Electronic Lead Screw Project

A quick update.
Checked all the pulleys tight on the shafts and belt tension sufficient.
Set up DTI to check saddle movement with one turn of spindle when set to 8tpi and got 0.125.
Reversed spindle to pass start position, then forward to take out any backlash until chuck marks lined up and got 0.125 again. Also checked leadscrew speed against tacho on control box and they tallied.
Tried screw cutting again with similar results as before.

Finally got a very good thread 3/8" x 16tpi ( thread picked because had a nut and die ), by leaving the half nuts engaged but using the VFD reverse function rather than reverse on the control box.

Thanks again for the tip Alan

So will leave for now, more experimentation if time allows.
Thanks for all the replies.

Dennis

Further update.

Somewhere along the line of building and installing the ELS I missed or skipped the Part 7 Video by Clough42 see

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Ketpqq-eM )

on metric and hybrid threading. In this video he cuts imperial threads on an imperial lathe using a thread dial indicator ( ie opening and closing the half nuts ) and metric threads leaving the half nuts closed and reversing with the forward/reverse switch on the lathe itself.
The reverse function on the ELS control box he uses for left hand threads.

So problem solved I think.

Dennis

Dennis, sorry I should have picked that up as another possibility but forgot to ask what combination of imperial/metric you were working with. I have a metric Warco & the only thread I have cut so far was imperial in which i did indeed use the lathe forward & reverse to achieve a good result. Let us know if you have any more problems as I'm very interested in this project.

Tony

Could somebody give me some help i cannot get the ELS software to go on the Code Composer studio work space every time i click on the download folder it just keeps breaking it up into smaller and smaller folders.When you watch James you tube number 10 on flashing the board he just drags it into the workspace and CCS just extracts it.I am useing win 10 home 64bit it will not put the folder anywhere just smaller and smaller folders then puts a few lines in from the extraction.Thanks Graham

Are you holding the mouse button down while dragging onto code composer?

Hi yes i tried that and deleted the program and reinstalled it

Edited By Graham Titman on 21/12/2020 11:02:02

Have you tried file open, navigate to the folder etc?

Hi Rockingdoge i have put four photos in my album ELS i think they will come up in the order that i am trying to load the software i hope you can see where i am going wrong Thanks Graham

start up code composer, you should see 'import project', click on that and use browse from the window that opens and go to your 'electronic-leadscrew-1.3.01' folder, open it and highlight the 'els-f280049c' folder and then click finish if your project has appeared in the window.

That should get your ELS code into composer. If you need further help ask in this thread as others have got a lot further than I have.

Best of luck

Roger

Hi Graham

Bearing in mind how long the project has evolved over, James was using version 9 of Code Composer.

Coming to the ELS late meant I was offered version 10 as a download of the latest version which I duly did. I struggled to make the ELS loading work so I cleared out v10 and loaded version 9 and then had success

It is a bit tenuous and I can't be 100% certain that this was the source of my troubles. It is more likely it was finger trouble on my part when trying to use v10. That said it might be worth bearing in mind unless anyone else can confirm success using v10.

Alan

Thank you Roger and Alan for your help i will try again later or first in the morning and let you know how i get on. Thanks again Graham

Edited By Graham Titman on 21/12/2020 18:24:17

Hi Roger the report below came up when i tried to import folder any idears..
Import failed for project 'electronic-leadscrew-1.3.01 (2)' because its meta-data cannot be interpreted. Please contact support.
Thanks Graham

Quick question, you are using files you have extracted?

I personally create an ELS folder and unzip files into that location rather than working in the download folder, I view that folder as a holding area for file before moving them into their 'forever' location. You also seem to have a number of duplicate files? I would delete those.

It might not make any difference but will help others to help you.

I'll pm you my mobile number as it might be quicker to talk over what you're doing.

Roger

Another quick question - maybe someone can point me in the correct direction?

My ELS has been running perfectly and tonight I've successfully updated it to v1.3.01 - the main reason being that I was keen to have the buttons disabled whilst running, as an accidental reversal during running would shatter my PLA gearing.

Another addition with this release is support for different gearing - if your lathe has separate lead screw and feed shafts. Mine is a Colchester student and I would like to customise this function so that the feed rate displayed is true to the carriage movement.

I can't find the file to customise, can anyone point me in the right direction - and even better can you give me the values required for a Student??

Kevin

Long reply. Won’t work.. hit code of conduct not post and lost it

Afternoon Kevin. At first glance I cannot see this new feature. You could adjust the feed rates the 'Tables.h' but this feels a bit dirty. It would be far better to introduce an extra variable to account for the difference in gearing. I've also updated the metric display output to have all output to 2 decimal places as its a little easier on the eye when changing options (maybe a little OCD).

I was also having problems with interference despite using shielded Cat 6 cable (RJ45 ports in the control boxes makes for ease plugging/unplugging). Improved grounding for each twisted pair as per SODs advice (thanks Dave!) helped greatly but I was still getting occasional interference (but only if the curt was really critical!). Upgrading to v1.3.01 has completely solved the problem for me now.

Cheers, James

Edited By Jimmeh on 23/12/2020 13:19:36

My Warco 290v ELS  is completely stable now due to the v1.3.01 upgrade, bloody frustrating before, Clough42 does go into some detail about various cable scenarios & the pros & cons of each, I sort of understood what he was talking about but in the end just want it to work.

Tony

Edited By Tony Pratt 1 on 23/12/2020 13:53:24

Thanks for the replies. As it's working nicely I'll leave it alone, I thought if I could add the feed rates to match my lathe it would finish it the project nicely but for my use it is an unnecessary addition (patter!).

Kevin