The X0 mill isn't supplied with an XY table, and afaik it never has
been. Are you thinking of the X1 micro-mill?
If it's an X1 you could try littlemachineshop.com, but they only do
parts for X1 and larger mills. Also they are 'merkins.
http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_category.php?category=-166688942&First=L&Last=P
X1 nuts are $11.95 each, so two should just get under [1] the £18 tax
limit on imported goods parcels [2].
[1] though watch out as HMRC or whatever the call themselves these days
use their own dollar-pound exchange rates, available on their website if
you have a few days to spare finding it
[2] the tax itself is small, but the handling/collection charge is £8
plus depending on carrier - USPS is usually best
-- Peter Fairbrother
[...]
Aargh, spoke too soon. I see AET do supply a separate XY table for the
X0 mill.
I don't know who makes it, but I don't think it's by Sieg. Did you ask
Ketan?
Alternatively, can you post dimensions etc including the leadscrew thread?
-- Peter Fairbrother
Peter.
Yes I have spoken to Ketan, and yes AET did supply the table, and no AET can
not supply the nuts. However, further testing since I first wrote revealed
that the nuts are not worn significantly, what I am detecting was just the
inherent slack in the thread that has no compensation for backlash. I have
just sketched a design of double nut with jacking screws similar to those on
my Myford lathe, though the link you showed in your other post would be an
alternative idea. Whether I can make it is another matter altogether!
Regards Cliff.
Hi Cliff,
I cant recall having this conversation with you. May be this was some
time ago, or, may be I am starting to forget things....sign of things
to come :-)
Anyway, you are right, we do not keep the nuts. We have been selling
the said XY table for the X0 for about five years, and so far, no one
has asked me for them (unless I have forgotten).
The said table is made by a SIEG Group factory.
We do keep nuts for the SX1 because people such as Richard Bartlet of
Compucut add an extra nut when converting the said mills to CNC.
Thanks, Ketan at ARC or AET
Sorry Ketan. It's my memory that is at fault, not yours. It was you I spoke
to regarding the motor problem, and Ian regarding the nuts.
Regards, Cliff.
[...]
I didn't know that, obviously, though afaict Sieg is more a loose
affiliation than a single company - is that correct?
Anyway, back to leadscrew nuts. Sieg sometimes do a strange version of
backlash adjustment, which I haven't seen elsewhere, and which may be
the method used on the table - they rock the nut.
This is best-known on the cross-slide of the C3 mini lathe, where there
are three adjusting screws. The center one acts as a pivot, and the two
outside ones rock the nut up and down.
This is not as good as a split nut, as only portions of the sides of the
nut is engaged, and it will wear faster, but it can provide low backlash
for a while - however in practice backlash tends to increase quite
quickly if it's set to a 100/th mm or so, and a split nut can do much
better, retaining <1/100th mm backlash for extended periods if well
adjusted and lubricated..
Though you'll probably need to fit paired thrust bearings to the
leadscrews as well in order to to get that sort of backlash.
-- Peter Fairbrother
It is a complex picture. From a Western point of view, it is best to
regard it as divisions or departments of a single company - SIEG. It
is anything but loose, and probably far better managed and controlled
then before.
After much laborious measurement and sketching, I made one split nut for the
table today, and on testing with some spare 6 mm studding it all seemed to
work as hoped. Two 8 BA screws to jack the two halves of the nut apart took
up the backlash nicely, and the threaded operating and mounting holes all
seemed to line up as they should with the other components, but the
leadscrew just would not engage. Gentle persuasion got me nowhere, and then
after thirty minutes the penny dropped:- the leadscrew had a left hand
thread! After another couple of hours I had made a new leadscrew with right
hand thread, assembled it, and successfully tested it, so the other one must
wait until tomorrow.
What puzzles me is why one leadscrew should have a LH thread, while the
other has a RH thread. I had previously found the table would not always go
in the expected directions when the screws were operated but never thought
it through to the logical conclusion, assuming instead that I was being
cack-handed. Very strange.
Cliff Coggin.
Cliff Coggin.
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