The Sherline Miniature Machinist's Newsletter
Number 46,
Customer Project
Model Motorcycles/Steven McDowell
People who don’t make things
often have no idea of how much time it takes to build a detailed, machined
model from scratch. Steven McDowell of
Steve’s miniature custom chopper is about 13” long.
“Please find enclosed a photo of
one of the motorcycle I built, in part using your fantastic lathe. I was
fortunate to get the lathe as a Christmas present last year, and I couldn’t
wait to play with it. It is the smaller unit (Model 4000)
and used manually, not with CNC. I use it to make the rims of the motorcycles as
well as the rear wheel pulleys, the oil and gas caps, the carburetors and
funnel ends to them, the tapered cylinders, and I use a parting tool for the
cylinder fins. I also fabricate the handlebar risers and the headlight ring.
Any part I can do, I do it on my lathe. My wife’s ex-boss said that he wanted
me to make one for him to give his son-in-law. He said he would give me “nearly $80!” I work nearly sixty to
eighty hours on each bike, and although getting money for them sounds nice, I
find myself wanting to keep them for MEEEEEE.” —Steven McDowell
Shop
Tip of the month
Another way to look at
cutting threads/Flosi Guðmundsson
Most people are right-handed. If
you would prefer turning the manual handwheel on the P/N 3100 thread cutting attachment
with your right hand instead of your left, here’s a way that works for Flosi
Guðmundsson in
“I have a tip that you might
care to publish in the tips section. It is very simple. When I cut threads on
the lathe I turn the lathe 180° so the handwheel is at the right. I'm right-handed
like 90% of mankind. I also remove the crosslide and put it on backwards so it
faces me.
I've attached two photos that show this.”
Best regards,
Flosi
Reykjavík
For links to 63 other handy Sherline shop tips, see the “Tips” page at http://www.sherline.com/tips.htm. Instructions for the use of the threading attachment can be found at http://www.sherline.com/3100inst.pdf.
Product Spotlight
CNC v6.0
instructions update
Several months ago Sherline upgraded the installed version of Linux on
their CNC systems to the more
Windows®-like “Lucid” build. Though it works pretty much the same as the
earlier build the menus are presented a little differently, so we renamed it
version 6.0 and the instructions
for installing it were corrected to bring all the procedures up to date. Also
remember that with the upgrade from EMC to EMC2, you not only get a lathe
program in addition to the mill version, but EMC2 also includes some new
g-codes and sub-routines that were not supported in EMC.
New microscope
now offered with lathe and mill microscope mounts
For the past several years we
have been offering P/N
2125 (lathe) and P/N 2127 (mill) microscope mounts that can be purchased with or
without a microscope. The scope we included was reasonably priced yet still
offered very high quality optics. Our source recently discontinued importing
that particular scope and we had to search around for an alternative. Thanks to
Jerry
Kieffer, we were able to offer an
almost identical scope from the same manufacturer that actually offers some new
advantages at the same price. The new scope comes with a top-lighted inspection
base instead of a bottom-lighted one. Unless you are examining glass slides for
biology class this will be an advantage for part inspection. It is also half
the power of the old scope (2x to 47x), which provides a wider field of vision
at the lowest powers and still offers more than magnification than you need at
the high end. The scope did, however, come with an extended focal length which
works well for part inspection, but for comfortable use while machining we
needed to get the eyepieces lower. The solution was the addition of a 1.5x
Barlow lens below the objective lens. This returns the scope to a comfortable
operating height while still keeping a wider field of view than before. To
attach the lens we have custom machined an aluminum adapter ring. The new scope
comes with a 2-piece cast metal light holder that is sturdier than the
universal joint version offered previously.
For complete instructions on the installation and use of the microscope and attachment, refer to www.sherline.com/2125inst2.htm and www.sherline.com/2127inst2.htm. If you work on extremely small parts or if failing eyesight makes it difficult to see what you are doing, you will find this attachment can add a lot to your enjoyment of your lathe and mill.
Fuses
added to protect circuits on CNC driver boards
In order to further protect the four driver chips in the Sherline 4-axis driver box, small fuses have been added to each axis. Three extra fuses are included with each computer-mounted driver board and with each enclosed 8760 driver box. Though you shouldn’t be working your CNC machines to the point where a fuse will blow, it has been known to happen. Changing a simple fuse can save sending a board back to the factory and the resultant expense and lost time. Once you resume, however, you should analyze your procedures to see why you burned the fuse in the first place. Keep in mind these are not huge multi-hundred thousand dollar production machines. Keep them adjusted and lubricated and remember that if you work them too hard they can overheat.
Did you know?
• Help sheets, installation instructions, machine adjustment instructions and more are available from a home page link you might have missed. The HELP SHEETS link at http://www.sherline.com/hlpsheet.htm is a gateway to a lot of helpful information.
• If you’ve lost your instruction manual with the exploded views in the back, you can find machine exploded views on-line at http://www.sherline.com/Exploded.htm. There is a link from the main menu on the home page.
• You can order Sherline tools, accessories and spare parts 24 hours a day from our secure e-commerce web site at www.SherlineDirect.com. Orders through this site go directly to Kim and Kat at the Sherline factory the same as if you called us on the phone.
Upcoming Model Engineering Shows
2012…
• North American Model Engineering Society (NAMES) Expo—
Send us your show details and we will post them here…
Joe Martin Craftsmanship Foundation News
• Change of museum hours—The
Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum in
• Page added for John Aschauer—Visitors to the American
Precision Museum in
• New engines added to the Paul Knapp Collection—Paul Knapp stopped by last month and substituted a few of the model aircraft engines in the display. Some are similar water-cooled versions replacing air-cooled version and some are totally new. They were intended for temporary display in another museum, but the details couldn’t be worked out, so they will be back on display in our museum soon. See the page on the Knapp collection for details.
• Ship in a bottle added to display—Building a ship inside a bottle is a craft that has amazed viewers for centuries. Clever sailors with time on their hands found ways to build complicated ships that could be inserted through the neck of the bottle and then rigged once inside. Joe Martin felt this craft should be represented in the museum and found one for sale which is now on display. If you can’t come in person, see the Other Displays page.