Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Attn Chris Baugher Re: Best source for inexpensive ballscrews?

On Sat, 2 Aug 2003, Will Bow wrote:

> Hi Chris,
>
> I dont suppose you have a part number for the ballscrew and ball nuts
> do you?

Sorry for the slow response. I just slogged through 250 emails from the
weekend!

Anyway, I used the 5/8" ballscrew and square nuts. From McMaster Carr...

5966K26 - 5/8" ballscrew - $1.09 per inch

5966K16 - 5.8" ballnut - $21.04 each

The ballscrew has this wierd blackish kinda dusty looking finish that I
don't agree with, but it seems to work ok. The ballnuts are made by
Thomson-Saginaw, and I'm 99.999% sure they are the same ballnuts that GM
used to use in their power steering boxes on their cars (maybe still do).

I was supposed to post a picture of how I made the anti-backlash nut, but
I was really busy over the weekend (hence the 250 unread emails!) I'll
try to get to it in the next day or so.

C|

> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Chris Baugher
> <cbaugher_yahoo@b...> wrote:
> > On Fri, 1 Aug 2003, 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....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...
> >
> > I just got some of McMaster's cheap ballscrews and nuts for my
> micro-mill
> > CNC conversion. The nuts are a little crude, more so than I expected.
> > But then they're only $22 each...
> >
> > Anyway I made my own simple preloaded nut. Take a block of aluminum or
> > whatever and bore a 15/16" hole through it, the same size as the outer
> > diameter of the threads on the ball nut. Now make a slit through
> one side
> > of the block all the way through to the hole in the same plane as the
> > centerline of the hole. Then drill and tap 2 holes perpendicular to
> that
> > slit so that now you have a sort of clamp. One nut goes in each side of
> > the hole so that the nuts are facing each other. When the screws are
> > tightened the nuts are then clamped in and won't move. When you
> assemble
> > this together with the ballscrew you can loosen one nut and turn it very
> > slightly to remove the backlash, then tighten it again.
> > Now you can drill other holes in the block to mount it to whatever you
> > want. Instant anti-backlash nut.
> >
> > I can take some pictures of it tomorrow. That should get the idea
> across
> > much better.
> >
> > C|