Home Setups

[freakray]

Hey all, let's use this thread to share what you have at home.

Post a photo of your home setup as well as including details of what make, model machines you have and any add ons you've got, as well as tools you think are absolutely indispensable.

Thanks

[gionc]

Ok Ray, nothing special on my side: the lathe is a Einhell MTB 3000 and for what I'll see it's the same owned by Steve branded Clarks (but I'll be in error), the mill is a little Roxxon MF70, it's a little great machine good for our little jobs but have the limitation of the Z axix (so hard to mount a rotating table over a cross table), I own also a couple of rotating tables. I own a couple of blade sets for the lathe, one in hard metal and one with Vidia inserts, blus some HSS bars to do my own tools.









There are also some special places the Hiro avenue (ok TBH I have 4-5 box more now LOL)



The stash



The smell area



And the AF browsing station

[mike@af]

Heres my setup:



Last year I added the milling conversion to my shop. Dont have pics of that right now. I use a very special Sherline lathe that has a lot of history, and am honored to have it.

[MPWR]

Here's my setup:



Sherline 'longbed' lathe, with milling attachment and rotary table. It's pretty modest sizewise, but it's more than sufficient for modeling use. A Sherline XY milling base would give me a much bigger working envelope, but I don't really have the space for it right now.

It doesn't usually look like this- I tend to keep it all under a 2.000" deep layer of insulative aluminum and plastic swarf. But since you guys have such nice looking workspaces, I decided to clean up a bit.

The tackle box contains the associated odds and ends- end mills and lathe cutting bits, measuring tools, edge finders, a sensitive drilling attachment, a set of milling parallels, lathe chuck, holddowns, and on and on.

Not pictured is the band saw- which is another crucial piece of gear. I have a POS from Harbour Fright, but it suits my needs. I also want a small drill press- but it hasn't been critical enough to buy yet. The mill will do much of the function of a drill press, but it's much slower to use this way.

Originally Posted by GTmike400

I use a very special Sherline lathe that has a lot of history, and am honored to have it.

You should be. Augie was a terrific guy, and he continues to inspire.

[mike@af]

Hey Andy, how's that rotary table working out for you on the lathe cross-slide? I've been wanting to get one but wasnt sure if it would work very well on the lathe.

[MPWR]

No problems- the lathe and milling column give me plenty of space to work with the rotaty table. Idealy I'd like it more if the milling column were behind the rotary table instead of to the left side, but mostly that would be a matter of being able to see the work piece a bit better.

I would definately say that the lack of a dedicated milling base is no reason not to get a rotary table. I use my equipment now much more than double as much as I did before getting the table. There's almost nothing I can't do with it now (at least in small scale), and always plenty I want to do with it.

[Decs0105]

my little setup...

same lathe as gionic a EINHELL 3000MTB. I added only added a QCTP and a digital read out set and of course I donr many many adjustments since these lathes are "horrible" right out of the box...




And some work in progress

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by Thesaint111

these lathes are "horrible" right out of the box...

What does that mean exactly? I've read similar things in many places but I don't actually understand what that means. What's wrong? what do you need to do to you new machine? etc.

Illumination greatly appreciated

[mike@af]

Originally Posted by klutz_100

What does that mean exactly? I've read similar things in many places but I don't actually understand what that means. What's wrong? what do you need to do to you new machine? etc.

Illumination greatly appreciated

Talk to Gio. Theres a lot of slop, and play in the parts. A lot of movement that shouldnt be there. They take forever to align and make accurate enough for scale work.

[freakray]

The general theme I am picking up here is that Sherline are the only way to go if you're looking to be serious.

Any pointers on good retailers and also on what to pick up right away with the initial purchase?

[MPWR]

I guess we will need to go over gear selection somewhere in this forum, won't we?

For modeling work, Sherline may not be the only choice, but it is undoubtably one of the very best. Sherline equipment is sometimes berated by 'full size' machinists because it is size limited- however given that obvious fact, in every other way it is truely excellent gear. It would be very difficult to find gear that is better in any meaningful way at all. Quality is absolutely top notch, their customer service is spectacular (I've delt with them once or twice, and they certainly exceeded my expectations), and they have a terrificly complete line of accessories to support their machines.

Sherline has a great website, and on it is a list of dealers. Some of these dealers do sell at less than list prices. This is one I've had good experinces with.

Package deals can be a good place to start. But the best deal going is to get a lathe, and then get a milling column and a (handfull of accesories). It gives you true milling and turning capability at a little over the cost of one machine. Obviously size is limited, but it's what both Mike and I are running. Certainly for 1/24 (and 1/12) work, it's plenty big enough. And of course when you're ready to have a dedicated mill as well, you can by the components you need to put it together- the milling column will transfer over.

[mike@af]

Originally Posted by MPWR

I guess we will need to go over gear selection somewhere in this forum, won't we?

Guess we should work on an FAQ from the advice we've offered Gio and Murray?

[Murray Kish]

I'll bet the questions are the same from many people. If you need help with the 'questions' part of the faq, let me know...

Murray

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by GTmike400

Guess we should work on an FAQ from the advice we've offered Gio and Murray?

Defiantely. I think we're going to need a decent FAQ, a How-to/tutorial area, and a gallery.

I wouldn't call myself an expert on machining (or on running a forum! ), so I'm going to hope for and appreciate help from everyone.

But you're right that the PMs we've written out would be a good start. Maybe we can post most or all of them into a thread, and then work on putting together an organized FAQ.

Originally Posted by Murray Kish

I'll bet the questions are the same from many people. If you need help with the 'questions' part of the faq, let me know...

Yeah, I think you're right. Hopefully this forum will be perfect for you as you're starting out. Questions will be great- the more you ask, the more all of us will learn.

[Cadillakin'98]

Wow, imagine that. You folks have more machinig equipment at your homes than I do at work (Army)!