Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Best source for inexpensive ballscrews?

On Fri, 2003-08-01 at 20:27, Bill Kichman wrote:

> McMaster-Carr's pricing is even cheaper than Reid Tool...you can buy "by the
> inch" and 5/8" diameter is seriously discounted compared to the other
> diameters....

A 5/8" ballscrew is pretty weak because the balls make the core of the
screw fairly small. We used one in the cross slide in our lathe and it
is good for that, but not much more. Furthermore, if you are using
powerful servos you can overload them pretty easy.

We used 3/4" 5TPI for the X,Y and Z axes in our mill (10x32) and the Z
axis in the lathe. (13x40). If I had to do it over again, I'd use a
7/8" or 1" ballscrew for the Z axis in the lathe. The 3/4" ballscrew
works OK, but I think it could flex under the right conditions... I
don't know what those conditions would be though because we had an issue
with tool offsets yesterday and could easily kill a 3 HP spindle motor
dead. I didn't go with the bigger ballscrews because they had a coarser
pitch ie 4TPI and I was worried about servo heating and a lack of
power. (Someone told me our arrangement would have any power... they
were absolutely wrong.) I would now gladly use a 4TPI ballscrew.

One other thing: consider getting the high accuracy ballscrew for at
least the X axis on a mill. They aren't much more money and if you
machine larger parts they are almost a necessity. Consider this: on an
18" piece with a standard precision ballscrew the error could be 6 thou,
which is considerable in my books.

One more thing: McMaster Carr doesn't cut the ballscrews if you order by
the inch. They order them from Nook and it will take several weeks to
get one.

The next thing you need to concern yourself with is attaching the
bearings and drive system to the ballscrews. They are hard (Rockwell
45C ?). We machined ballscrew spindles and pressed them on.

> this is looking better all the time....so now if I buy the
> square nut only, how is that attached to the mill? I ask, because a
> standard flange likely won't fit my application anyhow, so I thought I would
> investigate other mountings...

There isn't room in most axes for the flange or the square nut. We
bought the round nuts and tapped the ballnut mounts we made with the
closest thread to what the nuts have, ie 1-3/16"-18TPI. The ballnuts
fit loose in that thread, but we used a set screw to tighten up on a
flat spot. We checked all the nuts for tightness the other day and they
were fine.

>
> R. William Kichman, P.E.
> Kichman Engineering Associates
> 103 Old Furnace Road
> Cornwall, PA 17016-0643
> tel/fax 717/270-0714
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bill Kichman" <billkichman@...>
> To: <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 10:04 PM
> Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Best source for inexpensive ballscrews?
>
>
> > Hey, those REID Tool ballscrews are priced well, thanks Sam! IF I read
> > correctly, I can buy both a 24" and 48" screw and (4) ball nuts ( for
> > preloading) for under $200!
> > Now about preloading....Kim, can you please clarify how you did this? I
> > understand that preloading is essentially squeezing (2) sets of ballscrew
> > nuts against each other so the backlash is eliminated. How exactly was
> this
> > done? Thanks again you guys are truly a great group. I just hope I can
> be
> > of help too someday here...
> >
> > cheers
> >
> > R. William Kichman, P.E.
> > Kichman Engineering Associates
> > 103 Old Furnace Road
> > Cornwall, PA 17016-0643
> > tel/fax 717/270-0714
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "sam sokolik" <samcoinc2001@...>
> > To: <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
> > Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 9:21 PM
> > Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Best source for inexpensive ballscrews?
> >
> >
> > > The cheapest I found so far was from reid tool
> > >
> >
> http://www.reidtool.com/store/store/listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=8194
> > > This is a list of ball screws (thomson)
> > > here are there nuts
> > >
> >
> http://www.reidtool.com/store/store/listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=5351
> > > look at the last 10 listings on the page. they are the nuts that go with
> > the thomson ball screws
> > >
> > > sam
> > >
> > > Bill Kichman <billkichman@...> wrote:
> > > Just curious what others have done in the way of obtaining cost
> effective
> > > ballscrews for their conversions. I am doing a full sized mill
> conversion,
> > > and simply cannot see spending $1k to $3k for a set of preload style
> > > ballscrews for a hobby venture. What is the least costly solution?
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > > R. William Kichman, P.E.
> > > Kichman Engineering Associates
> > > 103 Old Furnace Road
> > > Cornwall, PA 17016-0643
> > > tel/fax 717/270-0714
> > >
> > >
> > >
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> OT
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> > > NOTICE: ALL POSTINGS TO THIS GROUP BECOME PUBLIC DOMAIN BY POSTING THEM.
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--
Kim Lux <lux@...>