ballscrew concern

[project5k]

i just received my cncfustion kit, and i was feeling of the ballscrews and ballnuts,, well now i have a concern.. my x and z axis ballnuts are slick as glass in thier movement.. i can definately tell that the balls are recirculating, i can hear them clicking... but my y feels like the balls slide sometimes rather than circulate.. but if i put a heavy load on them by hand then it feels ok.. should this be something that i worrie about?

sorry for the repost on this one, but i wasnt getting any replys in my other thread, so i thought if i put it in a new thread then maby someone would answer...

[Rodm1954]

Have you tried lubricating it?

[project5k]

what would you suggest that i use? wd-40? 10-40 motor oil? oh, i have some 5-30 synthetic motor oil....

[Rodm1954]

Nook sell this product for their rolled and ground ballscrews.

http://www.nookindustries.com/ball/BallLubrication.cfm

I hesitate to recommend anything else in case it damages your new screws.

[ataxy]

carefull with motor oil i would recommend in the case where you need it now motorcycle suspension oil and the lightest weight like 5w

[project5k]

alrighty, i'm looking into the nook oil.. while i can see the fork tube oil, i'm gonna contact them for some information on this as well, so while i'm talking to them, maby they can ship me some of the oil... I cant help but think that maby theres a burr or something in that ballnut... i understand that the balls in one of these is matched, so i have to keep them together.. but i dont see why i couldnt take it apart to check it out.. as long as i'm super carefull to keep up with all the balls, the order thier in shouldnt matter.. right?

[hoss2006]

If you take the balls out, careful and don't lose any. missing balls can be a cause for rough spinning.
Here's a video tutorial on youtube of one way to reload the balls. I think he's scottish and a little hard to understand, but helpful.
hoss

[project5k]

alrighty, i'll have to watch that when i get home, dont have sound on the computer here at work... well i called an application engineer at nook and talked to him.. explained what the deal was and he confermed my suspissions that the balls arent flowing through the return tube... he talked me through the process of checking the pickup fingers and whatnot... so i feel pretty good about pulling it apart when i get home.. i'm thinking that i'm gonna get me a good cardboard box, make sure its good-n-sealed, and then line it with terrycloth rags, and then work down inside that.. that way if i do drop a ball or 2 they will be easy to find....

he and i also talked about lubes.. he said of course that thier stuff was ideal, that it had solvents in it that were the delievery system, and that it would spray on very much like wd-40, but that unlike wd, after the delievery solvents had evaporated, the good oil would remain and not kinda dry up like wd will after some time... he and i also discussed other options of lubes to use on ballscrews, and he said that first and foremost that the screw was lubed, and that it was more important to use something, anything, rather than to run them dry... basically its not to lube the ball to screw or the ball to nut interfaces, but rather you were lubing the ball to ball interface.. that the way that the balls rub against oneanother as they move is where the wear and tear comes from in a ballscrew system.. he also told me that graphite powder was not to be used as this could gum up the works and not allow the balls to recirculate, and that molydisulfide or any kind of "moly lube" should not be used cause it is just too slick, what will happen is that the balls will slide around on the screw and in the nut rather than rolling... we talked about white lithium or even better a lightweight oil.. engine oil can be used, but i asked (due to my preference of non detergent oils, if i could use lightweight compressor oil, like what you put in the crankcase of a large 2 stage compressor.. he said that would probably be the best that i could get locally...

so there you have it, got to talk to a really nice guy at Nook, that really knew his stuff, got me to feeling a lot more confident about this ballscrew situation.. and i got to share it with all of you...

[hoss2006]

cool beans.
thanks for the info.

[dneisler]

Thanks project5k,
My CNC Fusion kit will be here tomorrow, so I am in the same boat you are. I may by the nook stuff, any idea on cost? Or where to get it?

[project5k]

i got the ballscrew kit directly from cnc fusion, it has the motor brackets, screws, bolts, pullies and belt for z axis and 3 screws and ballnuts...

[yantra3d]

So whatever came of the spray lubricant? Were you able to get your hands on the nook spray or did you find a good alternative?