By Ed Nisley
The standard Sherline mill comes with tapered plastic knobs on the handwheels, which is exactly what you want for a manual mill, and what you don’t want on a CNC machine: they rattle like crazy during computer-controlled moves.
Some folks contend the knob unbalances the handwheel, but I’m not convinced that’s a real problem. Their advice is to remove the entire knob assembly, leaving a bare shaft sticking out of the motor. Seems a bit extreme to me.
In any event, shortly after I got the mill, I unscrewed the little retaining screw from the end of each knob, put all the parts in a Ziploc bag, tucked it in my tool box, and have been rattle-free ever since.
The metal shaft is entirely adequate for those rare occasions when I turn the knob manually; the graduated settings let me detect when / if I’ve screwed up the acceleration (on a new installation) to the point where the motor is losing steps, and all is right with the world.
Oh, that orange-barred white tape in front of the motor? That’s a reminder to keep the usual pile of crap away from the spinning knob. That little shaft can fling small objects a fair distance and makes a nasty tangle out of a misplaced red rag…
Thanks Ed. Your subscription has been extended an issue!
Please do us a tremendous favor and forward this e-mail on to your machining friends!
Please do us a tremendous favor and forward this e-mail on to your machining friends!
Are you not a subscriber to DIGITAL MACHINIST? Visit us at www.digitalmachinist.net and request a no-obligation issue, or call and request it at 1-800-447-7367. Tell them you received an e-mail from a friend!
And don’t forget to check out Digital Machinist’s page on Facebook and our Twitter feed!
Your friend thinks you’ll enjoy DM, or you wouldn’t have this e-mail!
We hope you enjoyed this e-mail tip, brought to you by your friends at Digital Machinist.
Get Involved!
Do you enjoy our e-mail tips? Has one of them ever “knocked something loose” in your head? Your tip could be a future e-mail blast from your favorite magazine. Just send your tips to george.bulliss@VPDemandCreation.com. If we use your tip, we will extend your subscription by an issue. We like to see 200 to 300 words, plus an image, if available. Thanks!