Chips on the ballscrews. Should I be worried?

[zaebis]

I have a benchtop CNC and after a bit of aluminum cutting I noticed that darn chips find a way underneath the table and onto the ballscrews where they stay glued by the oil lube. As the table runs I wonder if those chips may cause any threat to the ballscrew assembly (where the balls are) and eventually affect precision of positioning. Am I worrying for nothing here? I dont see how to completely cover the screws from underneath so I assume everybody gets chips on them.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

I have a benchtop CNC and after a bit of aluminum cutting I noticed that darn chips find a way underneath the table and onto the ballscrews where they stay glued by the oil lube. As the table runs I wonder if those chips may cause any threat to the ballscrew assembly (where the balls are) and eventually affect precision of positioning. Am I worrying for nothing here? I dont see how to completely cover the screws from underneath so I assume everybody gets chips on them.

If they get *into* the ballnut, they can do some damage, or at least jam it up. You really want to have, at a minimum, some kind of wipers on both ends of the nuts so debris on the screws *can't* get into the nuts.

Regards,
Ray L.