Smithy 3 in one lathe,Mill,Drillpress

metron9

My wife said i can buy one of these and i wondered if anyone has any experience with·this·brand or others. I plan to convert it to CNC control.
Since the machinest I hired to make my motormounts still has not done them, i decided it was time to learn how to do some of my own machining.

·http://www.smithy.com/product_home.php?cid=1&scid=22&pid=1010


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Think Inside the box first and if that doesn't work..
Re-arrange what's inside the box then...
Think outside the BOX!

stamptrol

I've had a Sterling lathe and a big old Russian drill press I use for light milling for several years and they comes in handy for fabricating odd parts.

Be aware they are the entry points into very addictive hobbies/small business activities! On the business side, you have to remember that sometimes it is best to get (pay) someone to do these things while you carry on with other aspects of the project.

Cheers,

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Tom Sisk

http://www.siskconsult.com
·

Duffer

A quick search turned up this discussion thread: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/showthread.php/3-1-machines-170127.html (with suggested links to others).

Not exactly glowing praise for those little machines, but it may be just elitist talk from "professional machinists".

Duffer

W9GFO

I have had my Sherline mill (5400) which I have converted to CNC for about ten years. A few years ago I finally converted it to a 4 axis CNC - I added a stepper to my fourth axis. In the next couple days I should receive some .010" end mills so that I can try to mill some PCBs. I highly recommend the Sherline, I can't recall any problems that I have had with it.

Rich H

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The Simple Servo Tester, a kit from Gadget Gangster.

W9GFO

Just looked at the Smithy. I'm sure you've heard it said that things that try to do too many things don't do any of them really well. For a milling machine I would get the highest quality one that you can afford. If you need to make large parts it won't be a Sherline. Although I have made some parts on my Sherline that are considerably larger than what it is intended for - such as a 6" diameter LOX/kero rocket engine injector, among other things. Then get yourself a separate lathe and drill press. Harbor Freight has mini lathes that do a good job once you give them some attention and my Ridgid 15" drill press has served me well. It is very useful to have these machine be separate as once you get into making stuff they will all be used frequently. It would be a real pain to have to reconfigure each time you want to perform a different operation.

A metal cutting bandsaw is very useful too if you will be machining a lot of metal.

Tabletop Machining is a good book for those new to machining.

Rich H

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The Simple Servo Tester, a kit from Gadget Gangster.

Post Edited (W9GFO) : 10/22/2009 3:21:49 PM GMT

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

I converted a Sherline mill (from Sears) to CNC in 1981, driving it with a TRS80, via the printer output to an Opto22 board. Later, I added an STD bus-based Z80 driver, which eventually got scrapped in favor of a Zilog Super-8 running Forth and driving L2998 H-bridges. I was able to mill out some neat stuff, but throughout it all, I was constantly tinkering with the backlash adjustment and the gibbs, none of which were very robust. The leadscrews have 1/4" machine threads (not Acme), which means they wear quickly and unevenly, exacerbating the backlash problem. There will be major backlash in one spot, and the nuts will be too tight somewhere else. Back in 1981 the Sherline is about all there was in its class. Today there are more choices. I'd certainly look around before going the Sherline route, despite their apparently enduring popularity.

Eventually, I found a decent used Light Machines CNC mill and gave away the Sherline.

Anyway, regarding the Smithy, it looks a bit awkward to use — especially the drill press. I'd get a cheap benchtop drillpress from Harbor freight and look for a dedicated 3-axis mill. Pick up a copy of Digital Machinist magazine if you need some ideas. The lathe you can probably live without. I don't have one, occasionally want one, but get by without. It you do metal-working, though, a bandsaw is absolutely essential to prep stock for the mill. I got a cheap horizontal unit from Harbor freight, and it's served me well.

-Phil

HollyMinkowski

That looks lots better than the tiny lathe I bought at Harbor Freight.
I still have not set it up...it's been weeks. A guy was going to show
me how to use it but he has not been over yet.

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"Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?"

W9GFO

I have not experienced the backlash problem that you have. On mine, checking the backlash approximately every inch of travel, I get .007" to .008" on the X axis and .003" to .004" on the Y axis. It was very consistent throughout the travel. Looks like I do need to adjust the X axis backlash nut a bit though.

Rich H

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
The Simple Servo Tester, a kit from Gadget Gangster.

James Long

W9GFO said...
Just looked at the Smithy. I'm sure you've heard it said that things that try to do too many things don't do any of them really well. For a milling machine I would get the highest quality one that you can afford. If you need to make large parts it won't be a Sherline. Although I have made some parts on my Sherline that are considerably larger than what it is intended for - such as a 6" diameter LOX/kero rocket engine injector, among other things. Then get yourself a separate lathe and drill press. Harbor Freight has mini lathes that do a good job once you give them some attention and my Ridgid 15" drill press has served me well. It is very useful to have these machine be separate as once you get into making stuff they will all be used frequently. It would be a real pain to have to reconfigure each time you want to perform a different operation.

A metal cutting bandsaw is very useful too if you will be machining a lot of metal.

Tabletop Machining is a good book for those new to machining.

Rich H

I didn't know you were into rocketry. I designed an alcohol/NOX injector a few years ago, but could never find a machinist that could make it (it required a 6 axis mill).

I was a partner in a CNC business since then, but had to go a different direction than my partner.

James L

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James L
Partner/Designer

Lil Brother SMT Assembly Services

Please note: Due to economic conditions the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off until further notice. Thanks for your understanding.

W9GFO

Yeah, I was a member of the Canyon Space Team competing for the X-Prize several years ago. I designed and built a two piece LOX/Kerosene injector that used no seals - it was to be welded together. It had both doublet and triplet impinging nozzles along with an outer row of fluid film cooling orifices. It mated to a graphite ablative combustion chamber and nozzle with a zirconium throat. The engine was designed to produce 1,000 lbf. It's in my closet now. We had previously successfully tested a regeneratively cooled engine that used a composite jacket. Those were fun days - until Paul Allen opened his wallet and hired Rutan to build him a space ship. It's good to have money...

Rich H

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The Simple Servo Tester, a kit from Gadget Gangster.

W9GFO

Something I just thought of... We had two of Lindbergh's grandchildren on our team. One of them was handling the control system for the test stand. Back then we were lost without his expertise. Nowadays it would be dead easy for me to build a control system like what we were using then.

Rich H

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The Simple Servo Tester, a kit from Gadget Gangster.

metron9

Yep, thanks for the link, I was too close to pressing the buy button last night and I have decided to wait.

Looking at the used bridgeports (even new series 1 machines) I think I would lose less money over 10 years than a cheap wannabe machine.

For the moment though, I am getting ahead of myself (I usually do) and then I step back and re evaluate the actual wants and needs and excitement of a big box (or skid) arriving on my shipping dock. Going to stay on the guy that promised my 5/16 shafts with a .125 keyway turned to a 1/4 inch at one end so I can mount my motors to by ball slides and make my own shureline version mill I can rout circuit boards and other stuff with. If that works out I may want to design small circuit board routing machines and then perhaps look at a bridgeport to make the parts.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Think Inside the box first and if that doesn't work..
Re-arrange what's inside the box then...
Think outside the BOX!

James Long

W9GFO said...
Something I just thought of... We had two of Lindbergh's grandchildren on our team. One of them was handling the control system for the test stand. Back then we were lost without his expertise. Nowadays it would be dead easy for me to build a control system like what we were using then.

Rich H

Rich,

You are much deeper into liquid than I. I was more of a Ratt Works type of designer. I never wanted to mess with LOX, although NOX is actually more dangerous. But my design was not any where as big as your design. Is very interesting though.

James L

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James L
Partner/Designer

Lil Brother SMT Assembly Services

Please note: Due to economic conditions the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off until further notice. Thanks for your understanding.

W9GFO

We're getting off topic but N2O (is that what you mean by NOX?) is way safer than LOX. I've got a tank of it in my garage. It is nearly harmless until it is brought up to a high enough temperature to liberate the oxygen where it then enables the solid fuel grain (plastic - in my 11 lb high power rocket) to burn. So much more interesting to me than the ammonium perchlorate (sp?) motors.

My involvement in rocket stuff is what got me into machining. (trying to keep on topic)

Rich H

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
The Simple Servo Tester, a kit from Gadget Gangster.

James Long

W9GFO said...
We're getting off topic but N2O (is that what you mean by NOX?) is way safer than LOX. I've got a tank of it in my garage. It is nearly harmless until it is brought up to a high enough temperature to liberate the oxygen where it then enables the solid fuel grain (plastic - in my 11 lb high power rocket) to burn. So much more interesting to me than the ammonium perchlorate (sp?) motors.

My involvement in rocket stuff is what got me into machining. (trying to keep on topic)

Rich H

Sorry everybody for hijacking the thread......

It is hard to find a reasonable machine which works well.....and is also small.....

James L

EDIT:.....had to change my poor English.

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James L
Partner/Designer

Lil Brother SMT Assembly Services

Please note: Due to economic conditions the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off until further notice. Thanks for your understanding.

Post Edited (James Long) : 10/22/2009 10:42:27 PM GMT

metron9

No carry on, hijack away, I enjoy reading the posts. I can't usually carry on a conversation verbally without at least 10 subjects at one time. The only thing that keeps me sane is classical music. Oh and by the way when I was 15 my first hobby was model rockets. my first rocket was a Big Bertha and the second was something with lots of fins and quite complicated looking. I don't think the spiders liked me much when·I used the payload capsule on it though.


Since nobody has come forth with any ideas on the other post SLA7078 I have spent another 100 bucks on the hobby cnc pro board that uses these chips so I can understand how they work. Reverse engineer it as they say.

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Think Inside the box first and if that doesn't work..
Re-arrange what's inside the box then...
Think outside the BOX!

Post Edited (metron9) : 10/22/2009 10:33:41 PM GMT

HollyMinkowski

@metron9
Nice avatar...the tiny13 is one of my
favorites for small projects, they are so cheap!
I use the tiny13, the 644 and the 168 all the time.

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"Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?"

mikediv

metron9 I just bought one last year if its not to late save your money while its a very good machine and I have been very happy with mine , my buddies we all build hot rods bought a Chinese knock off for about a 1/4 of the price and the machine is almost 3 times the bed length of mine both machines are the same for accuracy but eh Knock off comes with more stuff more parts 4 jaw head as well as 3 jaw tool kit hold downs if I could go back I would buy the knock off in a minute also besides having a bigger bed "you really want that" for milling heads
they are R8 compatible the same as me also we are going to convert to CNC to but they also have more power than me .. drop me a line if you want to talk I will try and help as much as I can .. And don't get roped into the well knock offs don't have support
my smithy had the AV motors go twice I finally paid to fix them myself , the caps went bad
Mike.D