Small Parts Machining

gnate

Brian Carpenter's and idbruce's posts made me think of this.

I like making things in the shop, so, if anybody needs some small part machined, I'd be glad to do it for them. (e.g. shaft couplings, etc).

As long as it is small (drop it in an envelope), doesn't require expensive materials (see below), and you can wait a few weeks for it, I'll be glad to do it for free. If the materials gets expensive, you might need to send me the materials, but the labor will be free.

I have a bunch of 1/2" delrin rod, aluminum plate (1/4 and 1/2") and rods (1/4, 3/8, 1/2"), and hot rolled steel plates (1/4") and rods (1/4, 3/8, 1/2").

I have a Grizzly 0516 Combo Mill/Lathe with 3-axis DRO's; no CNC (yet).

Be glad to help out somebody if they need it. Send me a drawing or sketch. I'll let y'all know if I get overloaded.

Brian Carpenter

i have been a bit tied up with a home remodel project but i will be using you for my parts soon.

gnate wrote: »

Brian Carpenter's and idbruce's posts made me think of this.

I like making things in the shop, so, if anybody needs some small part machined, I'd be glad to do it for them. (e.g. shaft couplings, etc).

As long as it is small (drop it in an envelope), doesn't require expensive materials (see below), and you can wait a few weeks for it, I'll be glad to do it for free. If the materials gets expensive, you might need to send me the materials, but the labor will be free.

I have a bunch of 1/2" delrin rod, aluminum plate (1/4 and 1/2") and rods (1/4, 3/8, 1/2"), and hot rolled steel plates (1/4") and rods (1/4, 3/8, 1/2").

I have a Grizzly 0516 Combo Mill/Lathe with 3-axis DRO's; no CNC (yet).

Be glad to help out somebody if they need it. Send me a drawing or sketch. I'll let y'all know if I get overloaded.

DiverBob

Make them yourself, I have a CNC mill using the Sherline mill that I don't use anymore (replaced it with a Tormach 770 when the parts I wanted got too big to fit on the Sherline's table!) that is looking for a new home. Take a look at www.sherline.com to see the mill setups there. Just add a computer with a parallel port and Mach 3 software and you have a tool to make your own small parts. Send me a message if you are interested.

Bob Sweeney

idbruce

To be perfectly honest, I never looked at the Sherline's before. They look like some pretty sweet small machines.

DiverBob

I've got the lathe and mill although with my new mill the Sherline has been relegated to under the desk. You can hold .001 tolerances, they are not big machines but with practice you can make just about anything that can be clamped to the table. I've primarily machined Aluminum and Delrin but it works well with steel, brass and bronze.
One of the nice things about the Sherline brand is that they make a huge variety of accessories which really expand the potential uses.

Bob

photomankc

What the Sherline lacks in mass, and it lacks a lot in mass, it does make up for some in quality. You wont have to clean sand out of your bearings, re-cut your dovetails, and replace the motor and controller right off the bat. But I would say that making stuff with that machine often means you just love the process of making stuff with that machine. That is to say that patience will be a significant virtue. What you want to build is a big factor too. You CAN make big things on small mills but the "PITA" factor increases exponentially each time you have to reposition and re-zero the machine. It's a really nice machine and they make an out-of-the box CNC that isn't too expensive but you have to be very realistic on expectations. Sherline does indeed make a lot of quality accessories. I still love my little rotary table from them, though I largely just admire it these days instead of actually using it.

Scotty can't reconfigure the crystals and make her any faster and after the novelty of watching the machine make something for you wears off you often start wishing it could do this faster.