Homemade CNC Nut With Thermo Moldable Plastic Enclosure

by Carlos Russo

10K1537

Intro: Homemade CNC Nut With Thermo Moldable Plastic Enclosure

I built this thing to use it in a CNC prototype. I also wanted to test thermo moldable plastics in this project.

The objective is to build a nut holder that can be attached with screws to a wood base. This nut will be driven by the threaded rod of the CNC Y axis.

The steps are very simple and the pictures describes the process much better than words.

I built a mold with aluminum profiles.
This box will hold the nut as shown in the images.


STEP 1: Filling the Mold With Thermo Plastic Balls

I then placed the plastic balls inside the box and melted them with a hot gun. I set temperature at 70 celcius degrees and heated the plastic until it melts and becomes transparent.

STEP 2: Cool Down... the Final Step

Once it get cold, dissasemble the mold and the nut holder is ready to install.

7 Comments

123d4 5 years ago

Hi, how is it holding up after all this time? I did this too but without the metal nut, it worked like a charm 0 backslash... for 1 week then it shrinked so much that I cannot rotate it any more.

So I guess this kind of plastic is not longtime form stable.

Carlos Russo 5 years ago

Hi 123d4l!

I really don't know because that piece was melted down again to build some other stuff... But it shure last more than one week!!

jad51 8 years ago

Awesome just what I was looking for, to fix my 3 d printer project. Thanks

alamaral 8 years ago

Great idea! I wonder if the molded material would be strong enough for other things, like gears? I had to replace a busted plastic gear years ago and the company didn't have parts. I ended up molding one out of JB Weld and it worked OK, at least for as long as I owned it. I wonder if this material would be stronger/more flexible though.

Carlos Russo 8 years ago

Hi! thanks for your comment. This material is perfect for gears! it is very strong and is not brittle at all. I recommend it. The only cons: if you need to fill a detailed mold or with small sections, this plastic would not be appropiated because it does not melt into liquid. The melted texture of this plastic is like plastiline. If you need to make very small or more detailed things, dental tooth acrylic would be fine (altough it is a little brittle).

rparra 8 years ago

Awesome, that's a great idea!!!!