The Offcial Machinist Thread: Revised 01/04/2014

[wyz2285]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/0-12-7-mm-Digit ... 43a3071481
Will this be ok?

[jrrdw]

Manual dial gauges all the way! I use both dial indicators and vernier caliper with a gauge. .001 indexing on both. I just got this caliper

http://www.ebay.com/itm/360184491395?ss ... 1439.l2649

For the price I'm very happy with it. Also

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Magneti ... cial/G9849 again for the price I'm happy.

[wyz2285]

0.001inch is not the same as 0.001mm
Digital are easy to read, my digital caliper work faithfully too.

[jrrdw]

Does your digital measures display both metric and standard? Or just metric?

[wyz2285]

Standard and imperial you mean

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

I need a dial indicator.

Do you?

I've managed to get by without one so far.

[Blitz]

I am okay with either, work with both. I typically use a digital for measuring during handloading, analog for garage stuff. I have a nice stainless steel analog one that my father gave me from Japan, but I need to fix the dial if I am to trust it (it's tilted about 10 degrees, from a fall)

[wyz2285]

Second that video I need one, looks like will be handy for lathe work.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

It's handy if you're using a 4 jaw chuck or squaring up a mill... personally so far I've always done it with these:



This piece about accuracy is from the Sherline FAQ, wise words in my opinion:

When someone asks what is the accuracy of a machine, it is actually a rather loaded question. The more you know about the subject, the more difficult it becomes to answer. I can easily turn a diameter close to the chuck on the lathe within .0002" (2 tenths of a thousandth of an inch). Does this mean the machine is built to that tolerance? No, but it does mean the lead screw is accurate*, the cutting tool is sharp and properly shaped and the diameter I am cutting is large enough not to deflect. In many cases, the accuracy of your method of measuring has as much to do with the accuracy of your parts as the machine you are working on.
* NOTE: Sherline's leadscrews are precision rolled and are accurate to within 99.97%. Rolled threads are much more accurate center to center than those cut with a die or single-pointed tool.

The tools we make are as accurate as you can build them without expensive grinding and heat treating. We have well over a million dollars invested in state-of-the-art CNC machine tools and tooling to mass produce accurate parts. To increase the accuracy less than 1% would increase the cost by a factor of 10. This simply wouldn't be cost effective for the average consumer of our products. The jump from our $475 lathe to a $5000-$8000 lathe of similar size yields only a minor increase in accuracy, and could result in a loss in versatility, as few other machines offer the combination of features and complete system of accessories available from Sherline.

When asking about the accuracy of the machines, what is really being asked is, "what kind of accuracy can I expect to achieve in the parts I make on these machines?" When you look in our new catalog at some of the examples of the parts made on Sherline machines, you can see that, in the hands of a good craftsman who knows his or her machine, the parts that can be produced are as accurate as you will ever need. You will find that most problems associated with making very tight tolerance parts are not caused by the machines but rather are the result of the level of craftsmanship of the operator. As your technique improves, you'll find your machine keeps making better and better parts.

Even if the machine were "perfect", other things can affect accuracy. For example, the "spring" or deflection of the part you are making and the deflection of the cutter also affect accuracy. Taking all this into account, it is still not uncommon for a good machinist to be able to make parts accurate to within a thousandth of an inch (0.001") or less on our tools. Keep in mind our lathe is a small engine lathe, not a jeweler's lathe. If you are a hobbyist, the Sherline lathe for under $500 will be plenty accurate and many times more useful than the most expensive jeweler's lathe made, as they are designed for different purposes.

[jor2daje]

I think for centering work on the lathe and tramming on a mill an analog dial indicator is actually better because it shows movement much more intuitively, you just see which way the needle is spinning you don't think about numbers. I also love not worrying about batteries, I have a great pair of analog metric/imperial calipers that have outlived several pairs of cheapo digitals.

Digital would be nice when you're measuring travel on one of your feeds because of the zeroing function (more important on non-Sherline lathes), but other than that I think its pretty hard to justify the cost for an indicator. You also dont feel nearly as bad if you accidentally drop or damage a $20 analog indicator vs. a $200 digital one.

[wyz2285]

My lathe+mill arrived
Lathe: sieg sc2, mill: sieg x1 (had to choose these because I've to save for the accessories)
Will post photos when I set them up!

[jrrdw]

Lucky you, congrats! I sure would like to replace my bench top drill press with a vertical mill and a crap load of toys that go along with it...

I did finally receive my 4 jaw lathe chuck and I'm in the process of drilling the bolt pattern in my spindle. Dam spindle is to long to put/use my drill press so it's getting done by hand.

[wyz2285]

I got a 4 jaw chuck too, still haven't decided rather to buy that 80 euro dial indicator through.
A mini mill it's just like a drill press with a working table if my drill press wasn't so crappy I'd rather got a bigger lathe.

[jrrdw]

Good luck getting all the packing greese off, what a PITA!

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Good stuff prepare for swarf!