Sherline Gear-Driven Power Feed

premodern

premodern

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I posted this on the Yahoo Sherline forum but thought that Sherline owners here might find it of interest. This is a video of an older Australian Sherline that was for sale in Europe. Notice the unique gear driven power feed system. It looks like the designer was inspired by the Sherline threading system and took it a step further.


sherline gear driven power feed 2.jpg

By the way....I was looking on the Sherline website for their motorized power feed system (P/N 3001) and while I could find replacement parts, I could not find the entire power feed system as such. Did they cease offering it?

~Hans
 
i never had any luck with the sherline threading gears ,I think there powerfeed motor is a BBQ rotisserie motor.
 
Pretty cool set up in the video.

The Sherline power feed was just a single speed, non-reversible rotisserie motor that was way overpriced. It came with an adapter to fit the motor to the end of the lead screw and it ran really hot. In my opinion, it was a POS.

A much better option is to hook up a reversible DC variable speed gear motor to the lead screw; direct drive via an adapter between the output shaft of the motor to the end of the lead screw works fine. This gives you variable speed and feed to precisely dial in a cut on the fly and it works extremely well. Gearing is fine but why bother tying the feed to the speed for turning? A VS motor is far, far better and is easily disconnected for threading.
 
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Good points, Mikey.

In addition, it would eliminate any gear noise being transmitted to the spindle.

One would think that the folks at Sherline could put together a nicely designed package along those lines.

~Hans
 
I suspect most users don't realize what a boon a variable feed is because they never used it before. The typical lathe gearbox ties speed and feed together, even for the guys with variable speed motors. Having variable feed independent of variable speed allows you to dial in a cut for almost any material and this is one reason I use the Sherline lathe for most smaller parts that will fit in that lathe - it works better than my bigger lathe. The lathe itself is already very accurate but the VS speed/feed thing produces fine finishes that you can't get on a standard lathe.

Sherline can put a good package together but it would cost the buyer. If you can't sell it then why bother? The guys that really use it already have a CNC Sherline lathe.
 
mikey said:
Pretty cool set up in the video.

The Sherline power feed was just a single speed, non-reversible rotisserie motor that was way overpriced. It came with an adapter to fit the motor to the end of the lead screw and it ran really hot. In my opinion, it was a POS.

A much better option is to hook up a reversible DC variable speed gear motor to the lead screw; direct drive via an adapter between the output shaft of the motor to the end of the lead screw works fine. This gives you variable speed and feed to precisely dial in a cut on the fly and it works extremely well. Gearing is fine but why bother tying the feed to the speed for turning? A VS motor is far, far better and is easily disconnected for threading.
Click to expand...

Mikey, I have the Sherline power feed on my lathe and would like improve upon it. So, do you have a recommendation for the reversible DC variable speed gear motor you mention?
 
Hang on, Sir. I have to finish cleaning the house first; my wife said so. I'll dig out my motor as soon as I can and tell you what I'm using.
 
Forty Niner, I have a Leeson DC gear motor, model # 985.613. It is just a 1/8HP motor geared to run at 94 rpm max. The thing is 11# in weight and is double the size of the Sherline main motor so its pretty huge. I use a Dayton 5X412A controller with it and it is reversible. I bolt the motor to the mounting board that holds my lathe so it is stable. I connect to the Sherline leadscrew via the typical Sherline adapter that is then connected to a Lovejoy flexible coupling. The other half of the flex coupling is connected to the motor's output shaft. Takes a few minutes to set up. The controller is mounted to a bracket close to the motor and I can reach both the feed and speed pots easily.

This thing is really, really useful. I hate cranking on longer work pieces so I can take a cut and then reverse it to move back to the end of the work piece to take another cut. I use this arrangement for longer work pieces or when the finish needs to be really fussy. I also use it when cutting stainless to keep my feeds steady.

As I said, having the feed independent of speed is the best way to use a lathe, at least in my opinion. This works like a charm.
 
Thanks for that information. I'll keep my eye out for something like that.
 
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