Sherline 2K Mill Base and Electrical

[jjr2001]

Sherline recommends a base board for portability. I first mounted it on my "universal mobile cabinet".
Then I needed to use my table saw...Duh....Ok, let's make this thing portable and add a lamp with
electrical outlets and a switch and a pilot light.

One of the cautions some users noted was that the spindle could be on without any noise or motion.
They added a small pilot light to the control panel. Works great.

I wanted to set mine up with a pilot light, lamp, power switch and a switched outlet plus a place to plug in the DRO power supply.
That was accomplished with the 4x4 box, switch with indicator, and duplex outlet.
Mounted it at the rear of the support board.
The lamp is an Led type that cost a whole 6 bucks. It came on a clamp (plastic) which I promptly removed.

Bottom of the board has 4 blind mounting nuts (10-32) to hold the mill.

Electrical box is the outdoor type with an indoor cover plate. It has a 1/4" riser so the cover plate
clears the base.

Bottom of the board was then covered with some carpet pad. The type used to keep throw rugs from
slipping on a tile or wood floor.

Now it is portable, sound buffered, pilot lighted, illuminated, DRO powered, and ready to work.

Cheers, JR

[PJs]

Beautiful setup JR and nice use of wire tie mounts...I love those things! I like your lamp set up too. I'm always on the hunt at Garage sales for small desk lamps, especially with goose necks, and convert them to MR16 LED's very inexpensively. Singles can be run from a wall wart...which I always save and have tons. You can get them in 6k Daylight white now too which minimizes shadows a bit.

Again, beautiful set up!

[jjr2001]

Thanks PJ, I like the size of that lamp and the power in such a small package. Wouldn't take much to make it variable intensity with an old ohmite wire wound rheostat. Great tip.

Two reasons for the new Sherline, well maybe 3. It is very versatile, portable, use it at a bench sitting down, very simple DRO setup, accurate, great for making models. I am working on setting up my "computer" room to do dual duty. When finished I will be able to work in July when the temp hits 118 deg F.

Larger work with oil cutting etc in the garage and 12L14, brass, aluminum, plastic inside the computer room.

If I like the way it works I will probably add the lathe to complete my computer room machining setup.

Cheers, JR

Found one with the goose neck at Target. Already for 120 vac, looks similar to the one I bought. The power supply in mine is in the lamp fixture so all I needed to do was get 120vac to the cord. Easy to take off the plastic clip. ( it was destroyed in the process)
Does not matter since I did need it for anything.

[PJs]

Found one with the goose neck at Target. Already for 120 vac, looks similar to the one I bought. The power supply in mine is in the lamp fixture so all I needed to do was get 120vac to the cord. Easy to take off the plastic clip. ( it was destroyed in the process)
Does not matter since I did need it for anything.

May have to go to target next time...just looked and some are cheaper than I've paid at garage sales. Thanks for the Tip! Another idea for your Computer/small machine room is a small track light with the MR16's. I found a 4 light track at Restore while back for $12 (all but 1 lamp good) and used it above the lathe area. Nice because each lamp can be point to flood an area. Eventually changed them over to the watt and color I wanted for optimum for me.

My son's work had both lathe and mill...Nice for small and proto work. I too like what Paul did with his drawer base...handy as a shirt pocket! Looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

~PJ

P.S. Maybe e-bay for the old Ohmites. Don't see them much anymore likely pricey. Might be able to do with one of those cheap PWM variable 12V supply,<$10...or an LM317? if you want to stay old school.

[Paul Jones]

JR,

Wow, that is a very nice universal milling machine by Sherline. I like the way you made it portable. You never have enough lighting when doing micromachining and making measurements. I did a similar setup with a Unimat SL lathe mounted with a one drawer cabinet for storing other lathe/mill accessories. The Unimat is not very heavy by itself but now with everything combined, the whole unit weighs in at 65 pounds and with four rubber feet under the cabinet the machine tool never moves on the workbench during machining but still "portable".

Regards,
Paul

[jjr2001]

Thanks Paul, I really like the under lathe tool drawers. I may need to make one of them to bring the lathe up to a working height.

Cheers, JR

[jjr2001]

Well I think the Ohmites are out. $20 to $30 on eBay. However if you have some DC lamps then you could drive several with this cheap little power supply.
0-30 volts at 0-3 amps. That would drive a lot of LEDs. Could lock down the voltage at 12 volts with some super glue on the pot and then use the current pot to adjust the intensity. Cheaper and more effecient than rheostats. This looks like a nice motor controller for a low power motor also.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/0-30V-2mA-3...oAAOSwHoFXvQRV

Cheers, JR

[Moby Duck]

Great little Mill and great mods that you have done but all the talk on LEDS and Ohmites (Rheostat/Potentiometer) has me confused.
What is a DC lamp? Incandescent lamps work on AC or DC.
It is not usually possible to dim ordinary LED's unless they are of a special dimmable type, and even then it is often unsatisfactory and not done with a rheostat. LED's operate at around 4.5 volts DC, and if you have 12 volt LED's, somewhere in that circuit the 12 volts is dropped to 4.5 Volts. I could be wrong about all of this, but I would suggest that you do more research before you think of spending $20 -$30 on an old outdated Ohmite rheostat, or even think of buying a modern cheap variable power supply. See link below for more information on dimming LED's.

Dimming LED lamps: the dos and don'ts | Lux Magazine | Luxreview.com | Americas | Home page

[jjr2001]

Great little Mill and great mods that you have done but all the talk on LEDS and Ohmites (Rheostat/Potentiometer) has me confused.
What is a DC lamp? Incandescent lamps work on AC or DC.
It is not usually possible to dim ordinary LED's unless they are of a special dimmable type, and even then it is often unsatisfactory and not done with a rheostat. LED's operate at around 4.5 volts DC, and if you have 12 volt LED's, somewhere in that circuit the 12 volts is dropped to 4.5 Volts. I could be wrong about all of this, but I would suggest that you do more research before you think of spending $20 -$30 on an old outdated Ohmite rheostat, or even think of buying a modern cheap variable power supply. See link below for more information on dimming LED's.

Dimming LED lamps: the dos and don'ts | Lux Magazine | Luxreview.com | Americas | Home page

Thanks for the note Moby, I have not tried to vary the brightness of my shop lamps at this time since they are just about right as they are. LEDs are DC lamps and the ones I have used are designed to draw a specific current. If the current is exceeded then that
is the end of the LED.
I have in the past varied the intensity of led's by varying the current available to them. But of course that was then and this is now. So anything would be an experiment which I do frequently. I may just have to set up an experiment with this in the future.
Sorry about the confusion. I was just thinking out loud and not being specific enough. I do know and can say that you can blow an LED by giving it too much current. In my experience with panel mount LEDs which would draw only about 20 ma they would definitely dim with less than 20 ma. If you boosted the voltage or allowed more current to the led it would self destruct.

Cheers, JR

[PJs]

JR,

That is a pretty good looking kit PS, and definitely handy around the shop for the price and a box to put it in. Be curious to see how the output looks on a scope with a single big cap but for $8. I was thinking of one of these PWM dimmer controllers but they will need a wall wart to drive them. Most of the LED controllers are PWM that I have seen. This one could be taken out of the package and perhaps organized into your 4x4 box for $8, but again need 12VDC at 8A or less (~2A) if you are only driving a couple of 5-7W MR16s.

Personally for me and for shop use I prefer full on brightness and if it's too bright I just get a lower wattage units or a different color band because they are cheap. Also the goose neck allows me to move it away if it is too bright or causes dark shadows. That little track light I picked up was only about 18" long and was set up for 120VAC already...plug n' play and with 4-50W equivalent bulbs covered most of my lathe area from the ceiling. Nice that your unit had the stuff built in for 120VAC. I noticed the Target had a non-replaceable bulb...but I'm sure we could remedy that and replace with an MR16 socket...dirt cheap by the bundle.

Whatever you do with lighting your space I'm sure it will be perfect for you and your fine little mill setup. ~PJ