Sherline 5000 Mill General Manual

shapes can be secured by epoxying them to a second, more easily held piece of material.
The part is then broken loose from the material after machining. A tooling plate (P/N
3560) offers a drillable surface with a predrilled pattern of holes to help mount parts and
fixtures while also protecting the mill table and adding further stiffness.
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.