The Sherline Miniature Machinist's Newsletter
Number 5,
Customer Projects:
Thomas Kuntz—Animated Alchemist
Parts
of Thomas Kuntz's nine-foot tall animated clock
Artist Thomas Kuntz uses his
Sherline tools to create animated works of art. He describes his work well in
his own words:
“As a kid I built a lot of
plastic models. Much of it was scratch-building out of styrene and metal
tubing because I liked to show the "guts". At that
time the world of machining seemed like something for people with
really sharp math skills and lots of money. In hindsight I wish I would have
started much earlier since there is so much to know. At 14 I was dragging
around copies of Scale Modeler to the
point where I would wear off the cover. Now my copy of Tabletop Machining is
reminiscent of those old days. Its worn...like a favorite pair of shoes!
I was always drawing since I can
remember, but drawing is very intuitive. With machining you really have to
think things through and there is no eraser! Sherline tools offer many
possibilities to artists as well as craftsmen. To me, the artist now has so
many tools available (that the old masters would have killed for!) that I don’t
understand why more people aren’t using them to create. After all, who
says an artist cannot use machine tools? I'm certain Leonardo would have loved
to prototype his inventions on Sherline machines! In his time in
See Thomas Kuntz’s
on Sherline's “Workshop” page at www.sherline.com/workshop.htm
or visit his own web page at www.artomic.com.
A video of some of his work in action can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/user/haxanthrobo.
New Products
P/N 3074 Drill Chuck Holder—The drill
chuck holder is a thread-on holder like the end mill holder series that has a
male thread to accept a 1/4" or 3/8" Jacobs drill chuck. Designed
especially for CNC users, it speeds up tool change time when going back and
forth between drills and end mills. For manual use, it can be easier to remove
than the standard #1 Morse tapered arbor that is normally used with the drill
chuck. Price on the 3074 chuck holder is $35.00.
Shop Tip of the Month—A split mill vise by Jerry Kieffer
The above illustration shows
a P/N 3551 mill vise split in half and clamped to the mill table. The part is
supported by parallels so the top surface can be milled.
Ever have hold a part that is
too long or wide to fit in the mill vise? Jerry Kieffer solved the problem in a
simple way. He needed to hold a model railroad car while drilling holes in it
for installing details. He had an old mill vise that he didn’t mind modifying
for this purpose, so he simply cut it in half near the middle of the vise. The
fixed end was mounted to the mill table and squared up. Then he mounted the
other end further down the table and squared it up so the part length came
about mid-travel on the moveable end. The moveable end could then be tightened
on the part as if the vise were much longer. To make sure each half was
securely fastened down he uses at least two or three angled hold-down clamps
per half. If you currently have only one vise and need a second, an option
would be to look on eBay and pick up an older used one to cut in half. Another
option would be to take your current vise and cut it in half, and then treat
yourself to a new vise for use on smaller parts. By the way, the new mill vises
have recently been modified slightly based on a suggestion from customer Steven
Lang. The screw slot has been cut a little further so that the jaws now can be
opened a bit wider to hold a larger part. Read more on Sherline's TIPS page. This is tip #51.
Web site facts
• There is a “What’s New” page at www.sherline.com/whatsnew.htm
that will save you time searching the web site for changes or additions.
Whenever something of significance is added or changed, a note is placed on
that page. It is the quickest way to check up on the latest additions
to the site.
• Photos from the 2008 NAMES
show in
Coming Events
Tom
Boyer and Craig Libuse at last year's AGSEM show
• For those in
• The next major model
engineering show we will attend will be the Western Engine and Model Engineering (WEME)
show in
Paul Knapp (L) and
• New engines added to museum display! Paul and Paula Knapp have
generously agreed to put 51 of the engines in their fine collection on display
in the Foundation's
•