Sherline Rear Mount Cutoff Tool Holder Problem

Your tool holder looks like it is defective. It is not made for use with riser blocks because Sherline does not make one; they make the 3018 and if you need a riser block they sell the 3016 riser block. You might give them a call and see if they will swap it out for a new 3018 of the correct height. If you cut this one down and mess it up then you're going to spend the money for a new one or will have to make a new one from scratch.

If you intend to cut it down then be sure you cut it so that the tip/bottom of the blade is at the exact center line of your particular lathe. Every lathe is different so find your center line and be sure the tip of the tool does not go above it; you can go 0.005" or so below center line but not above it or the tool will not cut well.

1/2" is a lot to take off with a fly cutter. I suggest you bandsaw off the excess and then fly cut it to final dimensions.
 
It may not be the tool holder on my Sherline 4000. I found a drawing with dimensions of my lathe and it shows a dimension from the top of the bed to center of chuck at 1.750" and from top of bed to top of cross slide of 0.810". This gives a top of cross slide to center of chuck distance of .940". If I measure from the top of the cross slide to the center of the dead center I get .69" with a difference of .25". The tool holder that came with my lathe has been home machined on the bottom and is about 1/4" shorter than a factory new tool holder. It looks to me like my cross slide is too thick. It measures .88"

Can somebody with a Sherline lathe measure the thickness of the cross slide? I will call the factory on Tuesday to see if they have any suggestions.

I sure wish I bought new instead of what I thought was a great deal. Of course it could very well be me missing something but I have looked at it every way I could think of.

Thanks for any help.

Al D.
 
The cross slide on my 4400 lathe is 0.622" thick. The distance from the top of my cross slide to the center of the spindle is 0.9415".

The cross slide on your lathe seems to be the same thickness as the table on the Sherline Mill. Either the previous owner adapted a section of a milling table to that lathe or perhaps it is a very early lathe and used the thicker version of the table as a cross slide table. In any case, you can either use it as is and adapt everything to suit it or replace the cross slide for a current version. The advantage of replacing the table is greater clearance over the cross slide.

The great thing about Sherline machines is that almost everything can be replaced and everything is backwards compatible all the way to the first machines they made. I would fix that lathe and get it up and running - it is going to teach you a great deal about machining and is worth the effort and relatively low cost.
 
mikey said:
The cross slide on my 4400 lathe is 0.622" thick. The distance from the top of my cross slide to the center of the spindle is 0.9415".

The cross slide on your lathe seems to be the same thickness as the table on the Sherline Mill. Either the previous owner adapted a section of a milling table to that lathe or perhaps it is a very early lathe and used the thicker version of the table as a cross slide table. In any case, you can either use it as is and adapt everything to suit it or replace the cross slide for a current version. The advantage of replacing the table is greater clearance over the cross slide.

The great thing about Sherline machines is that almost everything can be replaced and everything is backwards compatible all the way to the first machines they made. I would fix that lathe and get it up and running - it is going to teach you a great deal about machining and is worth the effort and relatively low cost.
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Mikey,

That is just the information I was looking for. I measured the table on the Sherline mill I got in the same deal and it is the same thickness as the one on the lathe at 0.88". After a bit more research I saw the table on the mill is thicker to make it more rigid for mill work. If I take the 0.88" and subtract the 0.622" of your table it gives me the 1/4" I am off. I went ahead and ordered what should be the correct table for my lathe direct from Sherline. I feel pretty good that it will fix the problem.

Thanks for your help, Al
 
You're welcome, Al. By the way, after you install your new table I would suggest you make a rear mounted cutoff tool post from scratch. It will be much more accurate if you size it to your specific lathe and will make any parting issues you might have had go away. Check MachinistsBlog for an example of this tool.
 
mikey said:
You're welcome, Al. By the way, after you install your new table I would suggest you make a rear mounted cutoff tool post from scratch. It will be much more accurate if you size it to your specific lathe and will make any parting issues you might have had go away. Check MachinistsBlog for an example of this tool.
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I'll do that. I picked up some aluminum bar stock the should work to make tool holders and such. I picked these tools up to help with my ship modeling but I can see it will go way beyond that. This is going to be fun.
 
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