polymer lead screw nut

I hate having to lube up my shafts. Has anyone tried a polymer lead screw nut?

One of my printers has standard brass nuts, but the screws are teflon coated. Polymer nuts should be OK, but they may require silicone lubricant. I'd check manufacturer's specs.

---

Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

I make my own using Igus filament. No play, no backlash, various style even autoalign ....and no lubrication of course. There is close to no load on a 3D printer. Even fixed a small milling machine; 6mm left handed and no tap, just used the lead screw and heat.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2017 11:51AM by MKSA.

---

"A comical prototype doesn't mean a dumb idea is possible" (Thunderf00t)

That is an amazing idea! What filament do you recommend? They have 6 to choose from.

I use I180, in fact the only choice when I bought it. I replaced every chinese bearings on my Geetech Prusa even the small ball bearings in the idler pulleys. So far so good.
Only for my extruder did I keep two quality ball bearings that I took from old hard drive.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2017 02:11AM by MKSA.

---

"A comical prototype doesn't mean a dumb idea is possible" (Thunderf00t)

@MKSA
I'm not fully understanding : Do you print the nuts with IGUS tribofilament (trivial), or do you directly mold the nuts on the lead screw, fusing the IGUS filament with heat (hot air?)?

I did some sliding parts this way, but with POM, whose high dilatation coef (~3%) provides the necessary clearance after cooling. Does the IGUS filament provide a sufficent retraction?

For TR8 I print a bit undersized and finish with the leadscrew, heat gun while turning it with a drill. For a 6mm 1mm left pitch, too small to print and had no tap. I used the leadscrew as a tap (I filed the first cm accordingly) then same as for TR.
Gives the right size and proper surface finish. Can't be achieved by just printing. Same for bushing, I used hand reamers too. Got to be careful with the heat, you don't want the plastic to melt and stick to the screw !

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2017 08:27AM by MKSA.

---

"A comical prototype doesn't mean a dumb idea is possible" (Thunderf00t)