Workshop made Acetal / DELRIN Rack & Pinion

[A_Camera]

I'd make a delrin nut. I used ordinary threaded rods in my first CNC and cut off a piece of the rod and made a tap out that and with the help of that tap I made delrin nuts. The nuts had really zero backlash for about a year, until I replaced all the threaded rods with ball screws. It served me well and the reason to replace was not backlash or accuracy issues, but simply speed and rigidity. The ball screws I am using now are 1605 and the rods were 12mm, which have a thread pitch of 1.75mm. Of course, the ballscrew/ballnut combo is much better, but on low budget threaded rods and custom made nuts are REALLY very good. Easy to replace the nuts, you can make a new one after a while, and it is really easy to make a tap if you have a piece to spare. There are many other methods of making a zero backlash nut out of delrin, and delrin is excellent for the purpose since it has low friction.

I would not make a rack out of Acetal (Delrin), I don't think it is good for that purpose, but it is suitable for making zero backlash nuts out of it.

[Boyan Silyavski]

I believe that at the current prices 1605 / 1610 screws are the way to go. No way you can convince me that you can not spare 100 pounds for a complete ball screw setup for your machine size. Do a job for sb and with the funds raised make the upgrade. Am i right?

[JAZZCNC]

I believe that at the current prices 1605 / 1610 screws are the way to go. No way you can convince me that you can not spare 100 pounds for a complete ball screw setup for your machine size. Do a job for sb and with the funds raised make the upgrade. Am i right?

Plus 1 on this.! . . . . Not worth messing around with by time bought stuff and messed it up.

If screw whip is your problem rather than backlash then making spring loaded screw support might be worth looking at.? But other than this I wouldn't mess around with R&P.

[A_Camera]

I believe that at the current prices 1605 / 1610 screws are the way to go. No way you can convince me that you can not spare 100 pounds for a complete ball screw setup for your machine size. Do a job for sb and with the funds raised make the upgrade. Am i right?

Can you really get such long screws with nuts for £100 including shipping? Otherwise I agree, ball screws are best, but at those lengths I think that screws, nuts and support bearings cost more than £100.

[Boyan Silyavski]

Can you really get such long screws with nuts for £100 including shipping? Otherwise I agree, ball screws are best, but at those lengths I think that screws, nuts and support bearings cost more than £100.

A bit more than i said, more or less "length in cm"=euro

[A_Camera]

A bit more than i said, more or less "length in cm"=euro

Yes, that's more realistic. Around 300 pounds for the OP. But of course, it is definitely the best solution even if it is more expensive and takes more time and is also more complicated than making three delrin nuts.

[davo453]

Ok I think you are talking me down and the obvious (Ballscrew) is most probably the way to go.

Thanks for the tip re BST automation.

I've never ordered from Aliexpress anything to watch out for? presumably you are likely to get hit for duty on the import..

[JAZZCNC]

I've never ordered from Aliexpress anything to watch out for? presumably you are likely to get hit for duty on the import..

Only thing you'll pay is VAT and Shipping Admin fee which is about £12-15. Ask the seller to put low value on paper work and you'll pay minimum Vat.