Shereline closing Down

I was just made aware of this on ME Forum. I know there are several Shereline users on here who may be affected or want to pick up some closing down savings

https://www.sherline.com/an-important-message-to-our-sherline-customers/

Oh no!  As a long time sherline user, this is a big disappointment.  I'll have  check and see if there are any spare parts or accessories I should order...

Sad news indeed, it would be interesting to know the reason, but doing business in CA is never easy or low cost.
I wonder what this means for the Craftsmanship Museum, maybe it is a completely separate entity?

Dave

Oh, I hadn't thought about the museum side of things. Its a seperate entity, but might be some funding crossover. Nothing on their website, they are run as a nonprofit so hopefully the museum continues without Sherline.

I just placed an order for a bunch of spares and other bits I might need. They have a 25% off sale going to help clear things out.

Their web page describes the circumstances behind decision.

https://www.sherline.com/an-important-message-to-our-sherline-customers/

Just read the webpage; very sad to see another company supplying quality products going under, seems to be an unfortunate accelearting trend 

That'a a real shame. Their lathes and mills were good products that punched way above their weight in the workshop. They treated customers right too.

Wow, talk about timing!  I literally have a used Sherline lathe heading over to me via FedEx at this very moment.  I have no intention of getting rid of my current shop lathe, but wanted the Sherline to turn all the tiny bits and bobs that was getting annoying with mine.  Holding a collet in a extension in another collet to work on 1-72 hardware got me thinking about this.

Hopefully the shipping gods are merciful and I get the lathe for this weekend.  I already have some parts picked-out, but it looks like I'll have to step-up the procurement program time schedule, specifically with a 4 jaw scroll chuck and I also want to give the new guy a good look-over before I place my order.

Kinda surprising, but I always did wonder how Sherline made a go at it in the hobby market.  I guess the steady rest being discontinued a few months ago was a bellwether of things to come.

They definitely  did treat customers  well. Any time I had a question they were right on it, couple time I  spoke with one of thier technical guys directly. Had the lever on the toggle switch break on the control box once, after only 20 years of use. Contacted them to get the part number to order a replacement,  then a new switch arrived in the mail, no charge!

Yes, this news really sucks.
The first thing (person) I thought of was Chris when I read the news.

It's too bad they could not make a continued go of it.
I wonder if they tried to sell the company before making this decision?
For sure Cali is not the cheapest place to carry on business from (neither is NY where I am).

Just too bad for the hobby.

Sid

As soon as I wrote about the steady rest being discontinued, they must have found a few as it's now back in stock.  I read other forum posts from several months ago complaining about the steady disappearing.  It seems they were having trouble getting castings...

One thing, most companies just disappear when they close-up but it's nice Sherline is giving everyone a chance to get what they need.  They have excellent documentation for their items which I hope they can keep online for awhile.

Looks like I'm in the Sherline lathe club now (see attachment), although a lot has happened while this lathe was with the shippers!

This Sherline 4000 has a Hill House motor with external brushes and according to our AI OverLords that puts the manufacturing date at 2012-2014.  I don't think it seen much use, although the former owner was a "Greaser" and not in the Sha Na Na way. The insides of the chuck, the screws, the tailstock quill: all coated with brown grease that hardened like shoe polish.  What a pain that was to clean!  I went through an entire Sure Shot sprayer of brake cleaner and then some.

So, what parts are the Sherline owners getting for the long-term?  So far I'm just getting a spare belt with a few upgrades.  Since for me this is a 2nd Op lathe I don't need a ton of accessories and much of what I will use I'm making in-house.

Spare belts are the biggest thing, though you can get the same belts from sewing machine spares suppliers. The other thing that wears out eventually is the backlash adjusters on each axis. For a used once in a while machine, thats not as big a deal as on mine that get used constantly. Other than that, it would be spare end mill holders, or any accessory that you might want someday that you could not make yourself. As you mentioned about brushes - the older motor used replaceable brushes, newer ones not. My very first machine's motor wore out the brushes after decades, the armature where they ride too eventually which required a replacement motor. Otherwise things hold up very well, the gibs have lots of adjustment and don't need replacing. Eventually the scoll chucks get worn.

I found it very convienient that they sold tool blanks, and I've used several to make custom tools. Most of those are out of stock now.

Eric

Thanks Chris!  I can't imagine too many other people have more time on Sherline equipment.  It's good to hear I don't have much to worry about.

This lathe doesn't have backlash adjustment on any axis as apparently that arrived a year or two later.  The upgrade kit for Y Axis (crossfeed) is here:

https://www.sherline.com/product/40950-cnc-lathe-crosslide-anti-backlash-upgrade-kit/#description

Amusing enough, they whack you $26 extra for that fixture block so I'll just buy the parts separately and use the mill for drilling and tapping that hole.  There's also a upgrade kit for the Z axis (left & righty) but I'm not sure if that's really necessary.

I'm getting a MT0 blank with a 3/4" shaft basically as a guide to setup the compound on the trusty South Bend for cutting that taper.  It's easy to do with an indicator.  Also really need a zero-reset hand wheel on the crossfeed.  I'm getting the metric one so it's direct-read as described here:

https://sherline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/tip_058.pdf

I can't switch back and forth between different radius and diameter crossfeed setups on each lathe or I'll go nuts. 

As you can see from the attachment the little guy is back together.  The chuck has .0015 TIR right at the jaw which is good and it looks almost unused.  Have .003 backlash at the crossfeed, basically none for the Z and .004 at the tail stock.  I don't think this lathe seen much action, so few repair items beside the sticker.