Sherline 5000 Mill Assembly Instructions

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loose after machining. A mill tooling plate (P/N 3560) is a
very useful fixture for holding parts. It has a number of
holes predrilled for holding clamps, and additional holes
can be drilled and tapped as needed. It also provides
additional stiffness and protection for your mill table.
THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU START CUTTING
The following steps should be considered before
commencing any part:
• Is the material about to be machined best suited for the
job, and is it machinable with available cutting tools and
equipment? Work with aluminum, brass, plastic or cast
iron whenever possible. Too often a hobbyist will pick up
the first correctly-sized piece of material he finds at his
local salvage dealer thinking that, if it is rusty, it’s steel,
and that all steels are pretty much the same. Not so! Anyone
who has ever tried to machine an old automobile axle can
attest to this. If the part must be steel, grade 12L14,
commonly called “lead-loy,” is about the best material for
machining. It was developed for screw-machine use and
is available in round stock only. However, it works so well
that many times it may be advisable to machine rectangular
parts from it. It can also be case hardened. Your local screw-
machine shop will usually have scrap pieces available and
may be a good source for obtaining it.
• Avoid exotic materials, such as stainless steel, unless
absolutely necessary because of machining difficulty and
poor milling cutter life. (If each new mechanical engineer
were given a block of stainless steel to mill, drill and tap
upon his graduation, stainless steel sales would probably
drop considerably!)
• Before beginning, carefully study the part to be machined.
Select the best surface from which to work (usually the
flattest).
• Decide if work should be “rough cut” to size. Some
materials will warp while being machined. Close tolerance
parts can be destroyed by attempting heavy machining at
the end of the job rather than at the beginning.
• The method of holding the work is also determined by
the type of machining to be performed. For instance, work
that involves only small drilling jobs does not have to be
held as securely as work to be milled.
• Lay the job out so that it can be machined with the
minimum number of setups.
• Be sure to have all needed cutting tools available before
beginning a job.
• Do not start off with a job so complex that the odds of
success are limited. Making complex machined parts
requires a great deal of intelligence, planning and skill.
Skill is acquired only through experience.
In summary, you should become aware of the fact that
milling is difficult, but not impossible. There are many
more considerations than just moving the handwheels, and
you should not start your first step until your last step has
been determined.
PURCHASING MATERIALS IN SMALL QUANTITIES
Commercial metal suppliers are not set up to serve the
home shop machinist. They usually have large minimum
FIGURE 51—A complex setup shows a part held in a
3-jaw chuck, which is mounted to the rotary table, which
is mounted to the tilting angle table, which is in turn
mounted to the mill table. A mill arbor holds a geartooth
cutter which is cutting teeth in a bevel gear. The
horizontal milling conversion is used to mount the
headstock in the horizontal position. With Sherline tools
and accessories, the parts you machine are limited only
by size, not by complexity.
FIGURE 50—Center drilling a part clamped to the
table with the hold-down set
P/N 3012 HOLD-DOWN
SET SHOWN. P/N 3013
STEP BLOCK HOLD-DOWN
SET ALSO AVAILABLE