Finding The Right Length CNC Ball Screw

There are a lot of Ball Screws on eBay for CNC machines of differing lengths.

In the selection process the L in the Title Description often refers to the Length of the Ball Screw, for example:

SFU1204 Ball Screw L500mm Ballscrew With SFU1204 Single Ballnut For CNC

To get a correct fit make sure your dimensions match or are with spec i.e. you could use a L500 mm rod for a replacement 476 mm rod by cutting it to size.  But an L400 mm rod would not reach the end of your CNC deck.

I've widened my search eBay CNC Ball Screws click on the link below to get a comprehensive list.

Click here for eBay Ball Screws - L500 is Length 500mm

These screws are also referred to as Ballscrew Leadscrew and sold as such, these are the long Leadscrews without the attached ballscrew.  These are for users who just needs the screw and know its exact size and dimensions.

Click here for eBay Ballscrew Leadscrews

Please note, fixed1t is not responsible for the Ball Screw you select or how you use it, that responsibility is yours and fixed1t accepts not responsibility for this education blog article.

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Finding A Replacement Ball Screw And Rod For Small CNC Machines

Whether you small Chinese CNC machine sustained damaged to its Axis screws and rods in transit (arrived broken) or whether it has sustained damaged in use but physical for or scarf jam, they can be impossible to repair.

Following a recent question to my fixed1t Youtube

I decided to go and have a look for one.  As is always the case with any search engine, the biggest obstacle is not the lack of resources or availability online, its down to know the wording one uses in a search that  and the results.

If you don't get the search text right, you'll get bogus or no results.

Therefore here is a search that I created, that gives me appropriate and relatively cheap results. I hope people find it useful.

Click here for link to Replacement CNC Ball Screws

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Asus 10.1" 64gb VivoTab Smart Reset - Part 2 video precise

The Windows 8 Install on the ASUS 10.1" 64gb VivoTab Smart took days due to the huge amount of updates published  since it was released on the VivoTab SMART.  Upgrading to Windows 8.1 is however proving more technically challenging.  #fixed1tTECHtips

Setting Up A Second User Windows 8 10.1" 64gb Tablet - Part 4

One the things thats drives me made about using Microsoft Devices, it the constant updating every time you want to use it.  Now I know I can turn that off, but when you switch it back on you get deluged by a stream of updates.  One of the reasons I prefer mac devices is they update infrequently and often lump the updates into a single quick update.

This is even more the case with the Apple mobile devices, so mainly when you switch it on you can just get on with the task at hand.  If you wipe and reset an iPad after 5 or 10 mins you are usually back up and running with the new device.  This software maintenance and update strategy is also replicated on the Android platform, and full system reset and update can be complete in 10 - 15 minutes.

So where is this leading you may wonder, its supposed to be about a the Asus VivoTab SMART Windows 8 Microsoft style tablet device. 

Have recharged and set up the VivoTab I selected the device control panel, PC Settings, Windows Update, and the screen appear to freeze, other than having a few Green Dots move on the screen.  After some time I was beginning to wonder if it had crashed.

When I read the message at the bottom of the screen about rebooting in 2 days, I thought it was a joke, but the time downloading the updates and installing all 149 took over a day. Now it said I could carry on using the VivoTab but it was so slow as to be unusable.

After all 128 had been installed and the VivoTab restarted, I assumed I could get right down to the business of using the Tablet.  But I was wrong, I went to the App Store to find YouTube and it came up with a message stating the were Applications that needed updating before I could use the store.

Again as I started the install the Green Dots appeared and the machine ground almost to a halt. However it then informed me that I need to go to the Utilities and download and install waiting PC updates.  Yet again Green Dots and another 57 updates were installed.

Throughout this more time went by without much valid use.

So after three days of not being able to use the Asus VivoTab SMART I had Window 8 fully installed, and was looking forward to trying it out.

That is until Software updates was telling me to update to Windows 8.1 and informing me this would improve security etc.

The screen said "Update to Windows 8.1 for free" it was just a few clicks away.

More about that in my next blog entry.

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Setting Up A Second User Windows 8 10.1" 64gb Tablet - Part 3

This video is about Asus 10.1" 64gb VivoTab Smart Reset - Part 1

After a number of comments from Microsoft Users about how inferior the Apple iPad and Android Tablets were I thought I'd buy myself a 2nd user tablet running WINDOWS 8 and see how it compared.  I went for the Asus VivoTab Smart 10.1" 64gb because it had a Full version of WINDOWS 8 and was still expandable.  In this series I'll take you through what I found.

Picture Of Supplied Tough Rubber Case

Click on the link below for Part 4:

Setting Up A Second User Windows 8 10.1" 64gb Tablet - Part 4

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Setting Up A Second User Windows 8 10.1" 64gb Tablet - Part 2

The device I have chosen is  ASUS VIVOTAB SMART, here is what the ASUS UK Site says about it:

Colorful 10.1" Windows 8 Tablet with Transleeve Keyboard and Intel CPU for Multimedia Enjoyment

• Windows 8 
• Intel® Atom™ Z2760 Dual-core CPU @ 1.8Ghz for best performance, power efficiency and compatibility ·
• 10.1” IPS panel with 1366 x768 resolution for increased visual clarity ·
• 580g light and 9.7mm thin with colorful design ·
• TranSleeve as combined cover and stand with wireless keyboard ·
• 9.5 hours extra-long battery life for all-day computing ·
• NFC – Tap and Explore: simple interaction with other NFC enabled devices ·
• Crystal clear 8MP auto-focus camera with 5-element lens, large F/2.2 aperture & back-illuminated CMOS sensor

To recap, I have chosen this is it provides an excellent balance of form and function at a reasonable second hand/user price.  It also have the benefit over many devices in that it runs a FULL version of Microsoft Windows 8, rather than the cut down RT version.

The box has arrived and I'm going to make a quick video of the device I've purchased from eBay.

Click on the link below for Part 3:

Setting Up A Second User Windows 8 10.1" 64gb Tablet - Part 3

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Setting Up A Second User Windows 8 10.1" 64gb Tablet - Part 1

Although I'm a Apple Mac user and have been since the Apple II computer running the Graforth, the graphic Forth programming language, I've also been a PC user and provide PC support.

So I'm of-ay with Macs, Android Devices, Windows XP and 7 but I haven't upgraded to 8 never mind Windows 10 just yet.  The main reason for this is all the software and hardware I use technically are rock on XP, flaky on 7 and I haven't wanted to bother with 8.

I was busily ignoring Windows 8 when a friend was given a windows 8 phone by her phone company and asked me to set a few things up.  Not only did I not have a clue, but also I found the whole interface unfriendly and unhelpful.  Being fixed1t I decided to pick up a reasonably priced phone with a reasonable size screen but ran into the usual obstacles of cost versus function.

I suddenly realised that to get Windows 8 on the phone meant buying a top of the range Nokia or Microsoft phone and that I could buy a tablet for less.

I then started looking at the Microsoft Tablets, it seems the the reasonably priced offerings were 32GB an ran a cut down version of Windows 8 called Windows RT.  Well what is the point of that, a windows device that won't run the windows software I already had.  But there were constraints moving to tablets or should I say Surfaces and ran the full windows 8.

After looking around the techie sites, I discovered another great ASUS product, the

ASUS VivoTab Smart

A full Windows 8 10.1" tablet with 64GB internal storage, so I set about buying one second hand on eBay.

I the following series I'll go through the steps I took to get a working Microsoft Windows 8 tablet working.


Click on the link below for Part 2:

Setting Up A Second User Windows 8 10.1" 64gb Tablet - Part 2

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