Lathe and Mill Help - Usage is for Gauge 1 and Gauge F (1/32 and 1/20.5 scale) Live Steam Locomotives

[fsts2k]

Ok… doing it; need to pick inch or metric. Have watched a bunch of videos on picking a lathe. Most suggest inch since a lot of old books have projects noted in inches. Thinking Inch, good plan?

Going a bit full out and will get dro. I know the backlash issue with sherline dro; thinking I can deal with that.

 

[Aaron_W]

Inch or metric is up to what you want to work in. I have an inch brain so I went with inch machines. In the US I expect inch has better resale value, but hopefully you won't find yourself needing to test that theory.

On the DRO just be aware the Sherline DRO is limited. If you treat it just as an electronic display for the hand wheels instead of a full fledged DRO then you probably won't be disappointed in it. Personally I think the price is high for what you get so I stuck with reading the dials, but as my eyes get older I can appreciate how nice easy to read displays would be.

 

[Karl A]

The Sherline DRO reads the turns of the hand wheels, not the actual travel of the cross slide. Thus, backlash causes an error between actual cross slide movement and the DRO reading when a hand wheel is turned backwards. The solution is to turn the hand wheel past the where one wants to stop, and then it turn forward to where wants to stop.

The Sherline DRO has a backlash compensation function -- which I think is fine for non-critical work.

A nice feature of the current chip of the Sherline DRO is that one can choose to display mm on an inch machine, and inch on a mm machine. I plan to upgrade the DRO on my inch-based mill to the current chip, before I begin any British projects that are in mm.

I think that a disadvantage of the Sherline DRO is that the hand wheels are not resettable. Besides not being resettable, the reference mark is difficult to see. I intend to deepen it and fill it with white paint.

 

[Karl A]

...
I started out with a Sherline lathe and mill. I have since added a number of larger machines, but the Sherlines still get a lot of use, because they are now very well tooled up, quiet and very handy for little projects.

Quiet is important to me. If I ever select a larger lathe or mill, the noise level will be a selection criterion.

My employer recently purchased and installed a Bridgeport-style knee mill, an Enco. The Enco mill is huge, compared to my Sherline 5400 mill. I don't expect that I will use the Enco mill much for hobby projects. I will probably use it add some features to the Sherline mill. There's a chance that I will use the Enco mill to change the valve guides on the engine head of a friend's 1998 Acura Integra automobile.

I wish my employer also had a lathe, for a development project. The lathe would need to hold a 45-inch long tube.

For that work development project, I have an idea to use my Sherline lathe and mill mounted together on a channel frame, with the mill serving as the tail stock. I think that the combination would be rigid enough, being that the application involves turning down the OD of epoxy.

No matter how large a lathe or mill one has, there's always a possibility that a project will require a larger one.

 

[fsts2k]

Ok, purchased.... lathe, mill, tooling, and a few starter projects on way


Machining.. here we go!

Appreciate the help, I am confident I will need more help at some point even if it is only encouragement to spend more money.

 

[fsts2k]

Two large boxes and a number of small boxes arrived via UPS today.. They appear to have a lathe, mill, and tooling inside.. the adventure begins but first; must unpack

 

[fsts2k]

Need to mount to a base and start to level…

 

[Aaron_W]

Need to mount to a base and start to level…

You have many options. I mounted mine to 3/4" plywood large enough to include the space needed to operate the hand wheels. I did that to help keep me from allowing clutter to get in the way.