[Noisebridge-discuss] Mill / Lathe

Noah Balmer noahbalmer at gmail.com
Fri Mar 27 09:05:59 UTC 2009


Sherlines are nicely made,relatively light, and they are easy to make into
cnc machines.  They are not as rigid and solidly built as the common harbor
freight/grizzly/others mini mill and mini lathe.  I'd go with the harbor
freight style myself because they're a bit cheaper and seem a bit better for
larger workpieces, but the sherlines ain't bad.

If you buy any of these be sure to budget a bit more money for a decent
vise, end mills, parallels and such.  The cost of the small-but -important
accessories can add up.

A separate mill is much nicer than a milling attachment for a lathe.

On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 9:25 PM, Shannon Lee <shannon at scatter.com> wrote:

> Wow, Ian, it sounds like you know a lot more about this than I do.
>
> I agree with all your points that I'm qualified to have an opinion on.  I'm
> certainly not wedded to this particular tool, but it's always easier to get
> everybody's attention with a specific action suggestion, rather than an
> abstract question :)  But maybe, in this case, establishing a fund and then
> letting it accumulate is the right way to go.
>
> Actually, having a "Noisebridge Tool Fund" is not a bad idea; it means that
> tools are not competing with rent for resources.
>
> In addition to the Grizzly machine that you and Bill pointed out, I've also
> looked at similar machines from Busy Bee (http://busybeetools.ca/); they
> all seem about the same to me, but the one we're looking at here on CL
> retailed for a lot more new...?
>
> Also, I've been looking at the Sherline desktop lathes and milling
> machines; they don't have a combo (although the lathe can do double duty
> somewhat, aparently), but the machines are compact table-top models that are
> pretty cheap (in the $600 range).  http://www.sherline.com/
>
> Ian, would you by chance be free to come along on Monday and see the
> device?  I certainly wouldn't know how to check for excessive wear.
>
> --S
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 3:02 PM, ian <ian at sonic.net> wrote:
>
>> That looks like an okay machine, but it does also seem a little
>> physically large for NB.  Also, I'd be a little wary of a
>> high-precision machine that's been used at a high school.  When I've
>> been in the market for used machine tools, I've tried to buy them from
>> machinists.  Students are hard on things, and high school students
>> doubly so.
>>
>> Machines like this come up used on craigslist pretty often, and
>> sometimes include a bunch of tooling as well (this one has a vise,
>> centers, and collets, but no tooling).  If people want a lathe/mill,
>> it might make sense to establish a fund for it, and keep an eye out
>> for something that would better suit Noisebridge.
>>
>> Along those lines, Grizzly sells some really decent machines new, for
>> a similar price, that take up considerably less space:
>>
>> http://www.grizzly.com/products/category.aspx?key=465000
>>
>> It all depends on how large the things are that people intend to make...
>>
>> There are also some things you'll miss with a combo machine:
>>
>> - They lack a quick-change gearbox for driving the leadscrew, which
>> makes them a pain in the ass if you want to cut a lot of threads.
>> Only matters if you care about thread-cutting, though.
>>
>> - They don't have a knee for the mill, which means you only get about
>> 3-4" of vertical travel.  After that, you have to reposition the head
>> and you lose alignment with the workpiece.
>>
>> These are the main compromises with an all-in-one tool as opposed to a
>> separate lathe and mill.  Like I said, it all depends on what you want
>> to make.
>>
>> -Ian
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 9:00 PM, Shannon Lee <shannon at scatter.com> wrote:
>> > Hi Noisebridge,
>> >
>> > There's been discussion on and off about getting a mill and a lathe for
>> the
>> > shop.  Today on Craigslist I saw this:
>> >
>> > http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/tls/1088127089.html
>> >
>> > ...which is both a lathe and a mill, and nice and compact.  It's at a
>> local
>> > private high school.
>> >
>> > I'd like to get it, but I'm not, at the moment, able to shell out $1000
>> for
>> > it.  I'd be willing to pitch in a couple of hundred, if others also
>> think
>> > this is a good enough investment to kick in...?
>> >
>> > --S
>> >
>> > --
>> > Shannon Lee
>> > (503) 539-3700
>> >
>> > "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Shannon Lee
> (503) 539-3700
>
> "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>
>
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