Ball Screws for Bridgeport Copy

Crew:

I have been looking for a ball screw kit for my SuperMax, Bridgeport
copy knee mill. You must remember me, I'm the guy who keeps
asking beginner questions. Well, I've completed my search and
thought it may be of interest to the group.

I identified the following manufacturers:

Thomson Saginaw .0005 in/ft $3821.30 rolled ?

Hiwin .0005 in/ft $ 950.00 ground
.002 in/ft $ 600.00 rolled

Nook/PowerTrac .001 in/ft $1665.00 rolled

Rockford .003 in/ft $ 650.00 rolled

I also found kits supplied by the following companies, however I'm not
sure of the manufacturer.

MicroKinetics .003 in/ft $ 975.00

McMaster Carr .003 in/ft $ 743.00

GL Centroid ?? $ 900.00

From what I remember they all had reasonable delivery times, immediate
to a few weeks, but for Hiwin. Hiwin's delivery time was 8 weeks for the
rolled and 20 weeks for ground!

I also found Rockford sold a retrofit kit for my SuperMax at $800. I looked
over the drawings they sent and sure enough they matched my lead
screws. After some soul searching I decided it was worth the $150 (the
difference between $650 and $800) for a set that should fit right in. I
still think the Bridgeport kit would fit but with some fiddling. So, I've
ordered a Rockford kit for my SuperMax which should be here in two
weeks or so.

So, all in all, I have EMC running under rtlinux. I've also purchased three
5A driver boards and two 750 oz-in motors from Dan at Camtronics.
Motors for X and Y with Z on spindle to follow soon after X/Y work. I've
built two of the boards and am working through testing them. And now
I have ball screws on order. Feels like progress.

Thank you for all your help so far. I know I'll be back soon with more
questions.

Hugh

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Hugh & Denise Currin
currin@...
Klamath Falls, Oregon USA
541/884-3023
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