Ball screw for Y (bed) axis

[fredk]

Another thread here has me curious to know if it would be practical to replace the Y axis belt drive with a ball screw drive. I'm not entirely clear on the benefits of a ball screw drive vs belt drive. I'm wondering if a ball screw would reduce backlash on the Y axis of a printer where the Y axis moves the bed, or if it would improve repeat-ability/accuracy.

Some people with the Black Widow end up fiddling quite a bit with driver voltages or even end up swapping drivers to eliminate step skipping.

The move would be from a cheap Chinese belt drive to either a cheap Chinese ball screw ($35-50) or a low end North American ball screw ($150).

The only reason I am considering this is because I would use the belt drive for another project that does not require precision.

I'm curious to know if anyone here has experience with a ball screw axis drive vs the standard belt drive.

[Davo]

In general (and depending on your gear ratios), a ball screw will give you better positioning, but will not move as fast (since it will normally have to have more rotation of the motor to move the same distance).

[fredk]

Thanks for the reply Davo. I understand that speed of movement is a trade off, but have no idea what the practical implications are on a 3d printer.

How much will it reduce the max speed of the axis? How will that affect print times?

There are lots of things that might affect how fast the travel is: Lead screw pitch, lead screw design (there are 'high speed' ball screws), max practical rpm of the motor/driver...

The question is is it practically achievable on a hobby printer?

Edit: Cost is obviously a factor as well. I'm pretty sure I could get the speed I want, but that might require a very expensive ball screw and a quality servo motor.