In article ,
Robert Swinney wrote:
Walter,

Get a set of screw machine length drill bits (stub drill bits) for drilling
from the Sherline tail stock. Always start drilling with a center drill.
The short stub drills work well for small jobs in your drill press or small
mill, also.

Also -- you may be able to get drill bits (including center
drills) with a shank to match the taper of your tailstock. I use MT-1
tools in the tailstock of my Compact-5/CNC -- especially when I need a
long drill bit for a through hole.

Don't bore with the tool bit in the tail stock. Put the boring tool bit, on
center, in the tool post instead.

You mean "drill" here, don't you? All boring on a lathe is done
from the toolpost -- except for line boring, where the boring bar is
run between centers and the workpiece is mounted on the cross-slide.

And -- for larger machines (e.g. my 12x24" Clausing), there are
available quick-change holders with a Morse taper socket for this sort
of operation. I presume that something similar is available if you have
a quick-change toolpost for the Sherline -- it just needs to match the
taper in the tailstock -- unless your tailstock is like the one on the
Unimat SL-1000 -- an external thread on the ram which matches the
spindle thread, so you can put the drill chuck on either end -- or the
regular lathe chucks, too.

For holding work larger than the spindle through hole, reverse the jaws in
the Sherline chuck. Also, note the reversed jaws can be used to hold hollow
round pieces with the jaws opening out rather than in. Mark the jaws and be
sure to always replace them in their original location.

And -- pick up the 3-jaw chuck for the Taig (which will fit the
spindle of the Sherline) and use the two-piece jaws to make a custom jaw
for your task. The top jaws for that are aluminum, and easy to machine.

Screw cutting in the Sherline was "designed in" as an afterthought, I'm
sure. However, with the Sherline screw cutting attachment one can cut very
accurate screws, centered on the spindle. This is a bit awkward, requiring
the headstock to be turned with the left hand; however the reward is a screw
of "machine quality".

Much better than the afterthought for thread cutting on the
above-mentioned Unimat, at least. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

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