[mbschuette]

I have a Sherline lathe that I am considering converting to CNC. What I am considering is converting the stock leadscrews over to ballscrews. Has anyone done this or is this even something that is worth taking the?

Thanks

Melvin

[squidparadox23]

I am looking for ballscrews for my sherline too. please let me know if you find any and I'll do the same for you. If I can't find any I am gong to buy the right size ballscrew and tun the end down to the proper dimension on a cylindrical grinder. so if you want some custom ones I'm looking into it.

[NEATman]

You could check out Misumi - they offer ballscrews in diameters as small as 8mm OD.

http://www.misumi-ec.com/usa/eusaen/..._20090300.html

Keith

[vlmarshall]

There isn't enough room for a ballnut inside the Sherline mill saddle, at least not for an 8mm ballscrew.You could possibly mount it to the back of the saddle for the Y axis, but for X, anything larger than .375" would rub the underside of the table.


I'm hoping to one day find a 1/4" ballscrew, or convert to Acme threads, but for now, the stock leadscrews work fine for me.

[eljainc]

Have you looked at Roton? We buy ACME lead screws from them and I know they have ball screws/ball nuts. Check this link:

http://www.roton.com/QS_Ball.aspx?line=Quick


They make some pretty good products.

Mike

[vlmarshall]

I just realized that my above post is a bit absent-minded, and talks about the Sherline MILL, not lathe. Oops. There's a LOT more room on the lathe, and I'd love to convert mine, as well.

Have you looked at Roton? We buy ACME lead screws from them and I know they have ball screws/ball nuts. Check this link:
http://www.roton.com/QS_Ball.aspx?line=Quick
They make some pretty good products.
Mike

Nice link, Mike. That's the first 1/4" ballscrew I've seen.

[NEATman]

Mike-

Notice that the 1/4" ballscrew is "freewheeling":
http://www.roton.com/freewheeling-ba...e=Freewheeling
There are no internal threads on the inside of the ballnut, and this should not be used on machines that use the rotation of the screw for feedback.

Here is a translated german website (Steinmeyer) who makes a 3mm OD ballscrew:
http://translate.google.com/translat...de&sl=de&tl=en

Keith