RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Sherline Mill

Hi, Bill:

I've done the same thing to a Sherline 2000 mill.


| I have a Sherline Mill that I am converting to CNC. I have a couple of
| questions I hope somebody can answer for me.
|
| (1) I have 100 oz Steppers for X, Y and a 190 oz Steeper for Z. Will
| these work satisfactory with this size of Mill?

Most likely. I bought the Sherline steppers because they were double ended
(I wanted to have the hand wheels for manual as well as automatic
operation). They're rated around 100 oz-in.

| (2) What about the lead screws that come with the Mill. Are these
| satisfactory for CNC work? Will backlash be a problem with this Factory
| screw?

Many people are using Sherline's for CNC. Backlash is a problem only if your
software does not allow for compensation. If it does, The sherlines will
work quite well.

| (3) I am planing to use a Camtronics 3Axis 2Amp Chopper Driver Board.

Assuming that you require no more than 2 amps for the motors, the Camtronics
will do well for you. I'm using that board with my system. My concern would
be the current required by the 190 oz-in motor.

Other comments:

Be careful of the computer speed. I tried running TurboCNC on a Zenith
486DX2-50Mhz system and found that the motors would stall quite easily at
relatively low speeds. Then, I ran the same software on my Sony Pentium-III
450 Mhz notebook and found that everything was smooth. I think that the
Zenith probably did not provide a uniform pulse train, but I've got to get
the scope out and look at the step pulses to be sure. I've had good luck
using the VectorCAD-9.0 that's available at low cost to list members coupled
with ACE Converter that Yeager offers for free and TurboCNC which is a
shareware product ($10.00 gets you the source code if you like to play with
TurboPascal. BTW, I've also gotten TurboCNC to compile using the
Delphi-Release 1 command line compiler)

-- Jerry Jankura
Strongsville, Ohio
So many toys, so little time....