Ballscrews give you the best of both worlds, low friction and very little backlash. We have backlash compensation capability in the control. It is a standard feature -- easy to set up and easy use. When combined with a repeatable ballscrew, this feature will reduce your machine backlash to a typical value of below .0005"!

Ballscrews make the machine perform like a real CNC -- and that's the whole idea. Conventional and climb milling operations can be intermixed without concern. Climb milling (where the cutting forces are pulling the cutter in the direction of cut) are not possible without ballscrews and no anti-backlash software can accommodate that.

Even though you can use your existing motors, be sure not to try to reuse "bad" motors. Motors with worn out brushes and commutators should be replaced! Our new motor prices are the best in the business -- click here to see our new motors.

The idea of being able to replace the CNC controller with a spare computer is a good one. To swap out the old computer with a new computer, the old computer will create a "config backup" automatically. This file will fit onto a floppy disk and is small enough to be e-mailed. With a config backup, you can restore the control configuration settings and PLC logic to a new computer in seconds. In the unlikely event that the problem is the motion or servo/io card, you can replace either of these without disturbing the wires, control settings or logic. Replacing either one of these CNC components only takes a few minutes. This is much easier than a "standard" control since they have hard wiring and external PLC devices with ladder logic burned into them. With an Ajax CNC, the logic is running in the computer.

The handheld control pendant is also another good idea because it uses a standard DB15 cable connection that can be unplugged by the user and replaced in 5 seconds. The handheld controller replaces all the operator interface buttons, lights, knobs and handwheel. The computer's keyboard contains the rest. Think of it this way, you can keep on hand a off-the-shelf computer from the store and any other spare parts you need. If a control breaks, you can swap out the broken computer with a new computer to replace any control for any machine type at any time. You just have to save the config backup file onto a floppy disk to restore that particular control's settings and part programs. It will even remember your part zeros and tool setup info!