First very first.

[venomx999]

I managed to built my machine out of discard parts. It is near completion.
I'm planning on using the 5/16 thread rod to move the axis...I'm wondering if anyone have used the regular threaded rods from HomeDepot to move the axis??

...any suggestions ? ...it is my very first cnc.

[Madclicker]

Lot's of people have used allthread. It's not ideal, but it will move an axis.

[venomx999]

Okay, thanks.... that'll give me enough confidence to use it. ... lol

[mxtras]

Try 'polishing' the threaded rod with Scotch Brite or Craytex to smooth it out and remove the sharp edges and it will run much smoother. I haven't used threaded rod to move an axis before but as mentioned, plenty of others have. I have used it to make small fixtures and automated clamps and such and running Scotch brite over the threads smooths out the overall feel.

Just a suggestion.

Scott

[epineh]

As Scott mentioned, try cleaning up the threaded rod a little first, I used a die nut up and down a few times on my friends lathe, worked a treat.

Russell.

[Atechy]

Another suggestion is to use 1/2"-10tpi Acme threaded rod. It's cheap and can be found at WT, Enco and many other places. If you don't want to invest in an acme tap then buy the acme nuts for the acme thread. I used this on the first 2 I made and it worked great. Also 10 turns = 1 inch when your setting up your software, real simple.

[HayTay]

I managed to built my machine out of discard parts.

Looking good so far. Dot matrix printers for miles around must fear you.

All thread from the BORG, Lowe's, hardware store, etc. will work. Make sure that you 'clean up' the threads as mentioned in the above posts so that you get less wear on your A-B nuts. I used 1/4"-20 all thread in my machine for around a year before I converted it to 1/2"-10 ACME threaded rod. Definitely a big difference in the movement in terms of smoothness and quietness. I can just imagine what it would be like to step up to the next level and use ballscrews. We can dream, can't we?

Keep us posted on your progress,

[venomx999]

Then I will definitely go with the original plan. Thanks for the tip about the metal nut. I tried using it and it sure makes alot of noise along with abrasion.
I made a plastic nuts by cut off a part of a chair's arm drilled and threaded it.

[venomx999]

Anyone knows why returning to "tool change" on the Z axis is too fast and cause the motor to skip ??

[mxtras]

Down-tune your motors. Slow the acceleration and maybe your max speed down until it will no longer miss steps and then set just under those values to be safe.

If you have the motors tuned too hot you will miss steps - this usually happens at the worst possible moment, too.

Scott

[mwalach]

nice looking machine. Good luck with it.

[muzzammil1444]

Your first cnc looked cool!

I wonder what's kind of stepper motor did you used.