The Sherline Miniature Machinist's Newsletter
Number 21,
Sherline Workshop Projects
Project
update—Cab forward locomotive/Dwight Ennis
In
Newsletter No. 8 we featured a 1901
The loco under construction
Dwight
recently sent photos of the finished locomotive along with some additional
construction details, and we felt it was worth an update. He notes, "The
vast majority of it was done on my Sherline CNC machines. All sheet metal
was cut to outline and window openings cut out on the CNC milling machine,
then bent or slip rolled as required. Rivets were located and "center
punched" on the milling machine, though they were actually embossed
manually using a miniature arbor press with specialized punch and
die. Turned parts were done on my Sherline CNC lathe. Everything is
low temp silver soldered together. Pressurized steam and water lines are high
temp silver solder for additional strength."
The
finished engine and tender
This and many other Sherline projects can be viewed in more detail on the Sherline Workshop page. (This
is project #26.)
Shop Tip of the month
A Simple Cone Mandrel/Ross Heitt
This handy tool makes a good rainy day lathe
project.
A
cone mandrel is a very effective device for holding a part that has a hole
drilled through it. It could be used to hold an R/C car wheel, a flywheel, a
gear blank, etc. The part is secured between the tapers of the mandrel, which
allows access to both sides and the outer circumference without having to
change the setup. For the Sherline lathe a good size would be a shaft of about
1/4" to 5/16" in diameter. The cones are about 5/8" to 3/4"
diameter with a 60° cone. Use a fine thread on the shaft and try to get a good,
snug thread fit between the shaft and the collar. Center drill a 60° hole in
one end for the live center point. The driven end is held in a collet or chuck.
Both cones can be threaded or one can be fixed to the shaft with a set screw or
pin.
—
This
and more than 50 other helpful tips for Sherline machinists can be found at www.sherline.com/tips.htm.
Product Spotlight
Sherline CNC systems get hardware and software
upgrades but no change in price
The 8020
CNC mill package shown here will look essentially the same. The big differences
are inside the computer and driver box.
Software changes…
UBUNTU LINUX—The Debian version of Linux has been shipped with
Sherline CNC machines for the past several years and is debugged and working
great; however, there are several good reasons we are converting to the newer
Ubuntu version. In addition to better developer support, it offers seamless
integration with a larger number of hardware components, plus it is directed
more toward the new user who is familiar with a Windows® or Mac® type desktop
interface. No more “mounting” and “unmounting” drives, drives and files open
with a double click instead of a single click, etc.
The desktop of the Ubuntu
version of Linux has changed, making it even easier to navigate. Drop-down menus
from the top menu bar give instant access to all the important programs and
utilities, and the icons you need to open the G-Code folder and proper version
of EMC2 for your machine are right on the desktop.
EMC2— The newest version of the Enhanced Machine Controller offers
Sherline users a lathe-specific CNC program for the first time. Now you can
choose from inch or metric versions of the Sherline mill or lathe. Just click
on the appropriate desktop icon to open the correct version of EMC2 for your machine.
The new details on how Ubuntu and EMC2 operate are included in version 5.0 of
the Sherline CNC instruction manual. It can be found on the Sherline web site
at www.sherline.com/CNCinst5.pdf.
Copies of Ubuntu Linux and EMC2
software are now available from Sherline for those wishing to upgrade. New
systems will begin shipping with this software within the week.
Hardware changes…
For the past several months we
have been shipping an upgraded driver board that now includes a protection
circuit that shuts down all stepper motors in case of an electrical surge or
anomaly to keep from burning out motors or driver chips. Turning
off power to the board and then turning it back on resets the circuit.
We also eliminated the floppy drive (who uses floppies any more?) and
substituted a USB flash drive that is much more useful for transferring G-code
files to and from your CAD computer.
More big news—Assembly of our
computers is now done in-house where we can better control availability and
quality of the individual components. This will also aid in problem analysis,
testing and repair if needed in the future.
The best part of all this is
that the price on CNC systems remains the same. This means you now get even more
“bang for your buck” with Sherline CNC.
Did you know?
•
You can take a tour through the Sherline factory without leaving the comfort of
your home or office. A Photo
Factory Tour is available right on the Sherline web site. You can also get
a real factory tour if you visit the plant facility in
•
The original Sherline lathe was designed by Australian Harold Clisby in the
late 1960’s to overcome the flaws of the weak two-rod bed design of the then
popular Unimat lathe. He took his design to product engineer Ron Sher who
started production of the small lathe in
•
Want to see materials from Delrin to Titanium and even Inconel being cut on a
Sherline lathe? See the sample cut video web page at www.sherline.com/testcuts.htm.
Upcoming
Shows
•
GEARS (Gas Engine Antique Reproduction Show), September 19-20,
•
22nd Annual Estevan Model
Engineering Show—
•
The Cabin Fever Expo in
Joe Martin
Craftsmanship Foundation News
•
The Foundation recently presented a Special Achievement Award
to Szymon Klimek of
•
Toy
Farmer magazine’s latest issues featured a two-part article on scratch
built farm toys, the highlight of which was a 2-page spread on Jerry Kieffer’s
1936 John Deere “D” tractor. This running model was built on Sherline equipment
and is featured in the Joe Martin Foundation’s on-line
•
We regret to announce the unexpected passing of model engineering craftsman Jerry Howell on