Cliff, we're going to need a video showing how to calibrate the pitch setting scales at some point. I'm thinking that the runout in the nut will be diminished when the nut is driving the mechanism during a cut. I think it might centralise itself due to the flank angles of the thread form? Regards, Mark
Hi Preso. Yes, I have been wondering that also. The nut may well stay central when the Ratio Arm is perpendicular, but when it is at an increasing angle, at some point 'the nut may be tempted to stray' Cheers, Cliff
Could you set up a standard resistance, placing a certain known weight on top of the unit, or similar method of adding resistance, and use a small DRO to trial and error your way to the correct calibration? I know you guys will be fine when you set up your own units, but for other people a standardized way of determining just where the pitch needs to be set could be handy. Even a set of digital calipers would work well, but that is just a bit more fuss as you try and hold the thing in place all the way through
@@terencem9962 Might be able to use the Z axis DRO on the mill with the ThreadExpress mounted. Drop the mill spindle down on the nose of the TE and observe the DRO as the TE spindle/leadscrew is advanced.
I am thinking the same as you,Preso.....the end thrust/loading on the lead screw is all in one axial direction and it will tend to self centre due to the large dimensions of the thread itself.
Yes, I have done some research on this. The problem is the spindle needs to be hollow to accept long parts. Hollow ballscrews are made, but are very expensive. Solid ballscrews are hard and can't be drilled. Cheers, Cliff
@@Threadexpress Have you thought about approaching them to supply the screw prior to heat treating, probably doesn't need to be hardened for your application, as the use would be a fraction of a CNC machine
It really is a very interesting design, I follow very closely each of the publications that you make about the design, thanks for publishing the videos. At some point a big investor will arrive because it is the solution to many problems of machining standardized precision threads. Realmente es un diseño muy interesante, sigo con mucho detenimiento cada una de las publicaciones que hace del diseño, gracias por publicarlos videos. en algún momento llegara un gran inversor por que es la solución a muchos problemas de mecanizado de roscas normalizadas de precisión
Thanks. If a manufacturer/investor is not ethical they may not 'arrive' though, we may not know what is going on until we see 'ThreadExpressos' for sale on Ali Express. Cliff
@Threadexpress I'm very keen for the eventual release of drawings. Busy prepping for this, it's motivating me to get some other projects done (scales, DRO and coolant on my big old IXL lathe etc). You have also brought Preso into my UA-cam world which is a nice bonus.
@ Oh good to hear! Please show me pics of your ThreadExpress build when we get to that stage. Thanks for the feedback. Enjoy your upgrades and stay tuned, I have lots more videos underway. Cliff
This is an incredible invention. I believe you will become wealthy in one way or another. Sell the plans for $100 US. each pdf file and let the money roll in forever. Or Sell the rights with commission. There are people in this world with unimaginable wealth who would jump a the chance of investing in this. Keep the faith brother. It's only a matter of time. God bless you and yours.
I totally want to build one. Sweet ! Question, You said the leadscrew was 3.5mm pitch. Could an inch lead be used? My lathes only cut Imperial threads. Could an 8 TPI leadscrew be made to work and the ratio marks adjusted ? Thanks. --Doozer
Hi Doozer and Bruce. No problem, Mark Presling does not have 3.5 mm pitch on his lathe, so he has choosen 7 TPI from memory. But you could also go finer, I will be publishing a video covering this subject. Cheers, Cliff
Hola, buen dia ,, una verdadera maravilla,su invencion ,,,quedo atónito, ,al ver cada pieza que compone el mecanismo ,y la exacta y clara descripción de su funcionamiento ,,claro ahora esta echo, y lo vemos ,eso cambia la cuestión , y no cuesta demasiado , con la buena explicación entender , el principio ,de funcionamiento de punta a punta ,detalladamente, claro esta otra cosa, es lograr la precisión que requiere ,,me atrevo a opinar ,que aun al mas experimentado ,le costará lograr un resultado satisfactorio ,mas sin maquinaria y todo un conjunto de otras cosas ,que cuando se hace como prototipo no se tiene en cuentas, o si , pero hasta no establecer , con seguridad su funcionalidad ,, seria llamemos, inutil o poco conveniente ,,sabiendo que de una, es muy difícil dar con que buscamos ,,,esto para mi quedo demostrado wn multiples trabajos ,a traves de años ,,tambien me gusta hacer algunos inventos o reinventar ,,sería mejor decir ,,y algun detalle es inevitable , eso creo , siempre me tico personalmente pulir ,reformar ,y hasta tirar ,gran parte se lo echo ,,hasta casi abandonarlo por completo ,pero en sueños viene una nueva idea ,y hasta bo intentarlo nuevamente no me doy por vencido , ,bueno eso espero haga , espeto haga lo mismo ,, se que le sobra potencial para mucho mas ,,y una gran pena ,tirar por la borda tanto sacrificio ,,cuando ya tiene un logro asegurado ,,, y le pido disculpas ,no se otro idioma que español ,,para simplificar las cosas ,muchas grasias por el video ,, , compartir ,rida esta información que aprecio,y respeto , profundamente ,,un abrazo grande ,y buen fin de semana ,,,,
Hi Juan. Thanks for your continued support. It is interesting to read your translated Spanish, it is both artistic and difficult to follow. I am not sure how much that is due to your writing and thinking style, and how much it is language based. I wonder if my English to Spanish translates the same way. You also raise some interesting points, I am just taking the project a step at a time, after all, I have come to realize life on this planet is about the journey, not the destination. Cheers, Cliff
I was involved in a firm supporting an inventor or two in the eighties (a decade fraught with disaster for so called 'entrepreneurs' with inventions in the UK) & some of the stories were pitiful!
The gotcha in that is probably the need to get the spindle near enough to the chuck of Thread Express (TE) to do the work. My mill is big enough but the head does not swing sideways so there is no suitable place to mount TE.. I'm working towards a stand alone version using an electric spindle. Cliff mentioned in an earlier response that TE started out that way. The first video from some years ago shows what appears to be an angle grinder powering the fly cutter. I'm probably using a 24v spindle and a mechanism to position the fly cutter the right distance from the centerline of TE.
Needs an anti-backlash nut, meaning two-piece with takeup. That said I'd be putting my energy into a closed loop servo version. Universal pitch, more compact and more versatile.
Hi Bill. We need to wait until Mark Presling has finished his build and refined the drawings. You can watch his channel to see his progress. I plan to keep the cost modest to reduce the chance of copy sharing. Cliff
About your ethical dilemma There's no easy answer of course but it reminds me of Philippe Starck on the topic of industrial design. Even though he designs things as mundane as toothbrushes or lemon squeezers, he believes it important to think far beyond the 'normal' engineering considerations. He wants to not just think about the practical and aesthetics of the product, the manufacturability and profitability, he wants to think much further. Philippe thinks about the person who will use his toothbrush, the community that person lives in, the society that the community is part of, and eventually to the human species and the whole story of humanity and where we are in the thousands of years that's past and the thousands of years to come. He has a TED talk about his thoughts and I often come back to it.
Interesting. The trouble with applying ethical considerations to contract toolmaking is that you are in a competitive field and only involved in part of the project. In recent years I tried to apply ethics to a job. I was asked to assist with toolmaking on a product but after some consideration decided that it would not work. So, this time I diplomatically pointed it out. The customer became angry and took the project to another toolmaker, who did the work. After much expense it failed as predicted. But I have never been contacted again by that customer. Cliff😒
Yes, probably any backlash is removed by gravity, but I wanted to upgrade the thread to check the finish is smooth, and the pitch is accurate, once I learned of errors in that lathe leadscrew. Cheers, Cliff
On the issue with the loose nut on the lead screw, Gravity is ultimately helping you remove the lash from the nut I believe. Essentially you are riding on one "race" of the nut. I bet if you blued the inside of the nut and ran the screw up and down a few times you would see the blue disappears from the bottom side of the threads on the nut and the top side of the threads in the screw. As long as the screws pitch is accurate the nut will still be lifted by those threads the same amount even on a worn thread. If the device was running horizontally then you would see the issue when reversing the screw just like the lag/lash on a milling table. Just my thoughts. Totally wish my mill was a better fit for this device, but being a bench mill I fear it requires a different solution (PM833TV) Keep the video's coming, they keep me from watching all the political crude on youtube these days...
Yes, politics is getting depressing lately, it gets me down. Thanks for your feedback. It's not the backlash so much that concerns me but possible shifting of the Ratio Arm Spindle Centerline pivot at traverse extremes - but more importantly, that I found my big lathe has an error in its leadscrew that may be represented in my ThreadExpress. I am currently making a video of it after the recon so stay tuned. Cheers, Cliff
Cliff, we're going to need a video showing how to calibrate the pitch setting scales at some point. I'm thinking that the runout in the nut will be diminished when the nut is driving the mechanism during a cut. I think it might centralise itself due to the flank angles of the thread form?
Regards,
Mark
Hi Preso. Yes, I have been wondering that also. The nut may well stay central when the Ratio Arm is perpendicular, but when it is at an increasing angle, at some point 'the nut may be tempted to stray' Cheers, Cliff
Could you set up a standard resistance, placing a certain known weight on top of the unit, or similar method of adding resistance, and use a small DRO to trial and error your way to the correct calibration? I know you guys will be fine when you set up your own units, but for other people a standardized way of determining just where the pitch needs to be set could be handy. Even a set of digital calipers would work well, but that is just a bit more fuss as you try and hold the thing in place all the way through
@@terencem9962 Might be able to use the Z axis DRO on the mill with the ThreadExpress mounted. Drop the mill spindle down on the nose of the TE and observe the DRO as the TE spindle/leadscrew is advanced.
@@terencem9962 Thanks for the feedback, I will be publishing a video on this very subject. Cheers, Cliff
I am thinking the same as you,Preso.....the end thrust/loading on the lead screw is all in one axial direction and it will tend to self centre due to the large dimensions of the thread itself.
Very interesting. Following you and Preston closely. Thanks
Hi fellow youtuber. Good to hear, thanks for your support. (I once had a Maximat V10P) Cliff
Have you considered trying a ball screw for the shaft. It would eliminate any wear cocerns and be very accurate
Yes, I have done some research on this. The problem is the spindle needs to be hollow to accept long parts. Hollow ballscrews are made, but are very expensive. Solid ballscrews are hard and can't be drilled. Cheers, Cliff
Also maybe linear ball slides instead of box ways or dovetails?
@chucksmalfus9623 Yep I was also thinking that
@@Threadexpress Have you thought about approaching them to supply the screw prior to heat treating, probably doesn't need to be hardened for your application, as the use would be a fraction of a CNC machine
It really is a very interesting design, I follow very closely each of the publications that you make about the design, thanks for publishing the videos. At some point a big investor will arrive because it is the solution to many problems of machining standardized precision threads.
Realmente es un diseño muy interesante, sigo con mucho detenimiento cada una de las publicaciones que hace del diseño, gracias por publicarlos videos. en algún momento llegara un gran inversor por que es la solución a muchos problemas de mecanizado de roscas normalizadas de precisión
Thanks. If a manufacturer/investor is not ethical they may not 'arrive' though, we may not know what is going on until we see 'ThreadExpressos' for sale on Ali Express. Cliff
Looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for the video
It has mostly been fun so far! Cheers, Cliff
Clever stuff!
Thanks for the feedback. Cliff
A testament to the tolerant design suggesting functional accuracy is likely attainable by most hobby machinist skill levels. 👍😎👍
Yes, it will be interesting to see if some ThreadExpresses are not so well made, just how well they work. Cheers, Cliff
Thanks for this.
Thanks for the feedback - it keeps me going. Cliff
@Threadexpress I'm very keen for the eventual release of drawings. Busy prepping for this, it's motivating me to get some other projects done (scales, DRO and coolant on my big old IXL lathe etc).
You have also brought Preso into my UA-cam world which is a nice bonus.
@ Oh good to hear! Please show me pics of your ThreadExpress build when we get to that stage. Thanks for the feedback. Enjoy your upgrades and stay tuned, I have lots more videos underway. Cliff
This is an incredible invention. I believe you will become wealthy in one way or another. Sell the plans for $100 US. each pdf file and let the money roll in forever. Or Sell the rights with commission. There are people in this world with unimaginable wealth who would jump a the chance of investing in this. Keep the faith brother. It's only a matter of time. God bless you and yours.
Oh kind words! Thanks for the encouragement. Cheers. Cliff
Very interested in making one.looking forward to the release of the plans
Good to hear. Cliff
Thank you great video
And thanks for taking the time to give feedback. Cliff
It's a great design, and we don't care about the video quality. We like engineering, not bullshit! 😅
Good to know! Cheers, Cliff
I totally want to build one. Sweet ! Question, You said the leadscrew was 3.5mm pitch. Could an inch lead be used? My lathes only cut Imperial threads. Could an 8 TPI leadscrew be made to work and the ratio marks adjusted ? Thanks. --Doozer
Yes, with a slightly finer maximum thread pitch (more tpi)
Hi Doozer and Bruce. No problem, Mark Presling does not have 3.5 mm pitch on his lathe, so he has choosen 7 TPI from memory. But you could also go finer, I will be publishing a video covering this subject. Cheers, Cliff
Cliff, Read Marks comment again. If you were to totally remove that passage from the context it would make the greatest gobbledygook ever! 🙂
Hola, buen dia ,, una verdadera maravilla,su invencion ,,,quedo atónito, ,al ver cada pieza que compone el mecanismo ,y la exacta y clara descripción de su funcionamiento ,,claro ahora esta echo, y lo vemos ,eso cambia la cuestión , y no cuesta demasiado , con la buena explicación entender , el principio ,de funcionamiento de punta a punta ,detalladamente, claro esta otra cosa, es lograr la precisión que requiere ,,me atrevo a opinar ,que aun al mas experimentado ,le costará lograr un resultado satisfactorio ,mas sin maquinaria y todo un conjunto de otras cosas ,que cuando se hace como prototipo no se tiene en cuentas, o si , pero hasta no establecer , con seguridad su funcionalidad ,, seria llamemos, inutil o poco conveniente ,,sabiendo que de una, es muy difícil dar con que buscamos ,,,esto para mi quedo demostrado wn multiples trabajos ,a traves de años ,,tambien me gusta hacer algunos inventos o reinventar ,,sería mejor decir ,,y algun detalle es inevitable , eso creo , siempre me tico personalmente pulir ,reformar ,y hasta tirar ,gran parte se lo echo ,,hasta casi abandonarlo por completo ,pero en sueños viene una nueva idea ,y hasta bo intentarlo nuevamente no me doy por vencido , ,bueno eso espero haga , espeto haga lo mismo ,, se que le sobra potencial para mucho mas ,,y una gran pena ,tirar por la borda tanto sacrificio ,,cuando ya tiene un logro asegurado ,,, y le pido disculpas ,no se otro idioma que español ,,para simplificar las cosas ,muchas grasias por el video ,, , compartir ,rida esta información que aprecio,y respeto , profundamente ,,un abrazo grande ,y buen fin de semana ,,,,
Hi Juan. Thanks for your continued support. It is interesting to read your translated Spanish, it is both artistic and difficult to follow. I am not sure how much that is due to your writing and thinking style, and how much it is language based. I wonder if my English to Spanish translates the same way. You also raise some interesting points, I am just taking the project a step at a time, after all, I have come to realize life on this planet is about the journey, not the destination. Cheers, Cliff
I was involved in a firm supporting an inventor or two in the eighties (a decade fraught with disaster for so called 'entrepreneurs' with inventions in the UK) & some of the stories were pitiful!
Yes, I suspect the human ego gets in the way of objective thinking for some folk, and that makes it difficult to communicate issues. Cliff
Could this be made smaller for smaller mills? Sacrifice lenght of thread? I need to look more parts about it.
I said before it was mentioned. So it's possible. That would be useful for large diameter threads which is very hard to do on small equipment.
Yeah, maybe my next project is a ThreadExpress 0.5! Cheers, Cliff
The gotcha in that is probably the need to get the spindle near enough to the chuck of Thread Express (TE) to do the work.
My mill is big enough but the head does not swing sideways so there is no suitable place to mount TE..
I'm working towards a stand alone version using an electric spindle. Cliff mentioned in an earlier response that TE started out that way. The first video from some years ago shows what appears to be an angle grinder powering the fly cutter. I'm probably using a 24v spindle and a mechanism to position the fly cutter the right distance from the centerline of TE.
Needs an anti-backlash nut, meaning two-piece with takeup. That said I'd be putting my energy into a closed loop servo version. Universal pitch, more compact and more versatile.
Trials so far show gravity takes care of backlash. Thanks for your thoughts. Cliff
My only comment is when will i be able to get a set of plans. Any idea what the cost for a set will be?
Hi Bill. We need to wait until Mark Presling has finished his build and refined the drawings. You can watch his channel to see his progress. I plan to keep the cost modest to reduce the chance of copy sharing. Cliff
About your ethical dilemma
There's no easy answer of course but it reminds me of Philippe Starck on the topic of industrial design. Even though he designs things as mundane as toothbrushes or lemon squeezers, he believes it important to think far beyond the 'normal' engineering considerations. He wants to not just think about the practical and aesthetics of the product, the manufacturability and profitability, he wants to think much further. Philippe thinks about the person who will use his toothbrush, the community that person lives in, the society that the community is part of, and eventually to the human species and the whole story of humanity and where we are in the thousands of years that's past and the thousands of years to come.
He has a TED talk about his thoughts and I often come back to it.
Interesting. The trouble with applying ethical considerations to contract toolmaking is that you are in a competitive field and only involved in part of the project. In recent years I tried to apply ethics to a job. I was asked to assist with toolmaking on a product but after some consideration decided that it would not work. So, this time I diplomatically pointed it out. The customer became angry and took the project to another toolmaker, who did the work. After much expense it failed as predicted. But I have never been contacted again by that customer. Cliff😒
This is called R and D community R and D
Yeah! It is good to get others input, and, it motivates! Cheers, Cliff
Surely, if the pitch is correct, then the backlash will be less important.
Yes, probably any backlash is removed by gravity, but I wanted to upgrade the thread to check the finish is smooth, and the pitch is accurate, once I learned of errors in that lathe leadscrew. Cheers, Cliff
On the issue with the loose nut on the lead screw, Gravity is ultimately helping you remove the lash from the nut I believe. Essentially you are riding on one "race" of the nut. I bet if you blued the inside of the nut and ran the screw up and down a few times you would see the blue disappears from the bottom side of the threads on the nut and the top side of the threads in the screw. As long as the screws pitch is accurate the nut will still be lifted by those threads the same amount even on a worn thread. If the device was running horizontally then you would see the issue when reversing the screw just like the lag/lash on a milling table.
Just my thoughts. Totally wish my mill was a better fit for this device, but being a bench mill I fear it requires a different solution (PM833TV)
Keep the video's coming, they keep me from watching all the political crude on youtube these days...
Yes, politics is getting depressing lately, it gets me down. Thanks for your feedback.
It's not the backlash so much that concerns me but possible shifting of the Ratio Arm Spindle Centerline pivot at traverse extremes - but more importantly, that I found my big lathe has an error in its leadscrew that may be represented in my ThreadExpress. I am currently making a video of it after the recon so stay tuned. Cheers, Cliff