Sparkmaker Lead Screw / T-Nut for 8mm x 2mm pitch

thingiverse

This drop-in replacement lead screw nut is specifically designed for the Sparkmaker SLA 3D printer. My unit's brass nut had a loose fit, causing it to jump on the screw under load, which wasn't good at all. To resolve this issue, I created this custom nut as a replacement solution. The barrel of this nut is precision-sized to fit snugly into the opening of the head section, providing additional stability and utilizing the full thread length found in the original brass nut. This design was printed using HTPLA version 3 from ProtoPasta with solid fill on a FlashForge Finder at high resolution, following their recommended heat treatment protocol. The print came out clean but initially had a bit of a tight fit after the heat treatment process. To address this issue, I used a tap to clean the thread and applied synthetic grease (Krytox GPL226) to smooth things out. As a result, I've achieved no backlash in my prints, which have been great ever since. I've also found that scaling the X and Y axes to 97% when printing this nut on a MakerBot 5th Gen with the SmartExtruder+ results in a good fit without any backlash. In the future, I plan to experiment with SLA versions as well. Keep in mind that you may need to experiment with different settings to achieve optimal results, especially if your setup is significantly different from mine. I did attempt to print this nut on a service bureau's HP nylon fusion machine but found it to be slightly loose. It's also worth noting that high infill with TPU flexible material might work as well, although I haven't tried it yet. So far, I've observed no signs of wear, though I suspect it won't last as long as a properly fitted brass part. However, one can simply print another one as needed if required. Enjoy your prints! Your feedback is appreciated, and feel free to "tip the designer" if you find this helpful - they could really use that caffeine boost!