Sherline mill and lathe. What should I pay?

Hi all,

I am going this afternoon to look at a Sherline Mill and Sherline Lathe. I don't really have pictures, but he says he's had it about a year and hasn't used it so is getting rid of it. The mill looks to be a Sherline 5400 (non cnc) and the lathe a Sherline 4400 non CNC.

I've only seen 2 small pictures so...

The lathe I can see has a power feed option and is the long bed. The Mill comes mounted on the horizontal conversion table and has either a 1/4" or 3/8" endmill in the spindle so I know it has at least those accessories.

Appear in ok shape - maybe some surface rust.

Opinions on a good starting price here? Any options that are worth paying extra for? He is asking $1200 but that seems high unless the accessories are good.

I don't really know a lot about these Sherlines other than model makers really like them and they are very light machines.

Thanks for any input,

Doug

I really like the sherline stuff. Great for learning and small stuff. I have a model 2000 for sale that I upgraded with AtoZ larger X-Y. It's all CNC. If you don't buy the one your looking at, PM me and I'll give you details and see if your interested in buying mine.

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I guess I should at least attempt to answer your question instead of just trying to sell mine. 1200 seems reasonable specially for both a mill and lathe. You should go to sherline website to compare. They list all prices. There are a couple yahoo groups that are sherline specific and have a bunch of really great members that have been very helpful in the past.

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Thanks for the feedback moto...

Guess I will see what comes with it and go from there


Doug

Also, the sherline website has a good writeup on what to look for when buying used machines. It covers upgrades over the years and compatibility with newer versions etc. Well worth a look in my opinion.

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If the mill is CNC and the lathe is manual it still sounds like a good deal. I agree with Moto, great tools for learning and or small work. Most likely you will want larger in time but plenty to do with it. Flashcut controller or home done.

Well, I got the package for $1,100. Most stuff has a light surface rust, the rotary table a little heavier but I can turn it so I think it'll clean up. The mill is only a 5000 not 5400, but has 5" of travel in Y.

Came with lots of accessory items.

Only problem besides cleanup is the lead screw on the lathe isn't locked to the hand wheel or the power feed...not sure what the fix is on that will have to investigate

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Looking at all the accessories that is a steal. You're going to be busy.

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IIRC the lead screw has a taper on it, as does the ID of the coupler (it does on the CNC couplers). The lead screw is 1/4-20 which doesnt leave much real estate for the taper to create friction. There is a very small threaded hole down the center on which a screw attaches the coupler. This screw is way too small IMO. If you ever do strip it, it is easy enough to drill into the opening of the coupler where the stepper attaches, the head pops right off. Ask me how I know?

I got so tired of disassembling that joint on my CNC machines (I tried all colors of loctite, heat, freezing, cleaning with acetone prior etc., nothing worked, well they would work for a while). I finally ended up threading the coupler on the lathe in the matching 1/4-20. There is very little original material on the ID of the thrust bearing but the thread goes past that too. I havent had any issues since. Simple mod.

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Originally Posted by dugpits

Well, I got the package for $1,100. Most stuff has a light surface rust, the rotary table a little heavier but I can turn it so I think it'll clean up. The mill is only a 5000 not 5400, but has 5" of travel in Y.

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Sherline is nice stuff especially for small parts that are troublesome to machine on larger lathes.

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Came with lots of accessory items.

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That certainly takes what might be an ordinary good deal and turns it it into a far better deal.

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Only problem besides cleanup is the lead screw on the lathe isn't locked to the hand wheel or the power feed...not sure what the fix is on that will have to investigate

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It might be advisable to tear down the machines and lubricate and clean. Surface rust is never a good thing on machine tools as it is a sign of neglect.

I noticed that you apparently have a much larger lathe from what I see in one of the pictures. If so you should have no problem resurfacing the rotary table if it is determined to be too far gone for a rust removal cleanup.

Thanks Moto, Fastest, Wizard.

Moto - thanks for the info about the used buying guide, I hadn't seen that. Turns out the mill is just a 5000 model, but has the spacer block on the head so has the 5" of travel like the 5400 model. The lathe is a 4410 which is a bit of a bummer...metric. I was hoping for the inch version.

Fastest - I haven't broken down the handles yet to see the connection type to see what the problem is but I will look for a taper and consider the mod that you talked about. I can't figure out why the power feed wasn't moving the screw though...the key was intact but maybe something was locked up. The carriage was stuck pretty tight.

Wizard - Yeah, breaking everything down to clean. I am going to start a new thread for the restoration soon. That lathe you see is an old Craftsman 618, 101.214 model....um..it isn't running now either. I need to get a workbench built for it and get the motor and belt set mounted plus a few other fixes. But, I do have a small 7x10 HF lathe and a CNC G0704 so I can figure something out.

Setting up an electrolysis tank because I am far too lazy to scrub all of these parts...and I've never done electrolysis so something else fun to learn. Hopefully start that tonight on the lathe bed. Other parts I plan to soak in a citric acid bath which I've heard works well also.

Thanks again,

Doug

PS - I am considering this topic closed now since the thread was about price to pay for the tools....now that I have them I'll start a new thread on the build. I don't know if the moderators close or how that works so I apologize if I do something wrong.