To Ball-screw or Acme?

[tjhj]

Hello All,

Thank you for taking the time to read this and to help if you do.

I am a new owner of a HF Mini Mill, and am much better with electronics than mechanical things so I purchased this unit with the intent of converting it to CNC operation.

I decided that because this is my first CNC machine build I would be better going with a pre built kit instead of making my own, and maybe the next one I will build from scratch, but this is where I have found an issue.

The two kits I have been considering are the CNC kit from Little Machine Shop.
http://littlemachineshop.com/product...ory=1687114045

And the ball screw kit from CNCFusion. Kit #4.
http://www.cncfusion.com/minimill1.html

I have been reading everything I can find and talking to everyone who will talk to me, and the general response I get always is Ball Screws have less backlash.

Now the big question price aside are ball screws really that much better?

There has to be a disadvantage to the use of ball screws or why doesn't everyone use ball screw kits?

Is the backlash reduction more consistent with a ball screw over a proper Acme thread with anti backlash nut?


Will this choice affect my ability to hand operate the machine, for quick touch up/ ect work?

One person told me that ball screws are more sensitive to cleanliness and can more easily become damaged by trash getting in/on them. Is this true? Or a major consideration?

I was also told that ball screws are less used due to their cost, in a manufacturing environment I can understand the cost of acme screws being advantageous a few dollars over thousands of units adds up. Is this where the choice stems from?

Am I over thinking this?

Thank you for your time and any help or advice you can share.

TJ

EDIT : I hope this is the correct forum, I thought this was more of a general question than a machine specific question.

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

Is your Nema? screw anything like an ACME screw?

Dick Z

[tjhj]

Doah sorry Ive got Nema on the brain this morning... Ill fix that. I meant acme.

[John Welden]

Go with the ball screws for sure. The only good reason not to go with them is if you can't afford the cost.