Subject: Re: Acme and Ball Screws available cheap!?!

From: [email-masked] (barnwell)
Date: 24 Apr 1996 03:41:46 GMT

I am in Leominster Ma. and would be intrested in where the Junk yard is.
I would like to locate some acme threaded rod cheap. 

There are acme taps that go for around $30 and up but the usual use for acme 
thread stuff is a brass nut pair that allows the removal of end play and these 
nuts are threaded on a lathe to almost the finish size and then "finish tapped" 
with a section of the threaded rod they will used on for a better fit.

The section of threaded rod is from the same rod they will be used on and a 
single flute is ground in the rod to form a crude tap but since it is steel 
cutting brass and just a few thou and only twice it is not all that bad (use 
lots of muscle and oil). the outside of one nut is threaded with a thread much 
finer than the acme thread pitch and the other nut has a hollow barrel on one 
side with a matching fine thread on the inside. these two nuts are threaded 
together and then the acme thread rod is threaded thru and by adjusting the 
distance between the 2 nuts you can take out most of the end play.

In article <[email-masked]>, you say...
>
>At the junk yard, I saw two barrels full of beautiful leadscrews
>between 12" and 40" long, between 3/8" and 3/4" diameter.  Some
>were Acme threaded (squareish thread profile) and some were a
>rounded profile that I attribute to ball screws.  The threads
>seemed ground, because they were very highly polished.  These must 
>have been off-cuts or rejects and are available "by the pound" as 
>scrap metal.

snip...

>Personally, I would like to buy some myself, but to use them, I
>will need nuts or a tap, and Acme nuts seem quite expensive.  My
>McMaster-Carr catalog lists 1/2-10 Acme nuts for $3.50 each!  Does 
>anyone know of a really cheap source of Acme nuts?
>
>Can you actually tap an Acme thread?  I guess that I might be
>able to use one of these screws as a tap if I could grind flutes 
>in it.

snip...

>Bob Neidorff; Unitrode Corporation  |  Internet: [email-masked]
>7 Continental Blvd.                 |  Voice   : (US) 603-429-8541
>Merrimack, NH  03054-0399 USA       |  FAX     : (US) 603-429-8564

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From: [email-masked] (Peter Drumm)
Date: 24 Apr 1996 00:20:35 GMT

In message <[email-masked]> - [email-masked] (Bob Neidorff)Mon, 22
Apr 1996 21:19:08 GMT writes:
->
->At the junk yard, I saw two barrels full of beautiful leadscrews
->between 12" and 40" long, between 3/8" and 3/4" diameter.  Some
->were Acme threaded (squareish thread profile) and some were a
->rounded profile that I attribute to ball screws.  The threads
->seemed ground, because they were very highly polished.  These must 
->have been off-cuts or rejects and are available "by the pound" as 
->scrap metal.
->
->If anyone is interested in some, let me know and next time I'm 
->there, I'll try to buy them for you.  Contact me directly with
->your thoughts and we can discuss further.  I would do this for
->you at my cost plus shipping, as a favor.
->
->Personally, I would like to buy some myself, but to use them, I
->will need nuts or a tap, and Acme nuts seem quite expensive.  My
->McMaster-Carr catalog lists 1/2-10 Acme nuts for $3.50 each!  Does 
->anyone know of a really cheap source of Acme nuts?

You should be able to find them cheaper. The last ACME nuts I bought were
3/4"-8, left hand thread, they were about $2 ea. at Fastenal Co.

->
->Can you actually tap an Acme thread?  I guess that I might be
->able to use one of these screws as a tap if I could grind flutes 
->in it.  I have never done anything nearly that elegant, and don't
->know the pitfalls or tricks involved.  I also do not have the 
->grinder required.  :-(
->

ACME taps are available, tho they're a bit expensive. I doubt that cutting
flutes on  a screw would work, unless you can harden it later, or the stuff
you're tapping is -real- soft.

->I am thinking of using some screws as part of a veneer press.
->I would cut them into 12" lengths and use each screw with a
->crank head, flange nut, and pivoting pad as an individual
->pressure screw, in a piece of lumber or stiff U channel.

[email-masked]
Using Warp/Neologic News/IAK
Wausau, WI. 44d 58m 00s N x 89d 36m 45s W
All opinions are my own, even if they are wrong!

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From: [email-masked](Dale A. Keltie )
Date: 23 Apr 1996 19:52:34 GMT

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Bob Neidorff) writes: 
<snip>
>in it.  I have never done anything nearly that elegant, and don't
>know the pitfalls or tricks involved.  I also do not have the 
>grinder required.  :-(
>
>I am thinking of using some screws as part of a veneer press.
>I would cut them into 12" lengths and use each screw with a
>crank head, flange nut, and pivoting pad as an individual
>pressure screw, in a piece of lumber or stiff U channel.
>
>Suggestions?
>--

Bob -

Acme taps are available but you may find them a bit expensive just to
make a few nuts.  You will require two taps BTW, one for roughing and
the other for finishing.  If you only need a few nuts, why don't you
just single point them?

Regards, Dale

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From: [email-masked](James I. Lewis)
Date: 24 Apr 1996 19:46:45 GMT

>the other for finishing.  If you only need a few nuts, why don't you
Or some times you can find them over the counter as replacement parts
for say like table saws and the like, or from scissor jacks and stuff.

If they can't be utilized then we'll finally have to learn turning
threads.

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From: [email-masked] (Michael John Hide)
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 01:15:26 GMT

[email-masked](James I. Lewis) wrote:
vacuum press is cheaper and more efficient . I have even seen some
attempts to convert old frig` copmpressors to vacuum pumps in this
group,and thats the most expensive part.