Helix Linear Blog - Acme Screws, Lead Screws, metric lead screws, Linear actuators

Lead screws are an excellent linear motion product that converts rotary motion to linear motion very economically and until recently offered only moderate accuracy and repeatability.

Linear motion applications utilizing a ball screw or an acme screw require high tolerance screw end machining matched with precision bearing mounts. Helix Linear Technologies has designed a family of standard machined ends applicable to a variety of bearing arrangements.

Although lead screw end machining is not required for every application, the vast majority of applications do involve some sort of modification to one or both of the screw's ends. Here, we discuss some of the common elements that go into end machining, some related terms and other concepts that should be considered when utilizing a lead screw in your linear motion application.