CNC machines are vital in modern manufacturing, as even minor errors from friction, loading, or vibration impact precision. These errors can be generated from motors, nut and screw friction, loadings, wear and tear, and machine vibrations. This study experimentally evaluates the linear end-travel errors of ball screw and trapezoidal lead screw actuators in a classroom-scale CNC milling platform under low-load conditions (0–4000 g) and three motion profiles (default, accelerated, and decelerated). Each condition was tested through 20 bidirectional cycles, repeated five times, in both individual and simultaneous operating modes. Testing involved 20 cycles per condition repeated 5 times for individual and simultaneous operations. While average errors between both mechanisms showed no significant difference, lead screws exhibited higher errors above 2800 g. Errors increased proportionally with load, primarily due to backlash and vibration. Ball screws demonstrated better consistency, especially under heavier loads, owing to reduced friction. The motion controller software used has axes settings that can be configured. Error can be reduced by encoding the error compensation values based on the data from this study, in the “backlash” tab on the axes setting of the controller software.

Keywords: Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) milling, ball screw, lead screw, error analysis, backlash and vibration, load-dependent accuracy