Ball screws and accessories are widely used in CNC machines, large 3D printers, and other high-precision motion control system DIY projects. Choosing the right model will directly impact the precision of your projects. The following guidelines are designed to help our customers select the right products from our website.
The diagram below shows the ball screws and necessary accessories available on our website, which are most commonly used by our customers:
- Except for the bundled items, you can buy each individual part from our store without purchasing unnecessary parts that you don’t need.
- The ball screw is an essential part in this topic. The 1204, 1604/1605, and 2004/2005 series are the most commonly used for DIY projects. The numbers 12, 16, and 20 refer to the ball screw body’s diameter, while 04 or 05 refers to the ball screw pitch.
- Ball screws and nuts should be used together in most cases. However, there are different styles and designs of nuts. Therefore, in our ball screw and nut products, they are sold separately, regardless of the product picture. This provides customers with more flexibility in designing the product.
- Ball screws in each series are customizable in length. Enter the overall length (in centimeters) in the quantity box when adding to the cart. The maximum length is 200 cm. Any order longer than 200 cm will be rejected.
- There are two types of ball screws you can order in each series: With Process and Without Process. ‘With Process’ means the screw ends will be processed, while ‘Without Process’ means only the threaded ball screw, with no processing on the ends.
- By default, the ‘With Process’ ball screw will be processed according to the diagrams for each ball screw series to fit the BK/EK/FK and BF/EF/FF mounts. However, if your design does not use these standard mounts, you can request a different process. For non-default processes, please send your detailed request (including thread process type, length, diameter, etc.) to us for confirmation before checking out.
- There are several major types of ball screw mounts that are commonly used, as shown in the diagram below. The HM mount is a combination of the BK and motor bracket, which is more solid than using the BK and motor bracket separately. Therefore, from a ball screw processing perspective, there is nothing special about the BK process. In the ball screw mount, ‘K’ typically stands for ‘front end,’ and ‘F’ stands for ‘rear end.’ The HM mount is typically used with the ‘BF’ mount together. In any case, all these parts are sold separately on the product page to provide flexibility, even though they are typically used as a pair.
- Typically, the ‘bearing’ is the key component in the mount. Compared to the production of precision-branded products, most of the mount parts we sell are more budget-friendly, which is more than sufficient for most DIY projects. After some time of use, many people find that replacing the old bearing with a high-quality one is a great idea.
