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Dave:I've just put together an CNC Sherline Lathe plus a CNC milling column. I need the shop to be very compact, if I had space I'd opt for a lathe and a mill. I'm just coming to terms with the Sherline for both milling and lathe work. I think they will be useful for small work but it will take some time to learn their limitations and tooling. A change from larger equipment. I'm just starting to use them.The Sherlines seem to be high quality and accurate. They don't use ball screws so for CNC there is some backlash, maybe 0.005", but this can be compensated for reasonably well. I suspect accuracy will be OK but not to that of a commercial machine. But at about 5% of the cost.I essentially went with CNC ready Sherline equipment. They are for CNC but missing the stepper motors and computer/controller. I think the Sherline controller just controls four axes, no input for limit switches, spindle encoder, speed control, coolant control, etc. Instead of this I used a Gecko G540 controller. It also controls four axes but has terminals for other inputs (and outputs). I added a spindle encoder to allow lathe threading. I used LinuxCNC on a mini-ITX computer. It allows inputs for the above options and I found it easy to set-up. But this requires building up the controller box (power supply, wiring, find the box, etc). Also wiring up the steppers and getting LinuxCNC working. No problem for a hobby, but a consideration for work. I would build up a controller for the mill and a second for the lathe. Switching all the plugs to go from one to the other is cumbersome. Could get by with one computer though.For work I don't know. Think carefully what you want the machines to do. Accuracy? Do you need lathe threading?To your original questions, I haven't used a Taig so can't compare. Glad to address questions on the Sherlines or CNC if I can.I'll be real interested in which way you go and how it comes out. Keep us updated.Hugh
Now if you can swing it with accounting and purchasing: This would do both.http://mdaprecision.com/products/5-axis-cnc-systems/tn5-v5/Just saying Cletus
0.001 accuracy is a good bench mark..... Mostly I need a small lathe to drill and turn..if for no other reason than spindle speed...I'm talking sub 1 mm diameter parts.