Why doesn't anyone use THK and NSK Rolled Screws?

[Noah]

I was noticing that nobody seems interested in THK's and NSK's rolled ballscrews. Is there any reason for this? They don't seem much more expensive than mcmaster, reid tool, nook, or any of those other brands. And I think anyone in their right mind would choose THK over Nooks semi-precision line. I was just looking at one of THK's screws. 14mm rolled screws with a C7 accuracy (.05mm per 300 mm, freaking awesome). A 1500 mm screw with two nuts would be ~$350. I could not find a backlash rating but, I bet its less than 1 mm.

[DSL PWR]

Avalibility?

[Noah]

Availability? Do you mean consumers can't buy these direct from THK? I had not thought of that. Since it showed me the prices on their website, I assumed it would let me purchase as well. Do you know if they have a minimum quantity or something?

[DSL PWR]

Not a clue, just a stab in the dark.

[tekno]

price?

[sendkeys]

only reason not to use them is if you want nooks .001 screws

all the other places have about the same thing for the same price

[Noah]

Well, ok, I guess those explanations will have to do. I still don't understand though. I mean, THK is like, top dog when it comes to slides and ballscrews. I just don't understand why someone would compromise to a no-name brand (in the industrial world at least) to save very little. Thanks for all the info guys. I'm using THK.

[jwatkins]

You can buy direct from THK's web site with no minimum.

You've probably woken up a few people who were just assuming THK would be much more expensive than an off-brand.

People do stuff like that all the time. Life is so busy these days, you have to pick your research battles. Example; my wife wants to get one of those cooler/heater things that plugs into your cigarette lighter for our trade show trip this coming week. I don't know anything about these things. Do I learn all about it just to make this purchase? Heck no, I buy the most reasonable looking one from the first place I stop that has a 30 day return policy.

[Noah]

Yeah, that is a true point. Well, then just to let everyone know. You can get THK rolled ballscrews for near the same price as the off-brand rolled ones and they are far superior. They do not cost thousands of dollars like the ground screws THK and NSK sells. I just called THK for some more info on a 16 mm screw. The lowest quality screws in this series they sell have backlash ratings of less than 0.1 mm and accuracy of .05 mm / 300mm non-preloaded. All the nuts have steel flanges for mounting. Buy them. Its THK for crying out loud.

[High Seas]

Anybody got a handy <link> you'd like to share?
Beats everyone goggling the Google!
Cheers - Jim