MadModder
Home Base => Introductions => Topic started by: Lionel on October 26, 2013, 07:27:58 AM
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I'm in the process of making a rotary indexer to go on the side of my Cnc mill.
After several days using Google this site came up and I decided it was well worth subscribing to.
Can anyone tell me what this program is, plus John Stevenson in an old thread said that a box with USB cable was available to control a stepper motor, is that still available?
Thanks
(http://www.stevenson-engineers.co.uk/files/rotabcontrol.jpg)
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Hi Lionel
Welcome to the collective :borg:
I can't answer your questions, but I am sure someone who can will answer shortly.
Eric
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Hi Lionel! Welcome. :wave:
Where did you get that program?
If you click on "Help" at the top of the screen, does it give you a tutorial or manual?
If not (and sometimes there is little actual help) if you see a menu with "About" on it after clicking "Help", click on that, and it should name the program and authors. We can probably go from there.
ps. it looks like on that screen you push either the CW or CCW buttons to jog your table. A division of 90 degrees would mean your table would take 4 presses of one of the buttons to turn completely around one revolution (360 degrees). You choose which way it turns by which button you press.
The number you enter looks to be the number of steps your motor needs to yield the size of the jog you want.
Since a stepper motor takes many steps to go one revolution, and a worm gear (if you have one in your table) also affects how many steps are needed, the number you need for a certain jog size will be specific to your table.
In the setup you have showing, the number of steps (73) yields a jog size of 4.932 degrees. Each time you press the CW button, your table should jog 4.932 degrees in the clockwise direction. Each time you press the CCW button, it should jog 4.932 degrees in the counter clockwise direction.
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That was a guess -- a wrong one, it looks like after I did a little calculating. I divided 4.932 into 360, and got 72.99 or nearly 73. Couldn't be a coincidence that 73 was the number entered.
So, what this seems to be is,
You enter the number of divisions in the box -- say you want 60, and it calculates the number of degrees needed to turn that amount. To jog that amount you hit the CW or CCW buttons, depending on the direction you want.
The example you show is a setup for 73 divisions -- like you wanted to cut a 73 tooth gear with the table. It gives the number of degrees per division, for information purposes. You push one of the buttons to jog the table one division.
There is a counter that tells you how many divisions you have gone so far. If you press one of the buttons three times, it should change to "Division 3 of 73" -- that way you know what tooth you are about to cut.
There is also a place to set the turning rate of the table. You enter the part diameter in the box, and it calculates the surface feed rate. You can control the surface feed rate with the slider after you've given the part diameter.
The setup for steps and gear ratio of your table must be somewhere else in a setup screen.
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Lionel,
Welcome to the madhouse!
Am I right in thinking that perhaps you don't have the program in question, just a frame grabbed image from the web? Tony Jeffrey some years ago devised a box of tricks called Divisionmaster, and was at one time selling kits, that functionally do exactly what you have there, but he presented the information differently. That could be an early prototype. I think Tony's kit are now being sold commercially but if you Google Divisionmaster both he and the kit will pop up. He's a nice chap and I'm sure would answer emails. He has subscribed to this forum (Tony_J) but I don't think he is active here.
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Heh, check the image properties -- it's a linked image:
stevenson-engineers.co.uk/files/rotabcontrol.jpg
nice looking program...
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Thanks for all the replies.
The image in my first post was copied from an old post that John Stevenson answered.
He mention that he knew of a program that would run off a laptop or a PC, I guess this image is from the program he was talking about, but no other info on what the program was.
I do have a Divisionmaster and rotary table from ArcEuro, but using it upright makes any small parts in the chuck too close to the quill on the mill.
So I am thinking of using a 25mm ER collet holder. Been looking for a harmonic drive to reduce backlash as need to mill 25mm bar on four sides. The idea is to mount an ER collet holder through the harmonic drive with a bearing behind the collet holding end.
Hoping that the motor will hold against cutting forces.
This program that John Stevenson mentions sounds interesting and worth a look as there are a couple of old PC,s kicking around here.
The idea is to drip feed the program to the mill with Dolphin CadCam and find a way to signal the rotary fixture to move 90 degrees. There is no option to send m code to the Divisionmaster as there is no M code output on the mill. (Prototrack MX3)
Could rig up a switch to nudge with the quill to signal the Divisionmaster. maybe there is a way to get Dolphin CADCAM to send a signal down the wire that can be spliced off down another cable to the Divisionmaster.
Since the rotary table it very close to the quill, better option is to make up a simpler slimline indexer, hence the interest in this other option I came across in the earlier post on this forum, this software that John Stevenson mention may be a better way to solve this.
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Lionel,
Welcome to the madhouse!
Am I right in thinking that perhaps you don't have the program in question, just a frame grabbed image from the web? Tony Jeffrey some years ago devised a box of tricks called Divisionmaster, and was at one time selling kits, that functionally do exactly what you have there, but he presented the information differently. That could be an early prototype. I think Tony's kit are now being sold commercially but if you Google Divisionmaster both he and the kit will pop up. He's a nice chap and I'm sure would answer emails. He has subscribed to this forum (Tony_J) but I don't think he is active here.
What makes me think that John was talking about something different than Divisionmaster is that he mentioned a USB plug, black box and mains plug. As you know Divisionmaster is standalone, not used USB plug at any time, unless I'm wrong.
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There is a post from John S that has that screenshot
HERE (http://madmodder.net/index.php/topic,3696.msg42463.html#msg42463)
I would send John a PM.
Eric
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hi and welcume