Best way to machine ball screws?

[gavztheouch]

Can you redesign and go down to 10mm ?

Yes I can, bearings are bought already but hopefully it will not be a problem to swap if I pay the postage.

John S would it not be a good idea to try your steel plug trick?

How does everyone indicate there ball screws in the chuck? I know of a method by 5bears.com

And here is a great tutorial using a Derlin rod machined to slip onto the ball screw to give you a surface to indicate off. Is there any other way of doing this? http://www.5bears.com/cnc16.htm

[Jonathan]

Yes I can, bearings are bought already but hopefully it will not be a problem to swap if I pay the postage.

John S would it not be a good idea to try your steel plug trick?

If you can go for 10mm I'd definitely do that... it will be much easier.

[gavztheouch]

Those look pretty good. My screws won't be in tension and I have duel screws driving a lightweight 1.3M laser cutting gantry (Tube not mounted on gantry). So all things considered I should get away with the steel plug concept and if I mess it up I can rebore and start again?

[Gary]

The 1520 will most definitely be hard at the 12mm.
you are best to anneal the ends or use a cylindrical grinder.
The engineer i use to machine our ballscrews does need to anneal the ends from time to time.

[gavztheouch]

Thanks for the tips Jazz I made a start on some practice pieces.

For these I started with a piece of m12 threaded rod to represent my ball screw and bored a 6mm hole to recieve the steel rod I partially turned down to fit inside. The rest of the rod was left at 16mm. The weld held well when turning which is much more abusive than driving a lightly loaded screw, however im worried about the heat the welder injects into the screw. Maybe the loctite is still the best option?