Another Taig ball screw conversion !

[protrackcorp]

Cutting to the quick,
Acme threads are great for manually operated mills but really have no place for prolonged use in cnc situations.
And every user should have encountered the boring details by now as to why.
So!!!!!!!!!!!
Please! TAIG come out with a ball screw option machine for those who don't have the ability to retro fit a ball screw system themselves.

Now on to my conversion.

I have a larger cnc mill that I was able to use to do the modifications to the Taig mill table and bed parts.
I looked at 12mm ball screw as a very good match for the Taig mill on all 3 axis. I took a chance with buying a set
on Ebay from an Asian source delivered for around $100.00 . These are rolled but what do you expect for $100.00 ?
They were tight and very well made. Only upon making the final modifications did I discover that the screw itself was not hardened.
The nut and ball bearings were. I was fortunate that I had a metal treating shop nearby that could harden and straighten the screw shaft.
However I had to rework them a little bit more to achieve a final straight screw that I could accept.
I had to take the nuts apart in order to grind down the nut flange for the final fit. These ball screw nuts are the new internal recirculating type which made it a little more difficult to reassemble.
I wanted to keep the same pillow block set up used on the mill so I had to re machine those to accept a slightly larger metric thrust bearing that would
fit the new 12mm ball screw shaft.

On to some pics
Modified pillow block accepting larger diameter 12mm bearing.


"Y" axis bed showing grove in bed bottom for ball nut clearance.


Ball nut mounted on backside of "Y" saddle . Note nut flange is ground down to allow almost seamless fit.


"X" axis ball nut mounting area on saddle


Ball screw relief machined on the bottom and dovetail sides of table.



Here are some pics showing the assembled ball screw on the "Z" axis.


Bottom of "X" axis ball screw attached to the "Y" saddle along with some newly installed oil feed lines.


One shot oiler and manifold with added feed lines.



What I would do differently is invest in a 12mm ground ball screw system rather then spend the time
modifying the import. I would still have to modify the ball nut though.

Wow I'm glad that's over!

The system holds it's tolerance very well and has been running for almost a year now.
Good luck to everyone who want to attempt the conversion!
If anyone is interested in a new acme screw and nut set for 12" "x" table let me know.

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[MT_Pockets]

Thanks for sharing. Did you happen to do any before and after backlash measurements or make a standard part to measure the tolerance difference? I've got a Taig computer ready mill on its way and installing ballscrews has come across my mind a few times.

[awerby]

Did you find a source for those 12mm ground ball screws you wished you'd used? If so, how much were they?

[bjm323]

[phoglite]

$1850 for the computer ready version with ball screws. I assume the higher torque motors would now make sense with these higher pitch leads.

[awerby]

Yes, Taig just came out with ball-screw equipped mills Taig Tools - Desktop Milling Machines and Lathes., after years of fending off customer requests for this. I can sell them too (at a discount), although they're not up on my site yet. It was always a difficult retrofit, so this is a welcome development. But no, you don't need higher-torque motors - ballscrews have less resistance to motion, but faster leads, so the standard motors should work fine (and go faster).

[Punisher_67]

Protrackcorp thats an awesome conversion - I love your oiler I will
have to copy that .

I just ordered a Ballscrew CNC Taig - at that price its a hell of a deal for a ballscrew CNC ready unit . I am glad to see Taig
step up and do this . I will turn my other CNC Taig into a full oil/cooled unit and the new ballscrew will be
my basement shops flagship unit .

My shop.....

[Punisher_67]

Micro oilbath system ......