07-05-2015, 07:55 PM
Thanks for all the responses guys. I have been working days this weekend so I couldn't post till now. I'm not too familiar with the proper formalities of posting on forums, so I will just go down the list and try to respond to most of you.
Hello EDK. I read a lot of your thread and saw your drawings on the cross slide lead screw and it looks like PixMan did an excellent job on the lead screw. Improving the factory design on top of that. Personally, I haven't has much experience machining anything other than aluminum and I have never made a thread before. Everything I have done was take a cut , measure and take another cut. I am assuming this lead screw cutting is a fairly advanced machining job. I could try it, but do I need some sort of center rest? The shaft is fairly long. I don't have any extras other than a drill chuck and dead center to fit in the tail stock.
Hello Dallen. I don't even know how you would go about making a concave gear like that. It would be nice to see the process. Also I don't know the u shaped part you are describing. Is it number 71 on the exploded view Johnnyc14 posted?
Hello Johnnyc14. Funny you should say mill, cause that's why I was looking into getting a lathe; so I could turn down the ends of some acme screws to fit into bearings for a CNC router. Anyway, I think there are portions of the lathe lead screw that are fatter than the small diameter of the acme threading, so it has to be cut out of one piece of steel or maybe welded to another piece. Welding would probably bring more problems with getting things perfectly true as well. The worn gear on the exploded view you gave me is number 31 (they only draw a few teeth on the diagram). It threw me off until I looked at it closely.
Hello PixMan. You are correct about the lead screw. The threads in the middle are worn thinner than the original threads on the ends, making it impossible to get rid of backlash. If a new nut was fitted it would wear quickly. I saw the job you did on EDK's lead screw and it looks excellent. I'm not sure why they did the nut mount that way, cause it seems to be a poor design. In fact, my plug is loose in the hole, and I thought that was the way it was supposed to be due to the fact that the tool slide nut just fits in a hole as well. Upon closer inspection, I see the spline like markings on the plug. By the way, what would you charge me to make the "small fortune" second set?
Mark
Hello EDK. I read a lot of your thread and saw your drawings on the cross slide lead screw and it looks like PixMan did an excellent job on the lead screw. Improving the factory design on top of that. Personally, I haven't has much experience machining anything other than aluminum and I have never made a thread before. Everything I have done was take a cut , measure and take another cut. I am assuming this lead screw cutting is a fairly advanced machining job. I could try it, but do I need some sort of center rest? The shaft is fairly long. I don't have any extras other than a drill chuck and dead center to fit in the tail stock.
Hello Dallen. I don't even know how you would go about making a concave gear like that. It would be nice to see the process. Also I don't know the u shaped part you are describing. Is it number 71 on the exploded view Johnnyc14 posted?
Hello Johnnyc14. Funny you should say mill, cause that's why I was looking into getting a lathe; so I could turn down the ends of some acme screws to fit into bearings for a CNC router. Anyway, I think there are portions of the lathe lead screw that are fatter than the small diameter of the acme threading, so it has to be cut out of one piece of steel or maybe welded to another piece. Welding would probably bring more problems with getting things perfectly true as well. The worn gear on the exploded view you gave me is number 31 (they only draw a few teeth on the diagram). It threw me off until I looked at it closely.
Hello PixMan. You are correct about the lead screw. The threads in the middle are worn thinner than the original threads on the ends, making it impossible to get rid of backlash. If a new nut was fitted it would wear quickly. I saw the job you did on EDK's lead screw and it looks excellent. I'm not sure why they did the nut mount that way, cause it seems to be a poor design. In fact, my plug is loose in the hole, and I thought that was the way it was supposed to be due to the fact that the tool slide nut just fits in a hole as well. Upon closer inspection, I see the spline like markings on the plug. By the way, what would you charge me to make the "small fortune" second set?
Mark