When I think of a screw, the first thing that comes to mind, of course, is a threaded fastener that holds two objects together. Those simple little things sure do come in handy. In fact, I used a couple yesterday to re-attach my closet organizer to the wall after it had collapsed under the weight of all my clothes. Standard screws are composed of a threaded shaft (the main component, with the spiral grooves running horizontally) and a nut, the small piece with internal threading that runs up and down the shaft. Pretty straightforward, right? Well, not in all cases. They aren’t well known, but there are power screws out there that do much more than hold objects securely together. One of those types is a ball screw. While they are essentially composed of the same parts, these screws are more complicated and vital components in many technically advanced applications.
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