> Actually I bought a CNC Sherline about 8 or 9 years ago. It's been
> in my closet ever since. I just haven't had time to play with it yet.
> Give me time though. LOL
My dad came upon an opportunity some 10 years ago to CNC
machine some small parts for a local company. Dad's no
machinist but a hell of a technical guy. I converted a
Sherline mill to CNC running the AHHA software and devised
an approach to fixturing that worked very well. Though he
still can barely copy a file from a floppy to a HDD (he's
nearly 80 now and just will never be comfortable with
computers), he did pick up the process and ended up with the
lowest reject rate of any of the shops supplying this
company. He was going up against shops with the real stuff
and held his own. A comparator and toolmaker's microscope
verified we were holding parts to +/-.001 or better. Dad was
knocking down upwards of $60k/year right up until the
company was bought out and machining was brought in house.
Parts made on that Sherline are flying in Boeing aircraft,
used in Bradley fighting vehicles, and many other critical
applications.
http://www.specsensors.com/segments.asp is a link to the
company and the pictured elements are what he machined. Very
possible all the parts pictured were machined by him.
Jon
