The Sherline Miniature Machinist's Newsletter
Number 9,
Customer Projects
Super-detailed Radio Controlled Model
Ships by Andrew Green
Centaur
and Helenus are model ships that most would be
proud to display on a mantle, but these are actually made to be sailed.
Andrew Green of
Shop Tip of the month:
A Simple Drawbolt Washer Retainer by
Steven Smith
Here's a simple and good looking way to keep
a drawbolt and washer together.
When
you lift a drawbolt out of the mill spindle, the washer can easily slide down
the bolt and fall off if you are not careful. The bolt and washer can also
become separated while rolling around in your toolbox. If you don't like
spending time looking under your workbench or in toolbox drawers for small
parts, here is a tip from Steven Smith that solves the problem. He took a short
length of heat-shrink tubing and slipped it over the 1/4" shaft of the
drawbolt. If the fit is tight enough, you don't even need to heat it to keep it
in place. If it fits loosely, just heat it with a match until it shrinks into
place to act as a retainer for the washer. On a larger bolt, he also found that
the rubber grip from a ball point pen worked to accomplish the same thing. In
fact, any piece of tubing of the proper size will do the job. A few wraps of
electrical tape will also work, but heat-shrink tubing is the neatest and most
professional looking solution we've seen yet.
Our
thanks go to Steven Smith of
Product Spotlight
P/N 3100 Threading Attachment for the
Lathe
Photo 1 shows what you get with the threading attachment, and photo 2
shows the attachment mounted on the lathe with the spindle motor removed..
One of the big advantages of owning a lathe is
that it gives you the ability to cut your own custom threads. It is not
economically feasible to own every possible tap and die size, and now and then
you are bound to run into projects where you need a really odd thread. For
example, say you were to want to make a filter ring for a camera or
telescope that had a very large diameter with a very fine thread. Purchasing a
tap or die for such a thread might not even be possible or, if it were, it
would be far more expensive than the whole threading attachment at just
$125.00. Even going to the store to buy a tap can take way longer than setting
up your lathe to cut a thread yourself. The P/N 3100 attachment contains the
engagement lever, primary and secondary support arms and a set of 15 hobbed
metal gears that allow you to cut threads from 5 TPI up to 80 TPI, left-hand or
right-hand as well as metric threads from .25 mm to 2.0 mm pitch. Optional odd
numbered gears are also now available for even more combinations. Inch threads
can be cut on a metric machine and vice versa using the 127-tooth translation
gear. A large 4" handwheel is also included, as the threads are cut
manually without use of the spindle motor in order to give the maximum amount
of user control. Add this accessory, and you significantly expand the
capabilities of your home machine shop. P/N 3100: $125.00.
Did you know?
• Linked from the first section of the main menu on Sherline’s web site
are links to instructions for all Sherline’s accessories. See http://www.sherline.com/accessor.htm
to read about how any accessory we make is used. If you've lost your
instructions you can reprint them here, or if you just want to learn how an
accessory is used before deciding to buy, here's the place to look. This
is a tremendous free resource of machining information and another example of
how Sherline offers information and service not even attempted by the
competition.
• Sherline’s last price increase was in October, 2003. Given the continual
increases in cost of materials and labor, our current prices cannot last
forever.
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