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  1. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan View Post
    I would mount the stepper motor to a block of aluminium since the posts are not particularly strong, wont conduct much heat from the motor and also look like a grandfather clock. Also you might have difficulty fitting the belt/pulley between two posts? It would certainly limit your choice of ratios.
    Probably negligent, but instead of making the ballnut mount match the circular profile of the nut, I'd make the mount closer to a rectangle so it fixes to a greater area of the bed since that should be stronger.

    fair points, i will certainly be changing the ballnut mount but the screw mount is, although debatable in need of more thought (access to y axis gib screws has been somewhat compromised)

    cost also needs to be taken into account so i may well use standoffs just to get the machine running and then cnc a new mount

  2. #22
    got some more feutering done on the x axis design this evening

    firstly i modified the stepper/ballscrew mount by lowering the motor giving space for gib screw access holes and then added a rib on the back for some extra rigidity

    Click image for larger version. 

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    then i drew a 1204 ballscrew and crude representations of thrust bearings for the ballscrew mount
    a 450mm long screw leaves just over 38mm overhanging the table travel extremities

    still have to decide on a pulley ratio so i can incorporate it into my design, any thoughts?


    could the moderator please change the title of this thread to 'centec 2 ballscrews' as its getting far of the original topic and it would be a shame to have to start again

  3. #23
    things have been slow to progress lately due to lifes consistent interuptions but on another note...
    I now have ballscrews!
    2x 1204 & 1x 1605. 250mm, 450mm and 450mm respectively
    also got my hands on a nice 20mm 2mt drill bit to drill the hole in the mills base casting for the z axis screw
    Click image for larger version. 

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    now that i have me some screws i need to get them machined. i have arranged for a friend to do this for me as the boxford doesn't have much in the way of change-gears and im afraid id screw it up (pun intended).

    but before i can do that i still need to order bearings and pulleys so i can factor them into the design. this leads me to a few questions...

    1) pulleys, is there really any difference betweel xl and htd or other types of pulley?

    2) bearings, i see alot of people using angular contact bearings, wouldn't ball thrust bearings be a cheaper alternative or is their something im missing?

    3) i see that using belleville washers is also quite common for preloading the bearings, would an easily available split washer not do the job?

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by jonnydeen View Post
    now that i have me some screws i need to get them machined. i have arranged for a friend to do this
    Why couldn't you get them machined by the seller? Assuming you bought them from China it should be very cheap. It's not easy to do it yourself due to the hardness of the surface.

    1) Different tooth shapes which are more/less accurate (backlash etc). HTD is generally considered the best for this application.
    2) Could be, but I think they'd be harder to mount and pre-load accurately? Also possibly lower efficiency, but I'm not sure.
    3) No since it wouldn't apply an even force on the bearing ring. Belleville washers may not be nessecary - it depends how you mount the bearings. The BK/BF blocks don't use them, instead they rely on the bearings being ground such that when they are tightened together the correct pre-load is applied, or they use shims. If you do use Belleville washers then you can put the ballscrew in tension, which is good since it increases the stiffness of the system a little (or a lot depending).
    Old router build log here. New router build log here. Lathe build log here.
    Electric motorbike project here.

  5. The Following User Says Thank You to Jonathan For This Useful Post:


  6. #25
    thanks for the reply jonathan

    firstly, im getting the screws machined free of charge, why pay if i dont need to?

    as for pulleys, i will take your word for htd and give them preference so long as i can find a set to fit the cramped x axis

    now, the bearing selection is an interesting predicament...
    the largest id magneto bearing i could comfortably implement would be E5 (16mm od)
    i can easily get 8x16x5 ball thrust bearings

    so, do i turn 12mm ballscrews down to 5mm to use magnetos or 8mm and just use ball thrust bearings. or in other words is 5mm sufficient if i ever hope for this machine to cut steel?

    and as for bellville washers, point taken

  7. #26
    i know this is on the dusty side of being classed as a zombie thread but did the op make any progress, only id love to be able to pick brains over this conversion.

  8. #27
    Almost 8 years, most certainly raising the dead!
    Long story short, I gathered up most requisite components then ended up selling the mill after I saw a novamill come up for reasonable £. Never finished the conversion and am frankly happy with the novamill.
    After learning a bit I think I would do the centec differently than I previously envisaged.
    If you want to pick brains, pm me

    Sent from my SM-A705FN using Tapatalk

  9. #28
    Just joined and have a Centec 2A that I would like to upgrade as you planned. Can you send me details of your current thoughts. Will save me a lot of time and many errors I think
    Mike

  10. #29
    Thanks for offer to help. I was not able to send a reply to your private note and cannot paste the reply and photos here. The software on this site is not the easiest for me to fathom. Looking at your drawings I think I understand and have ordered a 1204 ball screw with overall length of 500 and a plate to mount the motor lower with a belt drive. This will be at the right hand end. When I get the parts I can work out the details of the mounting and look for a means to mount the left hand handle and scales to make manual adjustments to location, so I have manual and motor control. A Nema 23 motor seems the right size. The other axis may need a smaller 8mm screw for access for the nut, which I will have to machine to fit, but that is after I have tackled the longer axis.
    Mike

  11. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by jonnydeen View Post
    fair points, i will certainly be changing the ballnut mount but the screw mount is, although debatable in need of more thought (access to y axis gib screws has been somewhat compromised)

    cost also needs to be taken into account so i may well use standoffs just to get the machine running and then cnc a new mount
    Please you are back on your project In the meantime soldiered on and after a year. Just fitted a ballscrew to the feed of my Centec 2A. It was a 2 but I managed to get a 2A body that fits the base and as expected all the upper parts. Ran with a borrowed Stepper Motor and a battery drill. My electronics associate in this project is working on the controls. Only current problem is when doing some milling with the drill as power to form key shapes in end of 1/4 inch rod a possible vibration from the cut dislodged the circlip at the driven end. Looking to see if alternative ends possible.
    Mike

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