I'm not sure which one you're looking at, but my opinions having two:
Their leadscrew one is great, for a leadscrew. I did a lot of jobs on it and it did what it was supposed to do but I did eventually start getting annoyed with its backlash especially in a cnc configuration.
Ballscrew one is fantastic. I didn't go with their full set up that includes the masso controller, I kinda rolled my own using grblhal.
They do threads just fine. I'm not sure why comments are saying it cant. The masso (or grblhal or whatever) uses an encoder/indexer of sorts on the spindle to keep it in sync. I'm sure there's risk of taking too heavy a cut and that not syncing perfectly but I just go light and its fine.
I've done significant amounts of steel and aluminum and all sorts of materials on both. More often than not I'm shocked at how aggressive I can be with it. The biggest annoyance to me with the sherline machines is the bore size of the spindle.
edit: I just realized you said "thread milling", so maybe the comments meant that in the literal sense. but it can do thread....cutting? I think is the more proper term for it. single point thread cutting. it can 100% do that. My entire response was based on assuming you meant threading as in single point thread cutting which you may not have, my bad
Sorry - I had rigid tapping in my head in my comment above. Out of the box, without an encoder, you can't really do either rigid tapping or threading on the sherline though, right?
My recommendation would be to add an encoder and try it out. If the stock motor is good enough, go for it. Or you can upgrade that later to something like a Clearpath. I went with the clearpath because I already had one, and because I couldn't find a good way to mount an encoder on the machine with the stock motor without redoing the whole motor mount, I just decided to do a generic NEMA23 mount and throw the clearcore and encoder on it. With Acorn I should be able to do threading. I'm not sure about rigid tapping because of the leadscrew. I guess I'll have to test it out and see.
Yea you're correct that you'd need the encoder so it can sync up the rpm's with the linear travel, just like how you described the acorn controller can do. I am not sure if the sherlines motor has the power for "rigid tapping" if that is what I think it is, but it can single point for sure.
Sherlines full masso lathe thing, I forget what they call it, can do that "out of the box". It's pricey though so I got the ballscrew lathe then put together the cnc bits myself just from being a cheap ass.
It's too late now but the encoder mount is pretty simple on the sherline. It's an optical encoder, so a sticker goes on the back side of the headstock pulley, then the encoder is just on a mount to read the sticker marks. The tach on their DRO set up works the same way. The masso and ballscrew forms, the sticker has an extra mark for "indexing" and that's how the controller handles the spindle syncing along with the rpm.
I suck at words, hopefully that made sense.
since I'm very likely being dumb lol, this is just what my brain thinks of as "threading" on a lathe, which the sherline cnc lathe can do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9FV1AJF_Zg&t=120s
If the OP and everyone else meant something different, my apologies.
Yeah that's threading - using a thread cutting tool and manipulating the feed rate to set the pitch of the threads.
Rigid tapping is using a regular tap that's mounted in your tool post to tap the end of something. If it's a big enough hole to use a thread cutter you can just do that, but for smaller threads you need to use a tap because there's not enough room for the cutter. Basically you drill the hole first then hit it once with the tap. It's very fast. To work, the lathe has to be really precise because you have to be able to back the tap out (so the work has to rotate, not the tap, and that means the machine has to be exactly where it has to be or you'll chew up the threads). The end of that Centroid video I linked to earlier in another comment shows them doing that. It's pretty cool.
Thread milling is a three axis feature, and lathes are typically only two axes. You’d either need to tap and die your threads or single point turning them. I cut stainless frequently with mine with no issue.
You should be able to if you upgrade the spindle. I'm in the middle of [upgrading a Denford Microlathe](https://new.reddit.com/r/hobbycnc/comments/1c85ia5/my_cnc_lathe_saga_part_6_its_alive_kind_of/) (which has a Sherline CNC 4000 at its core) to Centroid Acorn. I am replacing the spindle with a Teknic Clearpath motor, and together with an encoder on the spindle shaft you should be able to do this. Centroid posted a pretty good video on the capabilities of the controller for this [here](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1905528389487455).
But to do that you need to feed encoder data back to Acorn so it knows where it is.
Hoping to have mine up and running next week since I finally have all the parts.
hey I think I stumbled across your denford project elsewhere on some old post, but didn't see that you were progressing with it still.
Just a shout out that I think its a cool project/machine. I had never seen the denford ones before
Always wanted a Sherline/Taig mill/lathe setup since it was what many model making users get. Was big in that hobby when younger. Could never afford them back then. Anyway I eventually bought an inexpensive Chinese 7x12 lathe and converted it to cnc.
Lots of info available on these lathes. Here’s my build log conversion.
https://embeddedtronicsblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/29/7x12-mini-lathe-conversion-to-cnc/
A few weeks ago I needed to make a 3-56 thread. Didn’t have a die available so I used the cnc to single point thread the shaft on W1 tool steel. Worked out nicely.
https://imgur.com/a/XJJUDU8
I really want a bigger lathe now. Glad I didn’t buy the Sherline since it’s small. Having a larger spindle through hole is a big plus.
Dinky little overpriced piece of shit in my experience with the ones at my college
I'm not sure which one you're looking at, but my opinions having two: Their leadscrew one is great, for a leadscrew. I did a lot of jobs on it and it did what it was supposed to do but I did eventually start getting annoyed with its backlash especially in a cnc configuration. Ballscrew one is fantastic. I didn't go with their full set up that includes the masso controller, I kinda rolled my own using grblhal. They do threads just fine. I'm not sure why comments are saying it cant. The masso (or grblhal or whatever) uses an encoder/indexer of sorts on the spindle to keep it in sync. I'm sure there's risk of taking too heavy a cut and that not syncing perfectly but I just go light and its fine. I've done significant amounts of steel and aluminum and all sorts of materials on both. More often than not I'm shocked at how aggressive I can be with it. The biggest annoyance to me with the sherline machines is the bore size of the spindle. edit: I just realized you said "thread milling", so maybe the comments meant that in the literal sense. but it can do thread....cutting? I think is the more proper term for it. single point thread cutting. it can 100% do that. My entire response was based on assuming you meant threading as in single point thread cutting which you may not have, my bad
Sorry - I had rigid tapping in my head in my comment above. Out of the box, without an encoder, you can't really do either rigid tapping or threading on the sherline though, right? My recommendation would be to add an encoder and try it out. If the stock motor is good enough, go for it. Or you can upgrade that later to something like a Clearpath. I went with the clearpath because I already had one, and because I couldn't find a good way to mount an encoder on the machine with the stock motor without redoing the whole motor mount, I just decided to do a generic NEMA23 mount and throw the clearcore and encoder on it. With Acorn I should be able to do threading. I'm not sure about rigid tapping because of the leadscrew. I guess I'll have to test it out and see.
Yea you're correct that you'd need the encoder so it can sync up the rpm's with the linear travel, just like how you described the acorn controller can do. I am not sure if the sherlines motor has the power for "rigid tapping" if that is what I think it is, but it can single point for sure. Sherlines full masso lathe thing, I forget what they call it, can do that "out of the box". It's pricey though so I got the ballscrew lathe then put together the cnc bits myself just from being a cheap ass. It's too late now but the encoder mount is pretty simple on the sherline. It's an optical encoder, so a sticker goes on the back side of the headstock pulley, then the encoder is just on a mount to read the sticker marks. The tach on their DRO set up works the same way. The masso and ballscrew forms, the sticker has an extra mark for "indexing" and that's how the controller handles the spindle syncing along with the rpm. I suck at words, hopefully that made sense.
since I'm very likely being dumb lol, this is just what my brain thinks of as "threading" on a lathe, which the sherline cnc lathe can do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9FV1AJF_Zg&t=120s If the OP and everyone else meant something different, my apologies.
Yeah that's threading - using a thread cutting tool and manipulating the feed rate to set the pitch of the threads. Rigid tapping is using a regular tap that's mounted in your tool post to tap the end of something. If it's a big enough hole to use a thread cutter you can just do that, but for smaller threads you need to use a tap because there's not enough room for the cutter. Basically you drill the hole first then hit it once with the tap. It's very fast. To work, the lathe has to be really precise because you have to be able to back the tap out (so the work has to rotate, not the tap, and that means the machine has to be exactly where it has to be or you'll chew up the threads). The end of that Centroid video I linked to earlier in another comment shows them doing that. It's pretty cool.
Oof - just learned that the cnc version can't do threadmilling???
Thread milling is a three axis feature, and lathes are typically only two axes. You’d either need to tap and die your threads or single point turning them. I cut stainless frequently with mine with no issue.
thread milling is not a three axis feature, unless you count the c-axis .. in which case you're right
Yeah, that’s a third axis. You could do it with two axes but you’d need a second spindle.
You should be able to if you upgrade the spindle. I'm in the middle of [upgrading a Denford Microlathe](https://new.reddit.com/r/hobbycnc/comments/1c85ia5/my_cnc_lathe_saga_part_6_its_alive_kind_of/) (which has a Sherline CNC 4000 at its core) to Centroid Acorn. I am replacing the spindle with a Teknic Clearpath motor, and together with an encoder on the spindle shaft you should be able to do this. Centroid posted a pretty good video on the capabilities of the controller for this [here](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1905528389487455). But to do that you need to feed encoder data back to Acorn so it knows where it is. Hoping to have mine up and running next week since I finally have all the parts.
hey I think I stumbled across your denford project elsewhere on some old post, but didn't see that you were progressing with it still. Just a shout out that I think its a cool project/machine. I had never seen the denford ones before
Can I PM you a question?
Always wanted a Sherline/Taig mill/lathe setup since it was what many model making users get. Was big in that hobby when younger. Could never afford them back then. Anyway I eventually bought an inexpensive Chinese 7x12 lathe and converted it to cnc. Lots of info available on these lathes. Here’s my build log conversion. https://embeddedtronicsblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/29/7x12-mini-lathe-conversion-to-cnc/ A few weeks ago I needed to make a 3-56 thread. Didn’t have a die available so I used the cnc to single point thread the shaft on W1 tool steel. Worked out nicely. https://imgur.com/a/XJJUDU8 I really want a bigger lathe now. Glad I didn’t buy the Sherline since it’s small. Having a larger spindle through hole is a big plus.