Ball screws and nuts for machine tool refurbishment

A quick turnaround by Abssac has aided the restoration of two pre-WWII machine tools being restored to their former glory in a woollen mills maintenance workshop. With no dimensioned drawings available for the ball screws - which were badly damaged - Abssac had to rely on its extensive ball screw knowledge to satisfy the customer.

First a careful measurement of the last remaining ball screw was undertaken. It was found to be imperially sized, with a 1.00 inch diameter, 0.250 inch lead and Gothic arch ball screw format. Abssac was able to utilise a cold rolled formed ball screw, cut to length and then machined at the ends to fit a thrust bearing.

The traditional square section nuts that were used on the old machines were replaced by adapted standard nuts that were chosen specifically for authenticity due to their single ball return design. The whole assembly was then low-temperature black chrome plated, which gave a corrosion-resistant and exceptionally smooth and scratch-resistant surface finish, hopefully giving the machine at least another 50 years of service.

Phil Jones of Abssac says: "It is nice to get involved with these types of project where we are part of a restoration. Abssac has a huge range of linear products, so nine times out of ten we can help with these more unusual requirements."

Follow the link for more information about standard and customised ball screws and nuts from Abssac.