[LeeWay]

If it came with grease zirks, I'd use grease. Some come with oilers. Some come with nothing. Some come with a hole.
I always grease my linear ways, but oil my ball screws. I used to use regular 30 weight engine oil, but have switched to 90 W gear oil. It smells worse, but last quite a bit longer.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Don't over-think this. On a hobby mill it doesn't make a bit of difference what you use to lubricate it, as long as you use something - grease, ANY grease, or oil, ANY oil, will work just fine.

Regards,
Ray L.

[kolias]

Hey Ray and Lee, sounds good and thanks for your time

[kolias]

Hey Ray and Lee, sounds good and thanks for your time

[kolias]

Hey Ray and Lee, sounds good and thanks for your time

[kolias]

Sorry, don’t know what happened with posts 203-205

I guess it never ends; on the attached picture there is a small set screw in the middle of the blocks.

Is this screw just to hold the bushing in place or it is some kind of an adjustment?

[kolias]

I guess no one knows the purpose of that set screw in post 334.

Here is another question; how do you transfer the bolt pattern of the sliding blocks shown in post 334 to you metal member to do the drilling?

I only know measuring but this may lead to errors and destroy your metal piece. Perhaps there is a better way?

[109jb]

There is no post #334. At least not yet. This post of mine should be #208.

Also, the title of the thread is "Chinese ball nuts & screw on Ebay". You are talking about linear rails.

Best way to measure is to put gauge pins in the holes and then measure. You can get really darn close by putting bolts in and then measuring. Use a micrometer or caliper and the diameter of the bolt to get the dimensions.

[kolias]

Sorry, I guess I really messed up my last post

This thread started when the 1st post asked about the eBay guy “linearmotionbearings” who sells linear rails and ball screws and that is where I bought my set. I thought if you buy ball screws you probably bought the rails too and that is why I asked

I used what you said to take my measurements but getting “really darn close” is not enough when you are dealing with metals. My first try on a piece of scrap metal was out by 1/16” on 2 holes so I have to try again.

Thought someone might have a trick or something

[G. Hoffman]

Sorry, I guess I really messed up my last post

This thread started when the 1st post asked about the eBay guy “linearmotionbearings” who sells linear rails and ball screws and that is where I bought my set. I thought if you buy ball screws you probably bought the rails too and that is why I asked

I used what you said to take my measurements but getting “really darn close” is not enough when you are dealing with metals. My first try on a piece of scrap metal was out by 1/16” on 2 holes so I have to try again.

Thought someone might have a trick or something

I used transfer screws (do a search on MSC or McMaster-Carr). It worked great for me. I try to avoid measuring with numbers whenever possible, since that is usually where inaccuracies come in (particularly if you need to do any MATH!!!!)


Gabriel

[kolias]

Thank you Gabriel

[109jb]

Umm. They give the dimensions right in their e-bay ad.

4 linear bearing pillow blocks SBR16UU with LM16UU in | eBay

The picture is at the top and the table below has the dimensions.

[kolias]

The raised lip on the nut goes toward the block. It has to seat against the inner bearing race to take up the slack.

If you snug the nut up a little over finger tight, you should be able to move the screw by hand along its axis. I placed a DTI at the end of the screw to measure the end play. I cut a shim from 0.005" brass to place between the bearings after seeing 0.003" play. I tried that shim pretty much every where else before deciding it had to be the bearings. The shim goes between the inner races, not the outer.

I’m tuning the motors right now on my new cnc and I still don’t know the purpose of this nut in font of the pillow block.

1. Is this nut suppose to turn with the screw or not?

2. How tight you must tight this nut against the pillow block?

[Fastest1]

There are 2 ways around this issue that I can see. 1 would be to bore your end plate where the ball screw goes thru and set your bearings into it, 1 on each side, use the nut in your picture to adjust the preload on the bearings. Most likely you wont have an extra mill to do this. The other option would be to cut the ball screw's shoulder longer so more of the screw would pass thru. Personally I used a cut off tool and cut a regular M12 x 1.00 in half to make jam nuts. I also used small collars (spacers/bushings) to place set screws or any adjustment nuts or screws into view or to make them accessible. Using that pillow block along with an endplate would lessen travel unless it was outboard. Btw the nut will keep the screw from walking right out or until the coupler loses contact with the stepper, if it is going toward the stepper it would be transferring the load to the stepper and not the bearing. And yes the nut should spin with the screw.

Had this post in another thread until I discover this thread which is more appropriate

The attached photo indicates the motor side pillow block typical for any axis. The 1/2" Aluminum flat bar shown is typical of the sides of my cnc.

As you can see if I screw the retaining nut shown in front of the pillow block I will have no space or very little space to mount the coupling. In addition, regardless if I screw the retaining nut or not, I will not be able to access the set screw of the coupling on the pillow block side

I don’t see any reason to mount the retaining nut since the ball screw will be sandwiched between two 1/2" think Aluminum plates.

Anyone knows the purpose of the retaining nut and what you do to access the set screw of the coupling?

[vcatalasan]

I am using these ballsrews and they come with zerk fittings, can someone suggest where to purchase a grease gun to lube the ballnuts?

Thanks,

Vic

[TiagoSantos]

Up here in Canada, Canadian Tire, Princess Auto, even home depot, all carry grease guns - I'd say any auto parts place or anywhere you'd buy tools? Harbor Freight?

[vcatalasan]

Is that nipple or zerk fitting the same?

[coherent]

Just thought I'd pass on that I just ordered a 3 of these ball screws from China (linearmotionbearings2008 on ebay) and am very happy with the quality. I'm putting these on a LMS High Torque Mill. Fast shipping (considering from China) via FedEx. One thing though, check your grease fittings... one of mine wasn't threaded. Fairly common M6x1 fittings that are pretty cheap but still a hassle to track down. He will most likely send a replacement if you email. If you have a small lathe it's fairly easy to machine your own ends. Don't just toss a cutting tool on and start by trying to cut through the hardened surface. Chuck the screw and start your lathe and use a angle grinder to take off the screw threads and first mm or two of the hard surface. Then start cutting. Makes things go much faster, easier and also easier on your cutting tool.

[dolfe]

I also have the chinese ball screwnuts and I am asking you for help. The nut flew open and the rolling balls fell out. How do I put the rolling balls back in?
Or how can I fix the screwnuts?

[Dr.Fiero]

I had my balls fall out (cough).

Found a video on YouTube that shows pretty clearly how to do it. It's really hard to describe without seeing it.

Just remember that there are 3 separate loops of balls. 16 balls each loop if you're working on the rm1605 shaft (5/8"). Can't remember off the top how many are in the rm2005 shaft.

It's pretty easy once you've done it. A few times....