Steel Plate For Sherline Lathe Base?

[tomw]

Alright, I found a used 6" Starrett level. It was $90, which I don't think is too bad since it was still in it's box (local tool company had taken it in return).

I also ordered a chunk of aluminum box section, 6" x 2" x 3ft with .25" walls. I like the idea of the box section because I can use the space to hide my DRO and power wires. I think I might even give it a 110V power strip to plug the motor and DRO into (inside the channel), and a master switch on the front to control everything. That way I have just one cord going to my wall socket. Obviously, the box would be grounded! And it would have to be somewhat protected from chips and cutting juice.

Mark, I like the idea of a thicker chunk of wood for my mill. What about a butcher's block (the kind with glued 3/4" laths)? Their are some reclaimed building materials suppliers in Austin (like Habidoo for Humanity) that might have something similar, and it should already be seasoned (with a little pepper, some salt, a little beef blood). Is there any reason to prefer a solid piece of wood?

Thank you all for your help, and more importantly, your time. I am obviously very new at this, and having a place like this to ask the proverbial stupid questions is really great.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Andre]

I wonder if you could pack the aluminum box heavily with sawdust or similar, and use a smaller pipe tucked into one of the corners of the box for your wires. Possibly could dampen the vibrations.

 

[4GSR]

I wonder if you could pack the aluminum box heavily with sawdust or similar, and use a smaller pipe tucked into one of the corners of the box for your wires. Possibly could dampen the vibrations.

Build a dam at each end about 1" tall and fill up near the top with steel shot. Steel shot will reduce, maybe even stop the vibration. We use steel shot a lot, stuffed into a bicycle inner tube, tied off the ends. We shove this up into the ID's of thin wall tubes that get a lot of vibration and chatter marks on the OD. Most of the time it works.

 

[mikey]

Tom, there was a guy named Jim Knighton who has now passed. He was one of the most innovative Sherline lathe owners around and did what you are trying to do - extruded aluminum base housing electronics. He also did an amazing number of other Sherline mods that are worthy of a look, if not emulation. His site is long gone now but Sherline has a pdf file (JBK's lathe modifications) you might find useful:

http://www.sitelevel.com/query?crid=87doyper&query=jbk's+lathe+modifications

Sherline tools have a fairly large following and there are many users who do amazing work on them but there are a few that stand head and shoulders above all of them and Jim Knighton was one of them.

 

[silence dogood]

Tom, if the butcher block is made with long strips of wood, should be okay. If you see a bunch of end grain squares, maybe not. Mine are built with 2by6's glued and splined.
For a finish, use mineral oil. In my case, I had some Marvel Mystery oil. I do have a sheet metal flat pan between the machine and the board to catch the chips. I have a LMS mini mill mounted on an old scrap Rockwell-Delta table saw base. I don't have any noise or vibration problems with this set up. In fact, I like it so well that I'm building something similar for the 8x14 lathe. All the previous suggestions sound good to me. The important thing is make sure that you have a solid flat base to hold your machine. Mark

 

[tomw]

Mikey,

Mr. Knighton certainly new what he was doing. I am sorry that he has passed. I like his ideas, and will be stealing several!

Mark,

Thank you for the information. With that information, I have found a butcher's block, approx. 2" thick, longitudinal laths (grain parallel to the surface), that I think will work great. I am going to head back to Habidoo and buy it.

All,

I have set up my lathe on the 6" x 2" x 36" box channel (1/4" thick walls). I spent an inordinate amount of time futzing around to get the lathe level in the X and Z planes (making it flat). I really like my new level, but damn that thing is sensitive. Luckily my wife was out for the day, so I got to use our granite counters as a set up surface.

It took .035, .015, .007 and .004 shims, at each bolt location, to get things level. The shims were aluminum and brass, which will change in thickness over time.

The first thing I noticed was the greater ease of movement of the tailstock across the ways. It used to bind, now it doesn't bind.

The second thing I noticed was my runout was less than half of what I was seeing before. This is great, and certainly good enough for now! Woo Hoo!

The third thing I noticed is that the noise from the machine is about the same as when it was mounted to the 3/4" shelving board I was using before. I don't anticipate any need for sound deadening.

I will post some photos soon. Thank you so much for all your help.

Most thankfully yours,

Tom

 

[brino]

Great!

Thanks for posting back with your results.
It is truly appreciated.

-brino

 

[chips&more]

IMO a piece of “real” tree wood will never be stable unless it's petrified. Throughout the sessions it will have movement. If you really want to jazz up your lathe. Maybe think about a sheet of phenolic, say around 1” thick. Be prepared to dig into your wallet. But it ain’t gonna flex either…Dave.

 

[tomw]

Dear All,

INTRODUCTION

As promised, here are some photos of my lathe with an aluminum box channel base.


METHODS

I used my new (to me) Starrett level to make it as true as I could. My procedure was:

1) Drill and tap for 1/4" NFT in each corner of the box channel for leveling feet. Put in 1/4 hex head bolts that have had their heads faced smooth. Put jam nuts on the end of the bolts that protrude into the channel.

2) Check to see if spouse is away. Bring lathe (less headstock and motor), aluminum box channel, Starrett 6" machinists level, and various tools into the kitchen.

3) Using granite counters, Starrett level, and previously described 1/4" bolts, set up the aluminum box channel as a "darn near" level surface. The box channel is extruded, so there is some waviness. I then placed the lathe on the box channel.

4) Using the Starrett level and aluminum and brass shims, I worked to get the bed of the lathe straight in the X to about one tick mark of variation as the level was slid along the ways. I also regularly checked to make sure the Z axis did not deviate from level relative to the box channel.

To keep the lathe bed even with the leveled (given the waviness) box channel took between shims .034 to .005 in thickness, depending upon the mounting point they were used. According to my logic, the bed should be, in the X axis, twisted less than .003 per foot.

The lathe was then brought back into the shop (with no forensic evidence left behind) and the aluminum box channel bed* was leveled to the workbench using the 1/4" bolt feet.

I thus did some stuff. Just wondering, what did I do wrong.

RESULTS

The first thing I noticed was the ease that the tailstock moved along the ways. Before mounting (BM) the tailstock would bind when I moved it back and forth along the ways. Furthermore, it would seem to bind in the same place along the ways. After mounting (AM), I find the degree of binding is less, and not predictable.

The second thing I noticed was the taper when turning between centers dropped by 50%. This is great. I still can't turn a .100 shaft between centers, but I am close.

The third thing I am noticing is an absence of greater noise. Despite the hollow channel the box makes, I am not hearing any greater amount of noise from the lathe.

DISCUSSION

After approximated 3 hours of use, I am pleased with how the Sherline Alumi-Bed 3000 has worked out. Oh, that is what I am calling it**. I still need to obtain an adjustable chuck mount. After that, I should be set.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you all. If I can wash your cars or whatever in payment, let me know.

*thingy
**This is not patented, trademarked or otherwise reserved.

 

[mikey]

Glad things have gotten better. One thing I might suggest to you is to be absolutely sure your headstock is aligned with the ways before doing any further testing. On lathes with a fixed headstock, test bar procedures usually allow us to tweak the lathe leveling process to bring things into decent alignment. However, with the Sherline lathe the headstock can swivel and this will throw your results way off. You should consider getting it dead square to the ways as a next step.

To do this, I would take a piece of round bar of decent size, maybe 1/2" OD or more and slap it in the 3 or 4JC. I like to use those nice ground rods from old printers; they are ground accurately and cut like butter. Have about 4-5" of stick out and, using a sharp HSS tool, take a few full length passes at about 0.010" depth of cut. Then take a skim cut of about 0.003" deep and shoot for a fine finish, again full length. All of this is without tailstock support. Now measure for a taper and adjust the headstock angle until the rod turns dead straight. NOW you're aligned with the ways and can proceed to test your tailstock alignment or further adjust your leveling or whatever else you plan to do.

You lathe can work to tenths tolerances. I know Sherline says it is accurate to 0.002-3" but trust me, that lathe can do work in the 0.0001-0.0002" range. As you may have guessed, this is more the operator than the lathe but to work accurately you must get that headstock dead square to the ways.