The Sherline Miniature Machinist's Newsletter
Number 4,
Customer
Projects—Portable case for a Sherline lathe and accessories
By
Jerry Kieffer
Jerry Kieffer travels
to model engineering and clock shows and seminars and does demonstrations on
his Sherline lathe. He thought it might be nice to be able to carry all his
needed collets and accessories along with the lathe in one case. Being the
craftsman that he is, he decided to make the wooden finger jointed box to the
same high level of quality he makes his other projects. It is certainly is a
handsome and practical way to protect and store your lathe and accessories in
one small area. Though it barely shows in the 2nd photo, there is also a
vertical milling column attached to the base behind the lathe, making this a
pretty complete machine shop in one box. Jerry says if he were to build another
it would be similar is size and shape but the top half with the lathe
would lift off to expose the accessories below rather than making a drawer that
slides out. That way either half could be transported by itself or both could
be combined and carried together by fastening the latches on the ends. The
lathe would also sit at table height when in use rather than being raised
by the height of the base. More photos of this and other
customer projects are available in the Sherline Workshop at www.sherline.com/workshop.htm.
New Products
Lathe
video just released on DVD —For years,
people have been asking for a video that shows how to set up and use a Sherline
lathe. Mike Rehmus of ByVideo Productions has just completed a professional
quality 3.6 hour video and it is now ready for distribution on DVD. Mike has
produced several videos in the past including the Shop
Secrets—Measuring Tools video
already in our catalog. Mike is also the publisher of Model Engine Builder
Magazine and an experienced machinist himself. The video covers all the lathe
essentials from mounting your machine to a base and squaring it up to basic
turning and facing cuts, tool sharpening and use of the most popular
accessories. If you are just getting started, this will put you on the right
track right from the start. If it's been years since that last machine shop
class, this will make a great refresher course. Order P/N 5335, Sherline Lathe Basics—How to Set Up and
Operate a Sherline Lathe by Mike Rehmus ($49.95).
NOTE:
Check out this April’s Internet
Special for a special discount on this and all our books and videos.
Shop Tip of the Month—Several
ways to remove a stuck #1 Morse taper from the Headstock
The
#1 Morse taper grips strongly because it has a long, shallow taper with a lot
of surface area. When pulled in tight with a drawbolt it is unlikely to spin or
slip. The down side of all that friction is that it can be tough to
release. Normally you can loosen the drawbolt and give it a tap and the
tool will fall out of the spindle. However, when it takes more than a gentle
tap, it is possible to knock your headstock out of alignment if you have to
really hit the drawbolt hard. There are several gentler ways to remove a #1
Morse tool that have been suggested by Sherline users. Most are simple tools
you can make in an afternoon. They not only make a good rainy afternoon
project, they will save you wear and tear on your machine and setup time
realigning the headstock. Check out these clever solutions and learn how others
have addressed this common problem. In the ones shown above, the first is from
Norman Gajewski and the second is by Guiseppe Sturiale. See more details on
these two and one more at www.sherline.com/Tip15.htm and
another solution by Nhut Le at www.sherline.com/Tip14.htm.
Web site facts
• The opening
page of the Sherline web site has
recently been fine tuned graphically to make it a little easier to navigate.
The navigation bar at the top is improved and the photos better aligned and
reorganized to put the most important first. They are subtle changes but
hopefully ones that make it easier for you to use.
• We put a hit counter at the bottom of the opening page in
April 2000—eight years ago. You will see we are coming up on 1.8 million hits
on that counter—and that’s just for the opening page. Many return visits go to
bookmarked pages that are not reflected in that total. Thanks for making this
such a popular page.
• Do a Google search for the words “Lathe,” “Milling Machine,” or “Rotary Table”
and see where Sherline comes up. We are usually in the top 5 results. We
use no tricks, ads or outside contractors to get a good Google ranking. The
site is just that big and useful that it comes up there on its own merits.
Others spend a lot of time and money looking for ways to trick Google into
giving a top 10 listing. We don’t have to.
(By the way, a search for “craftsmanship” usually finds
Foundation’s museum at #1 for the same reason!)
Upcoming Events
By
the time you receive this newsletter, we will be just about on our
way to the North
American Model Engineering Society show in
Sherline People—Fred Smittle
Fred
Smittle has been with Sherline for the past 2 years. A retired tool
maker, Fred also taught Machine Tool Technology at a local community college
for 13 years and is experienced in the use of CNC. He is available from
Joe Martin Foundation News
• Howell V4 engine progress—A couple of new people have
volunteered to join the build team to make parts for the engine. They are: Bob
Seigelkoff,
• The Vista Antique
Steam and Gas Engine Museum Show in