I have been lurking for some time and have started to build a cnc for some wood inlay work (HobbyCNC plans). The original plans call for all thread, but I wanted something a little nicer, so I was thinking about just ordering some Acme Rod instead. At the same time, I am remodeling my house and ended up replacing my old screw drive garage door opener (Genie 1/2 horse). When I took the GDO apart, I found 3 lengths of drive rod that would fit my build perfectly. The screws are 13mm, 3 start, and seem to have about 8 threads per inch. Unfortunately, I have search high and low for nuts to match these with no avail. Does anyone have any leads on where to find nuts for this screw? Or would I be better off just getting some standard size screws and go from there. I don't mind buying them, but if I save here, then I can upgrade somewhere else.
I already have some parts like the motors, gecko drives, and a basic BOB, but I might just opt to use one of the 6 arduino boards I have laying around also. Just as background, I started a build about 5 years ago, but had to scrap the build just before adding the electronics due to having to downsize. This new machine is much smaller, but still big enough for my needs and to help build some other small machines (printer or laser engraver) for the kids (teenagers taking robotics in high school) to play with using the arduino boards I have.
There are a few ways you can find here to make your own nuts, with a chunk of Delrin of HDPE. One would be to "form" the nut by heating the leadscrew and pressing two sides to the heated screw. Another way would be to make a makeshift tap out of a scrap section.
Thank you for that information. I had considered making my own but was afraid the delrin would have too much friction. I will give this a try on my second machine, but will probably just order screws for this first build to eliminate the unknowns. The screws I ended up with are 40", 34", and 24", so it would be a waste not to use them.
The drive is a Genie and I do not think they would have nuts since the shafts were driven directly from the motor and the trolley was connected with a rack and pinion gear. My son wanted the receiver board for a project so the GDO is being salvaged anyways, so I figured this might save a little. 2 hours of searching the internet for the nut is not worth the money saved, so I will just buy something.
Thanks again to everyone for your help and I hope to keep coming back when (not if) I get stumped again. I still have no clue how to work the software, but I guess I will cross that bridge when I get to it.
Odd size acme screw
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