I've sold more than 100 all over the world. There have been several articles in the British Model Engineer's Workshop magazine. The 2008 market crash slowed things down for a few years and of course my involvement in anything machining.
These are actually quite light contact buttons. The plastic membrane over top makes it harder to press. I find that annoying. One of my plans at some point was to make a jig for the CNC router and engrave the button caps. Then fill them with white paint. The one I'm using currently on my Gingery doesn't have a legend at all. It's in a 3D printed box with the parallel port cable running out to the frame with the stepper drivers. The Gingery is really a piece of well, like a helicopter, a whole bunch of parts flying in close formation. However it works well for some things and I created the tapered posts on it for the Y Axis pattern. It's not CNC. Isn't meant to be CNC. Operates more like you would a manual lathe. Some people love it. Others probably put it on the shelf and switched to CNC. We still have a good following in the E-Leadscrew Yahoo group and there we talk about all the different ways of doing an ELS. Apparently there's a Russian version using Arduino hardware. Others have built one with a couple of buttons and a knob. But scrolling through menus and clicking and scrolling to enter positions is a pain. It's why if I went to the Beagle for my Lathe it would still have a bank of buttons and possibly the 4.3" touch screen cape. More in a bit about the future. John > -----Original Message----- > From: Gene Heskett [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: October-14-17 5:02 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Emc-users] MachineKit on the BeagleBone Black > > On Saturday 14 October 2017 16:53:47 John Dammeyer wrote: > > > Hi Gene, > > Original ELS project was started back in 2004. By end of 2005 I had > > written a short article on it for Circuit Cellar Magazine that was > > published in Nov 2006. Here's my signature which takes you to a very > > old non-updated web page. There are links to the source code too. > > > > "ELS! Nothing else works as well for your Lathe" > > Automation Artisans Inc. > > http://www.autoartisans.com/ELS/ > > Ph. 1 250 544 4950 > > > > Cheers > > John > > > For a machinist used to turning cranks, that would be pretty impressive > since it puts the preciseness into the lcd display. You said you ran 200 > boards, any idea how many were actually built and put to use? > > Today, the cost of quality switches would hurt the bank. I've had a heck > of a time finding 2 durable pushbuttons for the apron of my Sheldon. But > durable seems to be equated with being able to push it with a 16 lb > maul. What they don't tell you is it takes at least a 4 pounder to push > it at all. So while I'm using the superduty version, my thumbs can get > bruised if I need to push them a lot. > > Nice project, thanks for the link. > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Gene Heskett [mailto:[email protected]] > > > Sent: October-14-17 1:42 PM > > > To: [email protected] > > > Subject: Re: [Emc-users] MachineKit on the BeagleBone Black > > > > > > On Saturday 14 October 2017 16:14:20 John Dammeyer wrote: > > > > Hi Gene, > > > > > > > > When I developed the ELS I didn't have a CNC mill nor even an > > > > indexing chuck. For me the primary motivation was that I had just > > > > finished building the Gingery Lathe and hadn't built any of the > > > > other tools to make gears for thread cutting and certainly wasn't > > > > going to buy them. > > > > > > > > I also didn't want a PC, and at that time huge Glass Monitor, > > > > keyboard and mouse all of which even surplus was still in the $500 > > > > range plus MACH2 at the time being larger and taking up more space > > > > than the lathe itself. > > > > > > On TLM it still takes more room than the lathe does. :) And on the > > > micromill its about a tossup, half stacked on top of the mill. > > > > > > > So I set out to build a $150 ELS. That project exploded, as do so > > > > many, with featuritus and the next thing you know I had two axis, > > > > tapering etc. and a production run of 200 boards. > > > > > > URL plz? > > > > > > > At the time the design decision was that a 1000 line (4000 > > > > quadrature) would be the maximum supported in order to get decent > > > > closed loop performance. The PIC couldn't do it so even though > > > > there's a menu entry for number of pulses per rev, it's locked in > > > > at 1. > > > > > > > > Shortly after that the Olympic Rings Project came along (and > > > > ballroom dancing with my wife) and the shop has been mostly > > > > dormant other than building up the JGRO CNC router and the > > > > occasional bit of this and that. > > > > > > Chuckle, and as has been said many many times, life gets in the way. > > > But OTOH, this stuff does keep me out of the bars. :) And being > > > diabetic, I can't do their hi alky stuff anyway, not without > > > committing suicide, so I tell myself the one Miller64 I drink of an > > > evening is all that I need. > > > > > > > Now I have the pieces for the Y axis on the mill. I've drawn out > > > > the X with Alibre. Just doing some final checking on that and > > > > then I'll make patterns. Still need to assemble the extra HP_UHU > > > > drivers. I have Servo Gecko's but they can't handle the 105VDC > > > > power supply and therefore can't run the 90V motors. > > > > > > Jon has a pwm driven servo amp, 20 amps at 160 volts, I'm using one > > > on TLM to do a 1 hp treadmill for the spindle, and another to drive > > > the 1 hp oem spindle on the G0704, but I thinks its brushes are > > > about fini. > > > > > > > Also up to my ears in trying once again to relearn Altium (now > > > > 2017 where my original copy was 2009) since that project was also > > > > put onto the back burner. For almost 20 years I've been able to > > > > work with Protel 99SE but the point has been reached where the > > > > clients want the 3D Step files of the populated PC board. And the > > > > newer Altium does so much more anyway. > > > > > > > > And I keep getting pulled into doing other interesting work-work > > > > projects which generally tend to be all encompassing. > > > > > > Theres an echo in here. :) > > > > > > > But the SD card with MachineKit is plugged into a Beagle black Rev > > > > B behind me here. I've added an ImageViewer, Glade, ksnapshot > > > > which appears to need to be launched from the command line and > > > > finally the Lazarus Pascal environment. > > > > > > > > Anyway, times have changed. Now the LCD displays are small and > > > > light and there are all sorts of other things. That's why the > > > > interest in the Beagle. Where LinuxCNC or MACH wasn't an option 15 > > > > years ago after I finished the Gingery Lathe I now have a much > > > > better outfitted shop, still no time, but it's time to revisit > > > > stuff. > > > > > > And make it better... > > > > > > > John > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > > > From: Gene Heskett [mailto:[email protected]] > > > > > Sent: October-14-17 9:39 AM > > > > > To: [email protected] > > > > > Subject: Re: [Emc-users] MachineKit on the BeagleBone Black > > > > > > > > > > On Saturday 14 October 2017 04:38:57 John Dammeyer wrote: > > > > > > As I recall, there was a specific comment that lathes were not > > > > > > yet supported. For now I think I'll leave it alone because > > > > > > even if it were supported there are so many things on my plate > > > > > > that I wouldn't be able to test it anyway. Unfair to put > > > > > > pressure on Charles or anyone to get something working and > > > > > > then not use it. > > > > > > > > > > > > Going way back 10 years to when I first started the > > > > > > E-Leadscrew project, cost was a factor to adding electronic > > > > > > gearing. One of the costs was a decent quadrature encoder > > > > > > with 250 lines to fit the spindle. Turns out the encoder disk > > > > > > wasn't that expensive for the size spindle of the SB 10L. > > > > > > Only about $70. But I'd have to buy 100. That put it out of > > > > > > reach. > > > > > > > > > > John, who buys this stuff?, Make it, that IS what we do. I > > > > > found some code in our wiki.linuxcnc.org for an optical > > > > > interrupter style of encoder that I used for a model to make > > > > > wheels for TLM, then added a slot because there was room for it, > > > > > to the G0704's encoder wheel. I had put ball screws in the xy of > > > > > my expanded micromill quite some time ago, so I had fair > > > > > accuracy there, and I made the wheels for both TLM and the G0704 > > > > > on the micromill. Bought a sheet of brass intended for door kick > > > > > plates, and experimented with mill sizes, and slot spacings > > > > > until the output was usable. IIRC the slots are actually wedge > > > > > shaped. I put the index slot inside the circle of outside slots > > > > > so the opto's could all be in a row on the board, even made the > > > > > dbl sided pcb's on the micromill using eagle to generate the > > > > > gcode. That way the center opto is the index. > > > > > > > > > > One of the later versions of that code for a smaller wheel is > > > > > here: > > > > > > > > > > <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene/Genes-os9-stf/LCNC/genes-enc > > > > >oder .ngc> > > > > > > > > > > And thank Lester of course. > > > > > > > > > > Then for the Sheldon, I just put some (mumble)667's on an alu > > > > > carving that matched the OD curve of the big 60 tooth bull gear, > > > > > so I have 240 edges per rev to drive the rest of LCNC with. I > > > > > gooped a screw to the side of the gear for an index pulse > > > > > generator and put a 3rd 667 offset sideways to make that pulse. > > > > > > > > > > I'm retired, on SS and can't afford to buy that stuff, and 99% > > > > > of the time I'd have to make adapters anyway, so why not just > > > > > make the whole thing? Time is the one thing I usually have > > > > > enough of as I've got till whenever I miss morning roll call for > > > > > good. Thats my only deadline. > > > > > > > > > > > An alternative was an encoder driven by a toothed belt and > > > > > > pulleys from the SB spindle. Again, cost of all the bits and > > > > > > pieces for that came close to the target price for the ELS > > > > > > which back then was only $150. This was all before Beagles > > > > > > and Pi modules. > > > > > > > > > > I think I have less than $200 for raw material in all 3 encoders > > > > > that I've made so far. > > > > > > > > > > > At this point if I did add a Beagle to do CNC on the lathe I'd > > > > > > want to include the 4.3" touch screen cape and use a similar > > > > > > interface that I have for the ELS. I just don't have a need > > > > > > for a CNC lathe. > > > > > > > > > > CNC on the lathes, both of them, has been a net time saver for > > > > > me once the code is written. It took about a week to write the > > > > > code, and 10 lbs of scrap steel carved up for test fits, and a > > > > > day to fine tune the cutting tool, to swap the about shot out > > > > > and pitted 30-06 Ackley Improved barrel in old meat in the pot > > > > > out for a fresh SS barrel in 6.5mm tight twist and chambered for > > > > > a 6.5 Creedmoor. Hornady's new 143 gr ELD-X bullet works well, > > > > > in bad windy weather, the first group will put venison in the > > > > > freezer on any day of the week, from any range I can guess > > > > > accurately enough. And its a heck of a lot easier on an 83 yo > > > > > shoulder than the Ackley-06 was. Old meat in the pot is a P-17 > > > > > Enfield, with square 10 tpi threads. You can't buy a tool to > > > > > carve that. And you don't want to write code thats carving up a > > > > > $500 barrel, without being sure it fits by carving scrap > > > > > shafting first. That was harder stuff than the barrel itself > > > > > was. > > > > > > > > > > > And to be truthful, for the amount I use the lathe and the > > > > > > number of metric threads I cut the ELS is the perfect > > > > > > solution. Perhaps one day I'll find a project that requires > > > > > > both Z and X to be powered and has to do more than what my ELS > > > > > > does. But for now, the biggest issue with turning is pulling > > > > > > out the spiral bits of metal as the lathe cuts. > > > > > > > > > > > > Thank you for the suggestion. I know it's something that > > > > > > should be followed up. > > > > > > > > > > > > John > > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > > > > > From: Jon Elson [mailto:[email protected]] > > > > > > > Sent: October-13-17 10:01 PM > > > > > > > To: Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC) > > > > > > > Subject: Re: [Emc-users] MachineKit on the BeagleBone Black > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On 10/13/2017 05:13 PM, John Dammeyer wrote: > > > > > > > > The desire for the Beagle with me was originally that with > > > > > > > > LinuxCNC and > > > > > > > > > > > > a > > > > > > > > > > > > > quadrature encoder on the spindle along with the hardware > > > > > > > QEP handled by > > > > > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > > > > > PRU we'd have an awesome little lathe controller. Alas, > > > > > > > that's the one > > > > > > > > > > > > thing in > > > > > > > > > > > > > MachineKit that hasn't been addressed yet. > > > > > > > The PRU code by Charles Steinkuehler definitely supports > > > > > > > encoders, if you tell it to instantiate one or more. > > > > > > > I don't know the particulars, but they are in the PRU code. > > > > > > > You might send Charles a message, he is VERY helpful. > > > > > > > Once the encoder is instantiated, it is just a matter of > > > > > > > hooking the right hal pins to the pins exported by the PRU > > > > > > > driver. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Jon > > > > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > >---- ---- ------ -- > > > > > > > > > > > > > Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's > > > > > > > most engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! > > > > > > > http://sdm.link/slashdot > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > > > Emc-users mailing list > > > > > > > [email protected] > > > > > > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > >---- ---- -------- Check out the vibrant tech community on one > > > > > > of the world's most engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! > > > > > > http://sdm.link/slashdot > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > > Emc-users mailing list > > > > > > [email protected] > > > > > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > > > > > > > > Cheers, Gene Heskett > > > > > -- > > > > > "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: > > > > > soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." > > > > > -Ed Howdershelt (Author) > > > > > Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > >---- ------ -- > > > > > > > > > Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most > > > > > engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > Emc-users mailing list > > > > > [email protected] > > > > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > >---- -------- Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the > > > > world's most engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! > > > > http://sdm.link/slashdot > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Emc-users mailing list > > > > [email protected] > > > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > > > > Cheers, Gene Heskett > > > -- > > > "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: > > > soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." > > > -Ed Howdershelt (Author) > > > Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >------ -- > > > > > Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most > > > engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Emc-users mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >-------- Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's > > most engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot > > _______________________________________________ > > Emc-users mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > Cheers, Gene Heskett > -- > "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: > soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." > -Ed Howdershelt (Author) > Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most > engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
