any experience with Sherline Lathe and Mill?



## C. Clayton (Aug 19, 2016)

I am wondering if anyone has used or uses Sherline equipment for small projects?


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## Alexander (Aug 20, 2016)

Yes i used a sherline cnc mill at Sait to do some milling. I did a few test cuts in steel trying to find the max cutting capacity. It was really neat but not very rigid. Probably a great machine for engraving and drilling steel with up to a 3/8 drill bit. Endmills were a really slow go cutting steel. Better suited to milling aluminum model parts.


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## PeterT (Aug 20, 2016)

If you want to see some nice Sherline (lathe & mill) work, this Kozo steam locomotive is a good example. I'd also say probably approaching its 'max capacity'. I'm impressed with what he cranked out of those little machines. Hopefully you can relate his parts to your project & by that I mean physical size, materials & accuracy level required. Theses all go hand in hand.
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=23204&highlight=locomotive+sherline

I personally think Sherline makes pretty nice stuff within its intended intended purpose. They have been around a long time for parts support. Some of their parts are interchangeable & transferrable to other machines which gives added utility. The $US exchange makes them somewhat spendy. I only have their small rotary table for 'finicky work' but I'm actually quite impressed with accuracy. My only alternative option in a small 4" table was an offshore P.O.S. that was actually near the same price. As Alex says, when you start pushing steel within swing capacity, machines want to be rigid, which usually means cast iron & heavy. But small scale & softer materials like brass, aluminum & the clock making crowd, Sherlines are quite popular.


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## C. Clayton (Aug 22, 2016)

My personal interest would extend to aluminum and brass only.   If I did any steel it would probably be drill rod or stainless for small things like an axel in a Gyroscope.  If hobby machining is something that sticks with me I can see my self adding equipment for harder alloys so I could make my own tools.


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## PeterT (Aug 22, 2016)

If you are patient, there are Sherlines that come up on Ebay & Kijiji etc. at lower cost. Sometime people getting out of the hobby & bundling accessories that would otherwise add up to $$.Of course, condition & trustworthiness is always the consideration you have to wrestle with. I'd recommend familiarizing yourself with the model #'s from Sherline site as I think some of the machines have changed a bit over the years. It might bot be anything that concerns you, but something to be aware of. If you say buy used for 75% of list, run it for a few years, decide its not for you & sell it for 65% of list, that's like 'renting it' for 10% of list. I'm really good at math formulas that justify & encourage tool acquisitions


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## C. Clayton (Aug 23, 2016)

I have been watching Ebay and Kijiji.  I have been also learning the model numbers.  I have only seen two posts.  The crappy think about Kijiji is that you cant search Canada wide very easily.  I did see a lathe for sale out of Halifax a few weeks, but didn't have the funds.  Have to rely on Google and their "Site:" switch to filter to search Canada.

I am patient.  Will wait and watch.  Checking out some of Frank Hoose's reviews on Sieg hardware I could see my self getting a set of those.  Sieg seems to be the actual manufacturer of a lot of Made in China hardware.


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