Antibacklash nuts

Mar 02, 2007 1 Replies

What's wrong with antibacklash nuts on the stock lead screw that came with my small Taiwanese knee mill for CNC conversion? Purely for personal hobby use, concerns about wear on the screw would be secondary. Ditto for friction and drag concerns, my steppers are



1000+ oz in rated. Lead screw thrust bearings would be part of the design in the conversion. Would accuracy be equal to or better than what I get now, theoretically? Keeping in mind the intended purpose, what other concerns about this money saving newbie approach am I not seeing? Please enlighten me. Thanks.

If you use split nuts with no compliance you can only adjust for the tightest or least worn portion of the screw. If you adjust for the sloppiest point you'll have interference and excess friction on the tighter sections.

A spring loaded nut set up to eliminate backlash on the sloppiest part of the screw will reduce the friction on the tighter sections, but will also reduce the overall rigidity of the machine.

Ned Simmons

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