Hi All I am brand new to the site and I think everything you guys are doing is fantastic. I am after a little help / advice. I am a mechanical engineer and day to day I conduct simple tensile / compression testing up to 1000kg max. I am thinking about making a simple Tensile Test machine based on: my intension it to use V-Slot with something like the “C-Beam® Tension XL Linear Actuator” at either side and a 4040 or 4080 for the cross beam. From there the load cell will be attached. I know a nema 23 stepper motor is not designed for torque, but I have come across 100:1 nema 23 motors: Nema 23 Stepper Motor Bipolar w/ 100:1 High Precision Planetary Gearbox I am thinking of using a 12 or 14mm acme lead screw with a metallic holder to transfer the torque into the cross beam. Does anyone have experience with what I am thinking or do you guys think it might work. Please don’t worry about the control / electronics. I am just thinking about the mechanical components being up to the job. Thanks all for your help Mike
For anything under 10kg you should be fine but don’t expect much beyond that. The other issue you’ll need to deal with will be the bearings. You’ll need thrust bearings for this. Ultimately everything you’re doing is depending on a whole mess of 5mm screws and they have their limitations.
thank you, i was thinking of using 10,12,14 mm acme lead screws. i know these are not standard sizes here, but just wondering if anyone had experience with this sort of thing and the geared stepper motors/
I'm using a 16mm ball screw but my NEMA 23 motor is connected directly to the screw and not with a gear box.
Do you need a precision lead screw? Metric sized shaft couplers up to 12mm are easy to come by and a cheap 12mm threaded rod and nut are easy to source as well. The standard m12 is a 1.75mm pitch which compared to my 5 start 1/2"-10 (12.7mm per revolution) lead screws is more than a 1:7 reduction with no expensive gear box. You could also easily make your own, or source an m12 tap to make antibacklash nuts.* * I am just spit ballin' here. I am NOT an engineer.
