An update on the electronic lead screw mentioned back in August. As mentioned then, the software was developed by “Clough42” in a Youtube series. My highest form of flattery is when after reviewing someone’s design, I can’t see how I can do any better. Fortunately, the designer open-sourced everything. Also, he used off-the-shelf boards, so nothing has to be fabricated, mostly, meaning that the servo motor and spindle encoder need mounting, and a box is needed for the display, controller, and power supplies, all to tidy it up but also to keep chips from shorting things out. The picture shows the cobbled together—but working—mess . The bracket alone took a fair bit of time and made a huge pile of chips.
I’ll next make the enclosure for the power supplies and controller next, but worked a deal so I don’t have to make the small display box. That’s because the designer provided CNC files for milling the cutouts and engraving the text. Someone else is making one as well and mentioned he’d made his display box using the CNC files, so I asked what he’d charge to make a second box – deal done. It saves a lot of time and I’ve made enough electronic boxes in my youth that I don’t mind avoiding another.
Anyway, while the designer used commercially available boards, he did go ahead and design a small daughter card that combines several functions together, which really cleans up the installation, so I’m going to pick up one of those as well. It makes the whole installation cleaner and more reliable, plus it keeps my build so that if he modifies the code, there’s no concern about it not working.
