01-28-2023, 05:10 PM
so...I lost my balls!!
I've got a few of these cheap chineseum 1605 ball nuts I'm using on my mill cnc conversion.
They come with a plain sleeve inserted into them to retain the balls. yet for some reason when I was installing one onto the screw the balls fell out.
the sleeve is just barely big enough to retain the balls, and its really thin plastic tubing that is easily deformed when handling the nut.
So I printed up an alternative that is more like the screw than a plain sleeve. This also is used as a tool to reload the balls much easier than "gluing" them in place with grease or whatever other process is typically used. I tried using the steel screw itself, but there is little to no clearance to be able to insert the balls. the plastic has enough compliance that you can "snap" the balls into the slot without fear of the others releasing.
A few minutes with a caliper and CAD and off to the printer...one hour to print...then all balls reloaded in less than 10 minutes
I've got a few of these cheap chineseum 1605 ball nuts I'm using on my mill cnc conversion.
They come with a plain sleeve inserted into them to retain the balls. yet for some reason when I was installing one onto the screw the balls fell out.
the sleeve is just barely big enough to retain the balls, and its really thin plastic tubing that is easily deformed when handling the nut.
So I printed up an alternative that is more like the screw than a plain sleeve. This also is used as a tool to reload the balls much easier than "gluing" them in place with grease or whatever other process is typically used. I tried using the steel screw itself, but there is little to no clearance to be able to insert the balls. the plastic has enough compliance that you can "snap" the balls into the slot without fear of the others releasing.
A few minutes with a caliper and CAD and off to the printer...one hour to print...then all balls reloaded in less than 10 minutes
Retired old guy finally living the dream and enjoying life to the fullest!!!