Material Choice

[Bob La Londe]

I need to make a mounting adapter for the the ballscrew I plan to use on
the Y axis of the Hurco mill. On hand I have oodles (not quite a crap
ton) of 6061, a little bit of MIC6, a little ATP 5, some 7075 (bought
for a "special" project), and a decent amount of 4140HT not reserved for
anything.

The 7075 would likely be the best of the aluminum alloys. Its the
strongest, but like I said. I bought it for a "special" project.

The strongest by a lot would be the 4140HT, but it has its issues. Its
tough to machine, but I can do it. It would have the least flex, or
compression, but it can warp during machining. I do have a toy surface
grinder, but it has no coolant setup. I have no desire to warp it even
more trying it grind it flat after machining.

In between would be cast iron (very expensive) and mild steel (likely
1018) of which I have neither on hand suitable for this adapter.

For context, the adapter will bolt onto the location where the old ball
nut was, and the new ball nut will bolt on to it. It doesn't have to be
absolutely perfect, but it does need to be "pretty good."

Ideas? Suggestions? Warnings?

[Joe Gwinn]

Post by Bob La Londe
I need to make a mounting adapter for the the ballscrew I plan to use on
the Y axis of the Hurco mill. On hand I have oodles (not quite a crap
ton) of 6061, a little bit of MIC6, a little ATP 5, some 7075 (bought
for a "special" project), and a decent amount of 4140HT not reserved for
anything.
The 7075 would likely be the best of the aluminum alloys. Its the
strongest, but like I said. I bought it for a "special" project.
The strongest by a lot would be the 4140HT, but it has its issues. Its
tough to machine, but I can do it. It would have the least flex, or
compression, but it can warp during machining. I do have a toy surface
grinder, but it has no coolant setup. I have no desire to warp it even
more trying it grind it flat after machining.
In between would be cast iron (very expensive) and mild steel (likely
1018) of which I have neither on hand suitable for this adapter.
For context, the adapter will bolt onto the location where the old ball
nut was, and the new ball nut will bolt on to it. It doesn't have to be
absolutely perfect, but it does need to be "pretty good."
Ideas? Suggestions? Warnings?

A sketch of the desired adapter plate would help.

I would use and design for 6061, and only if that cannot work, worry
about other materials, and the reason that 6061 flunked will be
informative.

Joe Gwinn

[Jim Wilkins]

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:v37udn$18tac$***@dont-email.me...
..
In between would be cast iron (very expensive) and mild steel (likely
1018) of which I have neither on hand suitable for this adapter.

Bob La Londe

------------------------------------

When I need a small piece of mild steel I buy it from the scrap bins of
local fabricators. Other than finding the right size the only issue has been
bandsaw-dulling local hardness of flame or plasma cut edges. I carry a
compact tape measure, a 4" dial caliper that fits a shirt pocket and cash.

[Jim Wilkins]

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:v37udn$18tac$***@dont-email.me...
...
The strongest by a lot would be the 4140HT, but it has its issues. Its
tough to machine, but I can do it. It would have the least flex, or
compression, but it can warp during machining.
...
Bob La Londe
CNC Molds N Stuff

----------------------------
4140HT has the same Young's Modulus as mild steel and will flex the same, up
to mild steel's yield point.
https://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet_print.aspx?matguid=8e87bc1cf20343b985b1a46a1f1eb1c3

For equal thickness (any) steel flexes about 1/3 as much as aluminum.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6061_aluminium_alloy
"Young's Modulus is 69 GPa (10,000 ksi) regardless of temper."

https://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=ma7075t6
It's stronger but not significantly stiffer than 6061.

[Clare Snyder]

Post by Bob La Londe
I need to make a mounting adapter for the the ballscrew I plan to use on
the Y axis of the Hurco mill. On hand I have oodles (not quite a crap
ton) of 6061, a little bit of MIC6, a little ATP 5, some 7075 (bought
for a "special" project), and a decent amount of 4140HT not reserved for
anything.
The 7075 would likely be the best of the aluminum alloys. Its the
strongest, but like I said. I bought it for a "special" project.
The strongest by a lot would be the 4140HT, but it has its issues. Its
tough to machine, but I can do it. It would have the least flex, or
compression, but it can warp during machining. I do have a toy surface
grinder, but it has no coolant setup. I have no desire to warp it even
more trying it grind it flat after machining.
In between would be cast iron (very expensive) and mild steel (likely
1018) of which I have neither on hand suitable for this adapter.
For context, the adapter will bolt onto the location where the old ball
nut was, and the new ball nut will bolt on to it. It doesn't have to be
absolutely perfect, but it does need to be "pretty good."
Ideas? Suggestions? Warnings?
--
Bob La Londe
CNC Molds N Stuff

You think the stress would be too high for 6061T6?? Machines easily.

[Snag]

Post by Clare Snyder

Post by Bob La Londe
I need to make a mounting adapter for the the ballscrew I plan to use on
the Y axis of the Hurco mill. On hand I have oodles (not quite a crap
ton) of 6061, a little bit of MIC6, a little ATP 5, some 7075 (bought
for a "special" project), and a decent amount of 4140HT not reserved for
anything.
The 7075 would likely be the best of the aluminum alloys. Its the
strongest, but like I said. I bought it for a "special" project.
The strongest by a lot would be the 4140HT, but it has its issues. Its
tough to machine, but I can do it. It would have the least flex, or
compression, but it can warp during machining. I do have a toy surface
grinder, but it has no coolant setup. I have no desire to warp it even
more trying it grind it flat after machining.
In between would be cast iron (very expensive) and mild steel (likely
1018) of which I have neither on hand suitable for this adapter.
For context, the adapter will bolt onto the location where the old ball
nut was, and the new ball nut will bolt on to it. It doesn't have to be
absolutely perfect, but it does need to be "pretty good."
Ideas? Suggestions? Warnings?
--
Bob La Londe
CNC Molds N Stuff

You think the stress would be too high for 6061T6?? Machines easily.

That's what I used to make an adapter plate to mount a power feed on my
mill . I'm pretty sure the acceleration loading on the ball screw is
going to be many times what my power feed produces on the acme screw .

[Peter Fairbrother]

Post by Bob La Londe
I need to make a mounting adapter for the the ballscrew I plan to use on
the Y axis of the Hurco mill.  On hand I have oodles (not quite a crap
ton) of 6061, a little bit of MIC6, a little ATP 5, some 7075 (bought
for a "special" project), and a decent amount of 4140HT not reserved for
anything.
The 7075 would likely be the best of the aluminum alloys.  Its the
strongest, but like I said.  I bought it for a "special" project.
The strongest by a lot would be the 4140HT, but it has its issues.  Its
tough to machine, but I can do it.   It would have the least flex, or
compression, but it can warp during machining.  I do have a toy surface
grinder, but it has no coolant setup.  I have no desire to warp it even
more trying it grind it flat after machining.
In between would be cast iron (very expensive) and mild steel (likely
1018) of which I have neither on hand suitable for this adapter.
For context, the adapter will bolt onto the location where the old ball
nut was, and the new ball nut will bolt on to it.  It doesn't have to be
absolutely perfect, but it does need to be "pretty good."
Ideas?  Suggestions?  Warnings?

I gather that you don't do much very-high-precision work? If so then
6061 will be strong enough, and is easy to machine. As far as I can
tell, most of the ones you buy are 6061 or similar.

If it's going to be overly stressed then supersize it, but in most cases
I wouldn't bother.

Peter Fairbrother

[Bob La Londe]

Post by Peter Fairbrother

Post by Bob La Londe
I need to make a mounting adapter for the the ballscrew I plan to use
on the Y axis of the Hurco mill.  On hand I have oodles (not quite a
crap ton) of 6061, a little bit of MIC6, a little ATP 5, some 7075
(bought for a "special" project), and a decent amount of 4140HT not
reserved for anything.
The 7075 would likely be the best of the aluminum alloys.  Its the
strongest, but like I said.  I bought it for a "special" project.
The strongest by a lot would be the 4140HT, but it has its issues.
Its tough to machine, but I can do it.   It would have the least flex,
or compression, but it can warp during machining.  I do have a toy
surface grinder, but it has no coolant setup.  I have no desire to
warp it even more trying it grind it flat after machining.
In between would be cast iron (very expensive) and mild steel (likely
1018) of which I have neither on hand suitable for this adapter.
For context, the adapter will bolt onto the location where the old
ball nut was, and the new ball nut will bolt on to it.  It doesn't
have to be absolutely perfect, but it does need to be "pretty good."
Ideas?  Suggestions?  Warnings?

I gather that you don't do much very-high-precision work? If so then
6061 will be strong enough, and is easy to machine. As far as I can
tell, most of the ones you buy are 6061 or similar.
If it's going to be overly stressed then supersize it, but in most cases
I wouldn't bother.
Peter Fairbrother

Compared to the what guys brag about doing with their machine... er I
mean their boss's ... er I mean their boss's bank's million dollar
machines in multi million dollar environmentally controlled laboratory
clean rooms. No.

I do keep a couple to a few thousandths tolerance all day with my cheap
machines, and for the types of work I do acceleration is huge in
productivity. A change of a few iss acceleration can save hours per day
when you are doing iterative short 3D machine passes.