Mike Rehmus has put together a professional quality video that answers virtually all the questions first time users have about setting up and using a Sherline lathe.
The over 3-1/2 hour video takes you from mounting the machine to a board to aligning the headstock. Mike uses the example of turning a test bar to check for straightness. He then goes through facing and boring, making a tight-fitting hole for the test bar as a sample job. You also get to see how he goes about using a micrometer and caliper to measure the results as he goes along. Setting the height of the cutting tool, holding the workpiece and how to grind a lathe tool are covered as well. Mike also covers backlash and how to deal with it and how to disassemble and clean a chuck as well as demonstrating handwheel technique and how to use the optional adjustable zero handwheels. Other common tasks like how to cut tapers and how to turn an eccentric using an independent 4-jaw chuck are covered.
Special segments on accessories include use of the steady rest, follower rest, live center, center drills and doing milling jobs on the lathe using either the vertical milling table or the more versatile vertical milling column. The basics of using the threading attachment are also covered. You are also reminded at the appropriate times of proper safety procedures so you will learn to work safely.
The video features helpful inset photos, screen-in-screen views and titles to help explain the more complicated aspects of some of the jobs. An initial menu screen allows you to watch the segments in any order you choose. By the time you are done watching this video even a person who has never used a lathe before will have the knowledge and confidence to chuck up a piece of metal and start making chips. Though the Sherline Model 4500 lathe is used in all the examples, the techniques used here could be applied to any other Sherline lathe or, for that matter, any other brand of lathe.
5335 Sherline Lathe Basics—How to Set Up and Operate the Sherline Lathe