If you have a lathe with an electronic leadscrew, this is what you’ve been waiting for. Today we’re going to talk about the new metric leadscrew calculations and how to configure the code for your lathe. Electronic Leadscrew GitHub project: … Continued

Many of you have been asking, so this week I’m going to show how to program the TI LaunchPad microcontroller used in the Electronic Leadscrew. We’ll start with a fresh install of Windows, install the TI Code Composer Studio (CCS) … Continued

On the bench today is a sick DMX-512 lighting distribution amplifier. This particular unit is putting on an impressive light show, whether you want one or not. We’ve narrowed the problem down to one PC board. Let’s see if we … Continued

Today we’re going to make a proper metal enclosure for the control panel. We’ll start with a commonly-available BUD box, machine openings for the display and buttons, and finally engrave the markings and fill them with paint. Firmware on GitHub: … Continued

The first prototypes of the PC board are back from the fab! Today, we’re going to assemble one with a solder paste stencil and a desktop reflow oven and try it out. Firmware on GitHub: https://github.com/clough42/electronic-leadscrew Some of the tools … Continued

Can the ELS cut metric threads? Yes, it can. Today we’re going to talk about hybrid metric threading, talk about when you can and can’t unlock the halfnut, and finally cut some threads. Firmware on GitHub: https://github.com/clough42/electronic-leadscrew Some of the … Continued

Today is the day you’ve all been waiting for; we’re making our first cuts with the electronic leadscrew. In steel. We test out the various feed rates at different depths and try cutting a couple of different threads. Look ma: … Continued

Today we’re finally starting to put the electonic leadscrew components on the lathe. We’ll talk about timing belt drives for both the encoder and the stepper or servo, we’ll make mounting brackets and get this thing ready to actually run. … Continued

Today we’re looking at stepper and servo motors, the differences between them and how to interface them to a microcontroller. We’ll also talk about which might be the best fit for the Electronic Leadscrew. Firmware on GitHub: https://github.com/clough42/electronic-leadscrew *This site … Continued

Today we’re taking a look at the 7-segment LED control panel for the Electronic Leadscrew. We’ll look at how the UI works and some of the difficulties I encountered getting the electronics to work reliably. Firmware on GitHub: https://github.com/clough42/electronic-leadscrew *This … Continued