You're very welcome, I'm glad that's working out for you. It's good to revisit these old threads now and again for the benefit of new members.
Chuck and all,
I get my material from McMaster. It's teflon impregnated Delrin. I'm not aware of it being widely used except as bushings, but I have made small gears and shafts of it for small mechanisms -- clocks, model engines, etc... Machines easily, wears well, nice stuff.
For this application, I think nearly any of the engineering plastics would work better than having metal on metal. Most common are nylon and ABS. These little washers are so easy to make on a lathe, almost any material is worth trying. Might not hold up as well, though.
Replacing the jam nuts with nylon insert locknuts is, I think, almost as important as installing the thrust washers. Keeps just the right preload on the washers, minimizing wear as well as backlash.
I've still got a few sets of washers, free for the asking. I ran off some extras to meet the original requests, and still have plenty of the parent material. Send a SASE -- email me off line for my address.
Best,
David Clark in Southern Maryland, USA
--- In GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com, "Mike W" <winklmj@...> wrote:
>
> I know this is an old post but Holy Cow...the thrust washers made a huge difference in my y-axis! I had a small bit of unknown plastic rod (I suspect it to be HDPE) so I made up a few washers. Thanks for sharing that.
>
> --- In GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com, "a3sigma" <dcclark111@> wrote:
> >
> > Good morning group,
> >
> > I've posted a pdf on the subject.
> >
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GrizHFMinimill/files/D.C.%20Clark%20stuff/
> >
> > These mods seem to me to make a significant difference. The Y axis now feels smooth and consistent throughout it's range, and backlash an acceptable 0.005 inches. There's no endplay that I can detect.
> >
> > The thrust washers were made of PTFE Delrin from McMaster.com part number 8579K28. I also coated them with PTFE grease.
> >
> > Since it takes very little more time or effort to make several washers, it seemed a waste of time to make just one of each. Hence, I have several pairs. It anyone would like to try this mod, and lacks a lathe to make their own, contact me off list and I'll mail you a set. You'll be doing me a favor as well, since I'd like to get some other opinions on whether this really makes a difference. "Feel" of a machine is pretty subjective, and I am always wary of confirmation bias.
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > David Clark in Southern Maryland, USA
> >
>
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