ELS Software Updates and Troubleshooting Tips [Electronic Leadscrew Part 20]

[@azenginerd9498]

Because of your ELS series, I felt confident tackling my own PCB project. Boards are on order from the fab now! Circuit complexity on mine is at kindergarten level but it's a big step for a mechanical guy! Thanks for the push.

[@Clough42]

Wow! Response has been amazing. The kits were out of stock there for about three hours, but they're back, and my team is working on more.

[@flameboy7265]

Are there any plans to supply plug and play kits at any point for those of us too thick to do it ourselves? I, like many others, can do the mechanical stuff but the electronic wizardry conjures a goldfish spell on me that renders me useless at anything beyond wiring a plug or maybe a motor at a push.

[@MrPatdeeee]

Well done Kind Sir. You could easily be the "standard" when it comes to teaching. More succinctly: "A true Cut Above". Thank you James. If ALL children in schools had teachers like you, there are no words to describe how much better this nation would be. Again thanks. May Jesus continue to give you "gifts" from heaven.

[@machinemaker2248]

I would love to see a video describing the code that you wrote for the Launchpad -- organization, how each part works, and how it fits together. Great job on the whole project. A huge success!

[@g.tucker8682]

Those continuity charts sure came in handy for me! Thanks

[@bobuk5722]

Hi James, last one, and it's for you. I found those duPont connectors an absolute pain to crimp together. I understand why you used them but frankly I'd happily have paid more for the kit to have matching male and female screw ones. The dUPont crimps need the specialist shape crimp jaws that you found. The 'proper' ratchet crimp pliers are outstandingly expensive - at least over here. As mentioned in an earlier post I dismantled a set of IWISS pliers, split the top jaws into their two parallel halves and ground out the 'fold over' lip on the AWG 28 to 24 insulation crimping section.The result was a close approximation to the OEM pliers at a fraction of the cost. Without the mod I was having great difficulty in getting the crimped section of the insulation - and it was the correct US spec AWG wire - to enter the housing. Cheers. BobUK.

[@weaves7]

Your care and attention to detail is why I already bought your combo kit, even though I am not even close to installing it.

[@markloving11]

Same, mine just arrived, but it’ll be a while yet till it’s up and running.

[@car9167]

Same here .I have 3-4 other projects in the pipeline before that

[@LordPhobos6502]

Ditto here 👍❤

[@bacca-jt1th]

Hi James. As you know of the problems I have been having through my own lack of some skills. I find this video will be of great help to get me up and running. Thanks for your consideration to your viewers and customers alike. Regards Noel ( Australia )

[@TheTruth-fs2rm]

Using this kit for an electronic universal conversion kit for my semi-universal dividing head on the mill. Pretty cool design and it has so many uses for more than just the intended ELS.

[@routercnc9517]

Thanks for the time you are putting into this. It’s on my list of upgrades as changing the change gears is a pain. Just got to clear a couple of projects first . . . ! Also I would recommend that people use ferrules to terminate the cables before putting them into those green connectors. Stops stray strands shorting, is more secure and looks nicer ! Good work !

[@LordPhobos6502]

I'm working on an unrelated project which will require long cable runs with serial communication. Listening to you going over your error detection is both extremely helpful and inspiring. Thank you so much! 🙂

[@boldford]

If you have really long cable runs you may wish to consider a balanced signalling configuration such as RS485/RS422. Such signalling schemes are ideally suited to twisted pair cables such as CAT5 and CAT6.

[@vincentguttmann2231]

@@boldford A CAN bus is also very robust.

[@Clarksburgaircom]

You are a genius! I don’t have a lathe yet, I did purchase the kit on eBay to support the Chanel I did put it together and work great Thank you to share all that you have to offer Yuri

[@CraftedChannel]

I work as a technician in another field and I appreciate all the explanations and diagnostics you went through there.

[@44mod]

Thank you James the upgrades to my Lathe from this project have helped me in many different ways. The satisfaction of changing to the VFD and being able to change the speed of my lathe on the fly are so satisfying. James you showed us how to do all these things but we as viewers had to take the initiative to make the changes. To make these changes i had to have trust in myself to be able to do the changes. I bought a brand new lathe just like yours. Then when I got the lathe set it up tore it apart and started to do the changes. I would have not done that if I did not respect and trust the information i was using to do these changes. James, I can not praise you and Clough42 channel enough. Again thank you and God Bless you.

[@p3astar378]

great reliability improvements - 2 thumbs up from someone who designs industrial control electronics :)

[@EverettsWorkshop]

Slowing the speed makes total sense for reliability's sake as you explained it, as we would not even notice the difference. Some of us are even slower so it would make less of a difference, lol.

[@stephenjohnson6841]

Such a very well done project/video! Thanks again James.

[@Arick_Lee]

I started tracking the build of your electronic lead screw quite by accident. In my work life I've spend a lot of hours on a ...dynamic continuous motion lead/ball screw "checker", screw mapper, to verify tolerances of rolled screws. You caught my attention as you defined the power capabilities of the Launch Pad, at one point you were referring to the systems control loop & I/O latencies, "Math Co-processor(never thought I'd see these things again), and just..all the amazing things built into this board...and the price..I don't even want to know how they make them that cheap. Inadvertantly you provided to me both an economical and (probably🤣) "accessible enough to me" system that is not a toy and is (if you are smarter enough than me) up to task of ..Ultra Low-Latency control loops that might even need a little math. With the ground work I've gleened from watching your videos about something I have no intensions of building. I've learned a great number of very useful bits filling some gaps that I needed to close to solve a puzzle. I have to figure there are communities with smarter enough than me people sharing thier launch pad project to get the pieces I just don't have the bandwidth to learn to do myself. Anywho.. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝒴o𝓊! (PS, I Think you'd make an excellent guide to learning how to make good and interesting use of those launchpads/programming controls or machines with them. Tips and tricks Maybe?🤷‍♂ 😝

[@bobuk5722]

Hi James, thanks for the connector explanation. I struggled with these, eventually deciding that tightening clockwise must be right. I guess thet come pre-tightened to avoid losing the screws in transit. The confirmation is appreciated. BobUK.

[@bobuk5722]

Hi James, Thanks for all these enhancements. The feed/thread gearing is much appreciated for my Precision Mathews lookalike lathe. I made iup my own user i/f to processor cable as I wanted something robust and flexible. Twisted the power leads but the signal ones were just single individual wires. No shielding. I've not had any problems other than a wonky DuPont crimp joint. I modified a set of ratchet crimpers to crimp the DuPont connectors correctly - the wings that grip the insulation have to wrap round it, not dig in, otherwise they can foul on the plastic housing. I took the jaws apart and ground the fold over lip off the half that deal with the insulation wings - Dremel and diamond rotary bit. Worked well. Still working as a bread board layout - enclosure install is coming this winter. It's well protected in the meantime. I used a relay to switch the ELS power on when the lathe is switched on. Really, really useful bit of kit - 'finish' is something I now get on my work! Cheers. BobUK. (edited to include very bad pun!).

[@LabRatJason]

This was the feature I was waiting for before buying (I ordered mine and got it 2 weeks ago!). My lathe doesn't have half nuts, and the leadscrew is connected to a handle, so I can engage the gears on one end, or I can run the handle on the other end (the right hand side) and that's how the carriage moves manually. I needed the power button to disable it when I'm the one driving. ;)

[@WatchmakerGreece]

I watch the videos I order all the stuff, today I just finished the electronic leadscrew works great, it’s one of the best projects that you can do to your lathe with changing gears. Clough keeps make and improvements to the software . Also the lcd kit and control circuit that you have make is great. Thank you very much Clough.

[@chiparooo]

Awesome documentation and improvements! It’s too bad this kind of care and support isn’t put into everyday items.

[@jutny]

This is the best project I've ever followed on youtube. Absolutely fantastic work, and I wonder if now in 2022 these are available... I just picked up a 1957 Logan 2557-V and I would love to be able to do metric threading easily.

[@henmich]

Great to see them for sale.. It made me happy to buy a set, and help support the channel...

[@chrisj4570g]

Totally unrelated to your project, but your explanation of how the capacitance of the cable causes data errors helped me understand some data issues from some equipment from a loooong time ago, and why slowing the baud rate fixed it.

[@Kizmox]

This turned out so much better than i have hoped! Really good and reasonably priced product you have here.

[@bobuk5722]

Hi Folks. Solution to problem I made! I have a dual carriage feed. Normal lead screw and a separate feed shaft. I found that the ELS suddenly could not drive the feed shaft but could still move the lead screw although it's ability to do that decreased quite quickly. Convinced I had tried to operate the powered cross table drive with the table locked I set about rudimentary electrical fault finding. Everything checked out ok. PSU was working correctly. No flashing red led on the driver, no alarm output on its electrical interface, I could see the resistance of the motor windings, I had the same voltage across each winding. Turned (!) out the drive pulley on my hybrid servo stepper motor was slipping! Next time I'll try starting with the obvious. Probably had locked the cross table and fortunately I had accidentally built in a slipping clutch ..... Very relieved BobUK.

[@bobuk5722]

Hi folks. I had to ask my son to do the board soldering for me as my hands now shake too much when trying to do prevision work like this. However I used to do a lot of this sort of thing so I can add sone tips. Get a small table top vice to hold the board - so much easier if not chasing it about. In general fit the low profile items first - that usually makes things easier. Get a magnifying glass and very careful inspect the solder joints for unwanted bridges. A fine tipped soldering iron will usually clear these up but if not a manual 'click' vacuum sucker works wonders, or failing that some braided de-solder tape. Despite the environmental concerns lead based solder will flow better and you might want to at least consider that if having problems. There are some very nice and not expensive precision low voltage soldering irons now available. Try and avoid direct mains powered ones, if faulty the leakage current can damage the more sensitive components. James covered ant-static precautions but don't wear nylon underpants! Or shirts. Cheers. BobUK

[@Werz99]

Thanks for the upgrade...this will solve a lot of issues I have. Building in a noise filter in the power line seems to make that much better. But the locking and other safety features makes the system more reliable. One more suggestion: Please add a configuration option to choose if the default startup values of the system should be metric or imperial . Would be more convinient as making these changes in the code by hand for us metric austrians:-) This whole project is great and I nearly almost forgot the pain I always had with the change gears on my lathe...thanks again!

[@juweinert]

12:00 In your case you should connect both ends of the shield to ground. Reasoning is that you have an isolated module connected. There is no way you create ground differentials with this setup. If you connect both shields, you'll have a completely shielded system, as if the remote module is mounted in the same metallic housing. That little change could improve the signal integrity immensely!

[@mumblbeebee6546]

Is the control panel housing not connected to ground through the lathe body it is bolted to?

[@juweinert]

@@mumblbeebee6546 maybe, but it is not a proper connection, since the lathe is painted. He'd need to have taken off the paint for that to be reliable. And even if so there would be the possibility of unequal ground potential, as the lathe is a huge chunk of steel, not a proper conductor. Best is to shield from one ground point alone. And since he has the shield and ground within the cable the most reliable and simple way would be to connect the shield properly to the enclosure

[@orangetruckman]

Subscribed! This is a wonderful thing once I get my new to me lathe cleaned and going, I’ll be ordering! Heck, maybe you’ll have a complete kit that’ll be for purchase by then 😬

[@NelioSmix]

Great videos James! A couple suggestions, for the communication if you use CRC only error free messages are accepted. For the RPM smoothing I suggest a moving/rolling average, it is much better than standard average, it doesn't create any delay and not that hard to implement. Keep up the excellent work!

[@Regular6782]

Awesome work mate. I still have mine setup on the bench from testing and haven't managed to put it on the lathe yet but I am really looking forward to it.

[@misterfixit1952]

Thanks, James. Always a good watch with important and concise information.

[@georgehilliard2109]

Great video as always. I first built my els before your boards were available using breadboard and installed on my lathe from the 1870s worked great. I got one of first 100 boards and had that upgrade done in a day or so worked great but had to use magnifying glasses to solder. Hope to have this software upgrade done soon but works so well it may be a while. Good job as always and thank you

[@rissole50]

your explainations and attention to detail are a credit to you. i am awaiting bits to arrive and looking forward to the challenge? ( a mostly mechanical guy)

[@apollorobb]

Love the Jamescad lol. Ive almost got the touch screen working on mine gonna load the new Firmware in tonight and give it a whirl . Thanks for the update

[@1mon4730]

Just finished the update. This is great! Thanks James.

[@frankwhite6111]

Great project! Thank you for the amount of work you put into not only the project but the videos also. I am adapting this to a Smithy Midas 1220 this winter and have the electronics up and running first try. Well done:-)

[@MRSupafly2u]

How did the install go with your Smithy? I'm embarking on that journey now and believe I have it all worked out - still getting some components together and have opportunity to make some changes to the plans.... Thanks!

[@stephanc7192]

Amazing attention to detail. Great project!

[@mickdanks6836]

Hi James, thanks for the update and dedication to this project. From concept to implementation and continuous improvement it's been great motivation. My own ELS is working fine (the update is the icing on the cake) and I wonder if having an LV enclosure (display + MCU) and separate HV enclosure (PSU + Driver), as I have done, helps with noise issues. Thanks again for a detailed, thorough and easy to follow project.

[@dieSpinnt]

It is unbelievable to use a 3.3V (botched to 5V, without appropriate transceivers) midrange speed serial connection for important parts of an application (I can't imagine whats more important than the UI). That TM1638 chip isn't suitable for such an application in an environment where motors are running, VFDs are working, etc. We use the correct technology like current based transceivers for serial communication lines ... or just don't split UI and MCU. Shifting the responsibility to a SHIELDED CABLE (like in the video) is really the icing on the cake that made me speechless for a minute. If we do the math, that doesn't influence the signal integrity to that level like a WRONG DESIGN CHOICE. What you have, Mick is: Pure Luck that it works!:) Sporadic failures and feedback? Strange behavior? I don't want to paint the devil on the wall, but it needs only ONE incident, to loose a finger ... one that never happened before and shouldn't never happen. Sorry for the rant, workplace-safety is no joke! Controlling and Power electronics are always to be separated. Physical and PSU wise. Anything other (especially with rotating machine tools that can kill you) isn't even an option. That home-brewn electronics stuff is a horror from the perspective of EMC(Electromagnetic compatibility), because there is NOTHING that can earn that description. You can only hope that you bought drivers and power supplies that are correctly designed and certified. Supply-Line-Filters may be an option, in fact in industrial applications there is no controlled drive without those filters ... oh and SHIELDED cables for at least tachometry/sensor options. I can't believe what he said in the video, hehehe.

[@AdrianMooreRGBracer]

Hi James, your content is great, keep up with the instructional detail, you're a great teacher. I too use you tube as a learning environment and completely applaud your "pay the good back" attitude. I'm a few years behind you in my skills development, but oh so inspired by you, Quinn at Blondihacks, This Old Tony and many others. I'm warming up a long dormant project as a direct result of your ELS series, and I'l be ordering a kit for my lathe

[@Graham_Wideman]

James: why are you sticking with 10k pullups (16:20 or so)? You have 4mA of drive available, might as well use it. You could use 2.5k and still only require (5/2.5) + (3.3/2.5) = 2 + 1.3 = 3.3mA drive. And that would give you 1/4 the rise time and substantially increase the noise immunity, even if you don't want to run the bus at a higher data rate. 10k pullups are ok for i2c and spi on board, but as you rightly point out, a remote cable requires more drive, and is subject to more noise. Your software changes are great, of course, but as you said, better to fix the underlying electrical issues if possible, rather than relying on the software corrections.

[@stanmacdonald1073]

I believe there should be electric and software noise mitigation. Ideally, inter-module communications would ideally be on differential signal lines. This dramatically reduces noise susceptibility. Adding shielding further reduces susceptibility. Differential line drivers such as RS422/RS485 drivers can match the line impedance so the rise time and data rates are greatly increased over 10k pullups.

[@JasperJanssen]

@@stanmacdonald1073 as a bonus the differential pair signals do amazingly well with Ethernet cable, which is by far the cheapest way to get high quality cables.

[@dieSpinnt]

​@@stanmacdonald1073 You are absolutely right. It is unbelievable to use a botched 3.3V to 5V level shifter for such an important and safety relevant part as the UI ... and not appropriate transceivers for an application that runs in a electromagnetic highly polluted environment like a machine shop and side by side with motor drivers. And then shifting the responsibility of the bad design decision to the cabling ... to industry standard shielded cabling. BTW why use such a toy, an inappropriate botch for serious applications like the TM1638 in the first place? To cover up another bad design decision (Hint: MCU)?

[@teropiispala2576]

I started with you lead-screw in last pring and ended up making totally new software with two axis servo control. My idea wasn't to make full cnc, because using a lathe is fun but watching it destroy itself because of error in g-code is not. First I made automatic functions for threading, tapers, facing and roundings. It was quite simple and they extend usability a lot. I have pulse wheels and cheap encoder as controls and old laptop as a display and aiding with more complex stuff. Because my spare times increases for widely known reason, I had a possibility to get this done into usable level quite fast. However, this seems to be endless project, with new interesting improvement ideas coming up all the time. One of the most interesting idea would be to map geometrical errors in my lathe and compensate them as well as possible. Also the switching between manual and automated work can be improved. Have anyone else been thinking this type of approach?

[@UncleKennysPlace]

Happy to say that all of my issues were caused by lifting a pad on the display board (only one pad is connected on one side, supplies power to the driver chip, so of course I broke the trace!) I got a couple of boards (which are slightly different, as James notes) and plugged one in before I replaced the connector, and **bingo**. I must have played with it for an hour on the bench. As I have different servo / driver setup, I need to figure out the settings to get the best results. Now to order up some timing belts and pulleys. Think I'm gonna test TI's claim that this will run two axes as well, so I can have an ETA (Electronic Taper Attachment.) Still learning about the LaunchPad board ... it ain't no Arduino.

[@ElectronicMarine]

alot overkill for this prodject, but as an electronic engeeneer, micro proggramer and hobbyst machining:I LOVE IT :) YOU DID A WONDERFULL JOB. hank you. i will use it on my lathe

[@NabilTouchie]

beautiful user support

[@cameronwebster6866]

One possible future upgrade would be to add a virtual threading dial, using another rotary encoder and some sort of display, which could eliminate the problems with hybrid threads.

[@machinemaker2248]

EEVBlog! I love that Aussie bloke!

[@michaelmiller3359]

Good job you tenacity is paying off

[@nevellgreenough404]

V1.3.01 Patch for More UI Control Fantastic upgrade!! I've hacked up the version 1.3.01 UserInterface.cpp file for those who may want a little more control over what-you-can-do-when. In this patch you can change all things with the leadscrew power ON or OFF and the lathe stopped. The LEDS and display are kept ON so you can see what you're setting up to do. When the lathe is running you now have some control. In feed mode you can change the feed rate, feed direction and power ON/OFF. This is useful for boring or powered-crossfeed lathes with hazardous mechanical crossfeed controls like Atlas/Crafstman/Clausing machines. Feed/thread, in/mm are still blocked. With the lathe running and power ON in thread mode you can only power OFF. This is for emergency crash prevention. Everything else is blocked. Changing stuff during threading can be disastrous. The four states (power ON/OFF; lathe RPM=0 or > 0) are broken out in a lengthy "if...else if" statement for easy modification. Un-comment or comment out the if... statements to activate/ deactivate the controls you want in each of the 4 states. I apologize in advance for my Arduino-level of coding skill. Replace the UserInterface::loop() routine in UserInterface.cpp with the following: void UserInterface :: loop( void ) // Hacked by NLG 10/18/20 { // read the RPM up front so we can use it to make decisions Uint16 currentRpm = core->getRPM(); // display an override message, if there is one overrideMessage(); // read keypresses from the control panel keys = controlPanel->getKeys(); // respond to keypresses // Comment out the "if" statements and curly-braces for keys you DON'T want in each mode if( currentRpm == 0 && !this->core->isPowerOn() ) // Machine stopped and power OFF { if( keys.bit.POWER ) { this->core->setPowerOn(1); } if( keys.bit.IN_MM ) { this->metric = ! this->metric; core->setFeed(loadFeedTable()); } if( keys.bit.FEED_THREAD ) { this->thread = ! this->thread; core->setFeed(loadFeedTable()); } if( keys.bit.FWD_REV ) { this->reverse = ! this->reverse; core->setReverse(this->reverse); } if( keys.bit.SET ) { setMessage(&SETTINGS_MESSAGE_1); } if( keys.bit.UP ) { core->setFeed(feedTable->next()); } if( keys.bit.DOWN ) { core->setFeed(feedTable->previous()); } } else if( currentRpm == 0 && this->core->isPowerOn() ) // Machine stopped and power ON { if( keys.bit.POWER ) { this->core->setPowerOn(0); } if( keys.bit.IN_MM ) { this->metric = ! this->metric; core->setFeed(loadFeedTable()); } if( keys.bit.FEED_THREAD ) { this->thread = ! this->thread; core->setFeed(loadFeedTable()); } if( keys.bit.FWD_REV ) { this->reverse = ! this->reverse; core->setReverse(this->reverse); } if( keys.bit.SET ) { setMessage(&SETTINGS_MESSAGE_1); } if( keys.bit.UP ) { core->setFeed(feedTable->next()); } if( keys.bit.DOWN ) { core->setFeed(feedTable->previous()); } } else if( currentRpm > 0 && !this->core->isPowerOn() ) // Machine running and power OFF { // Allow power ON and FWD/REV with lathe running in feed mode- // Useful for powered-crossfeed lathes like Atlas/Clausing if( keys.bit.POWER && !this->thread ) // Allow power ON in feed mode with machine running { this->core->setPowerOn(1); } // if( keys.bit.IN_MM ) // { // this->metric = ! this->metric; // core->setFeed(loadFeedTable()); // } // if( keys.bit.FEED_THREAD ) // { // this->thread = ! this->thread; // core->setFeed(loadFeedTable()); // } if( keys.bit.FWD_REV ) { this->reverse = ! this->reverse; core->setReverse(this->reverse); } if( keys.bit.SET ) { setMessage(&SETTINGS_MESSAGE_1); } if( keys.bit.UP ) { core->setFeed(feedTable->next()); } if( keys.bit.DOWN ) { core->setFeed(feedTable->previous()); } } else if( currentRpm > 0 && this->core->isPowerOn() ) // Machine running and power ON { // Allow power ON/OFF and FWD/REV with lathe running in feed mode- // Useful for powered-crossfeed lathes like Atlas/Clausing if( keys.bit.POWER ) { this->core->setPowerOn(0); // Kill power } // if( keys.bit.IN_MM ) // { // this->metric = ! this->metric; // core->setFeed(loadFeedTable()); // } // if( keys.bit.FEED_THREAD ) // { // this->thread = ! this->thread; // core->setFeed(loadFeedTable()); // } if( keys.bit.FWD_REV && !this->thread ) // Only in feed mode { this->reverse = ! this->reverse; core->setReverse(this->reverse); } // if( keys.bit.SET ) // { // setMessage(&SETTINGS_MESSAGE_1); // } if( keys.bit.UP && !this->thread ) // Only in feed mode { core->setFeed(feedTable->next()); } if( keys.bit.DOWN && !this->thread ) // Only in feed mode { core->setFeed(feedTable->previous()); } } // update the control panel controlPanel->setLEDs(calculateLEDs()); controlPanel->setValue(feedTable->current()->display); controlPanel->setRPM(currentRpm); // if( ! core->isPowerOn() ) // Commented this out to always show feedrate/thread // { // controlPanel->setValue(VALUE_BLANK); // } controlPanel->refresh(); } ************************************************************************************* Replace the UserInterface::calculateLEDs() routine in UserInterface.cpp with the following: LED_REG UserInterface::calculateLEDs() // Hacked by NLG 10/18/20 { // get the LEDs for this feed LED_REG leds = feedTable->current()->leds; if( this->core->isPowerOn() ) { // and add a few of our own leds.bit.POWER = 1; leds.bit.REVERSE = this->reverse; leds.bit.FORWARD = ! this->reverse; } else { // power is off // leds.all = 0; // NLG Keep LEDS on always leds.bit.POWER = 0; // NLG Crude technique.... leds.bit.REVERSE = this->reverse; // NLG but easily removed leds.bit.FORWARD = ! this->reverse; // NLG } return leds; }

[@tnrcboatracer1]

Great project James. I'm very glad i found your chsnnem and have subscribed. My grizzly lathe ha the dual feed, so i'm glad for the separate ratios. But this got me thinking. Instead of a needing a full cnc lathe, a separate drive could be added to the cross feed to provide for cutting tapers. I have an application that requires 2 stage and 3 stage tapers. This could be facilitated by micro switches and actuator rods to step through taper ratios set in the control box. Hmmm....

[@swolebro]

I know having an oscilloscope is a big jump in terms of diagnostics equipment, but you can get some beautifully janky single-channel DSO's nowadays for pocket change. The DSO138 on Banggood is something like $30 and (realistically) works up to 50kHz. You'd have to slow down the communication on this board a bit more to bring it in range, but in any case, it's so cheap there's no excuse not to have a scope in your kit. The first time I used mine, I was able to salvage 5 VFD's. That's a stupid good ROI!

[@foxabilo]

I know this is fairly old by now, but there are sync/source level shifting IC's for this very purpose and they are actually fairly inexpensive, they reduce the issue by having an extra transistor to drive the line high rather than using a resistor to pull it up.

[@Clough42]

Correct. TI makes a few. I was unable to get them to work in this application because the impedance of the pull-up resistors in the display is outside the allowable range, causing the speedup transistors to fire at the wrong times.

[@foxabilo]

@@Clough42 Interesting, as long as you have a reliable system now it's all good.

[@jamesoddsends4483]

Nice video. Sort of a Spaceballs reference at the end?

[@GeoffHome-u6r]

Excellent as always

[@joeldriver381]

Great work! I wish I needed one of these. 🤪

[@somebodyelse6673]

You do, you just don't know it yet :)

[@rasjase1]

This system could be adapted for use with a coil winder so that it is adjustable for the size of wire being wound instead of threads. Very cool

[@HansFormerlyTraffer]

I believe that it is entirely feasible to make your own optical comparitor with inexpensive parts found on the internet. It is more than a handful for me. I will be trying though. But YOU ARE THE ONE who could do it right .....What do you think?

[@bobuk5722]

There's some posts below about 'Testfixture' that I responded to, initially without really thinking things through. The 'Testfixture' firmware does what it says - it's used by James to test the daughterboards using his specially developed fixture. Unless you have the test bed you do not need the 'testfixture' firmware - and James has tested the boards for us using it already. My apologies. BobUK,

[@kurtbilinski1723]

I'm the author of that other note. Yeah the problem is/was that only the "testfixture" file would go into "active debug". The "els-f280049c" in the same folder in my file set would not. For whatever reason, Code Composer would only allow the test code to be switch to active debug. I think I even tried deleting just the test folder, but pretty sure that didn't work. I had to go back to his GitHub page and find an apparently different version of the same release(!) that had only the els-f280049c. James, we're not complaining, I worked in SW for 10 years and know how this stuff happens, and we all appreciate your hard work!

[@bobuk5722]

@@kurtbilinski1723 Hi Kurt. That was a graceful reply. I used to manage a team of S/W developers in a large Telecom company but there's no way I could write code. In fact compiling James' code was the first time I have ever done that myself! In my defence I'm now over 70 and started out with a Time shared bureau. So, you know FAR more about this than I do! Cheers. Bob.

[@chuckels431]

Hi James, any thoughts down the road of using the set button for some purpose? I’m sure you had something in mind when you put it in. Also would have liked a hold for scroll feature on the + - buttons. Love the work you have done with the ELS and the mill 🙂👍

[@paulypaulypauly8011]

Hi James. Great work on this project, so thanks a bunch! I’m about to start putting it together on my lathe so just thought a timely enquirer about future updates might be in order. Do you anticipate changes to the ui in the near future? I ask because if you are going to be adding buttons or making other updates to the physical kit, I’ll make it open to mods rather than building it in. Again - thanks for your excellent work. I have yet to see a better conceived and explained project on KZbin.

[@joell439]

Thanks James for another great video - looks like I just got the last of the EL Control Panel Kits available at the moment. eBay said it was the last one and I immediately hit the BIN button. 👍👍😎👍👍

[@StrigidaeStudios]

Hi James. Great job with the ELS project! Have you thought about integrating it with your VFD so you can control the spindle speed from the same control panel?

[@robertsyourrelative]

I've been hoping you would give more guidance on stepper vs servo stepper vs servo and torque requirements but I must have missed it if it is in the series. I have bought everything (mostly from you) except the motor.

[@kevinberta8741]

Kevin Berta 8 hours ago What file do I set the different gear ratio for threading and feed with different shafts? I can't seem to find it in the files.

[@Clough42]

Configuration.h

[@MecMod_Homeshop]

Hi, dis you solved? I need to do the same, Okay configuration H, but what I should do? My spindle ratio is 13:1 so the spindle need to make 13 spin to make spin 1 time the shaft, I don’t know how to set up in configuration.h, please help

[@thebotformalityknownasdale2564]

When I worked as a safety officer I was employed by a company that did all the new construction wiring for all data and communication so internet fax and telephone I was told the foil wrapped wire was for added stability in signal in the large cabinets where some buildings had 2 or 3 28"×28" × 6' tall cabinets with only 1 fiber optics line in and hundreds out to every phone dsl wall outlet

[@dieSpinnt]

They lied to you(... nah, joking, only a little:) )? Shielding protects mainly from outer influence, like you turning the lights on, workers using their power tools, motors starting and stopping, you get it. Twisted pairs may protect from inner influences like cable-crosstalk or reflections. Fiber optics are ... well, optical ... and are not affected by electromagnetic interference. DSL uses a portfolio of tricks and cool techniques to provide that kind of speed and signal integrity over simple copper-lines (and also because of those corrupt politicians and monopolists like some German telecommunication providers, hehe). All of that alone a fascinating topic and an interesting read. Wikipedia can be a good starting point. Have fun!:)

[@lesthompson5907]

i wuld love to see a video on pitch to speeds reshows which is the hart of the else siystom when i first set up my lath to cut a thread . with out it gears i discovered it gear dox control pitch by accident it mattered not the speed of the chuck & the for the Pinedale. fast or slow it sated in sink with the banjo. remove the banjo & Mach the shaft speed & your thread pitch matches the thread pitch gage. but it dose not do so if their is not a gear box the pitch is driven by the led screw in this case the lack of gear box is control by the court on the spindle shaft , signals is the a way of incising or decreasing a rand of speed's to select terd count with out a encoder on the chuck spindle removing the need for coding.

[@Core3DTech]

So looking into implementing this. I have a bunch of MDrive23 motors which I would like to use. Trying to find the USB cable to program these.

[@MrInnovativeEnergy]

I've also had good results on RPM in micros by using successive approximation for an average.

[@paulmanhart4481]

James, is there a complete parts list for your ELS? I want to make sure I have everything. Also, it might make a good video to summarize everything. Like the various parts and how it all goes together. All this is probably in your videos already, but it’s hard to pull it all out. Like, does the rotating sensor that links to the spindle need to be a 1:1 ratio, or can that be changed in the software (one of your variables like the tpi of the lead screw)? I think I have most of the parts but don’t know if I need a DC power supply. Lots of little things like that. I know you’re busy as hell and I love your videos, but a summary ELS video would be great. Thanks, Paul

[@jimdean7335]

James, I’m a little late to the party regarding your ELS, but bing watched your videos over the holidays. Well done. I’m collecting the parts I need (I already had a stepper and driver). I’ve done similiar work but mostly with Arduino so I’m looking for to learning a new platform. I’ve also reviewed all the info on Github but have not seen an “Instruction Manual” that describes the buttons, LED’s etc. Most are obvious and you addresed the PWR button in this video but what is the SET button for. Perhaps you’ve addressed this and I missed it. My other question is regarding cable length. The encoder and control panel will be about 6 ft from the controller. The cables will be well isolated from any high voltage but I’m wondering if you or any readers have experience with this length. Jim

[@prototype3a]

Awesome. Now I just need a lathe.

[@JohannSwart_JWS]

Great video as usual. In a previous one, I spied with my little eye what appears to be a Benchmade Emerson style pocket clip. Pray tell?

[@Clough42]

Good eye. It's a Benchmade Bali-Song folder with the round thumb hole and crosslock. It's been my EDC for more than 15 years.

[@JohannSwart_JWS]

@@Clough42 Wow, those are great. Prefer them to the PM2. Don't lose it! Thanks for the reply!

[@rodrigomerlobravo]

Just GREAT! James, The whole project has been a nice venture. The upgrade worked fine. There is only one thing I miss... I was using the direction change while running the spindle on feeding. Would it be possible to enable the DIRECTION change ? I couldn't find where you blocked individually the button functions while the lathe is spinning

[@kurtbilinski1723]

I saw it in the code, just can't remember where. The code isn't that large really, once the headers and tables are accounted for. Just go through the *.cpp files and you'll find it. As I recall, it's all a large if/else statement, not case by case.

[@rodrigomerlobravo]

@@kurtbilinski1723 Thanks Kurt . I found it @ Userinterface.cpp and I added below line 192: if( keys.bit.FWD_REV) { this->reverse = ! this->reverse; core->setReverse(this->reverse); } In case somebody finds this usefull. Regards.

[@Roelasia]

well done... I want to cut some really small screws in the sub MM range . what is the smallest pitch ? (m0.5x0.125 for example)

[@charlesmayerchak6655]

James, I'm building the ELS and waiting for some parts, but I have a my first question. I have watched all the videos several times, and one thing that is mentioned more than once is the length of the wire for the control panel. You have mentioned not to make the wire too long, what would you consider to be the maximum safe length please??

[@juliussokolowski4293]

Every time I hear about an overflow condition I automatically get the image of rocket debris falling on a jungle...

[@Clough42]

Ariane 5. That was a bad day.

[@juliussokolowski4293]

@@Clough42 Yepp... Loosing the booster and payload was bad enough... but that was nothing compared to the embarrassment of the "why".... It's up there with the unit conversion on Mars Climate Orbiter and touchdown logic on the Mars Polar Lander...

[@boldford]

@@juliussokolowski4293 ESA and NASA aren't the first to make an almighty cock-up.

[@juliussokolowski4293]

@@boldford By no means... But you'll be pushed hard to find one that was as... well... spectacularly visual as Ariane 501...

[@Richardmaclachlan]

Hi James, So question. can the lead screw be run without the lathe running ? To be specific I was given a lathe/mill combo that is missing all the change gears, so a ELS seems a better choice rather that purchasing the missing gears. At the same time with this unit you would have to remove the chuck and run the lathe motor at the same time as the mill motor in order to have auto feed as the bed is attached to the lead screw.

[@draglorde]

very interesting! thank you How did you learn this? University, books, research, experience? I would .love to learn more about EMI protection

[@nevellgreenough404]

The classic reference book on EMI reduction is Henry Ott's "Noise Reduction Techniques in Electronic Systems" published by Wiley. It should be on every EE's bookshelf.

[@jamesrossmotors]

After contacting you many times I am still not able to get my program to run properly on the launch pad. I have followed your instructions to the T and triple checked everything. Something I would like know is other than the 3 switches that required changing on the launchpad is what position should the other switches be in. I switched the can switch towards CAN and the clough42 came up on my display but nothing else functioned. I could see one of the lights flickering as if the program was running so I would like to be certain of all switch positions.

[@brettfloyd6152]

Hi James, great project! I just received my combo pack and putting things together. One problem, When I load code I get no display- there appears to be data on the DIO line but no clock or strobe. Reading encoder ok, puts out steps and direction signals. Thoughts? Thanks.

[@MecMod_Homeshop]

Hi, I bought a new lathe with the power feed bar + lead-screw. Now this video Part 20 is also more important. My question is how to set-up in configuration.H the ratio. My spindle need to spin 13 time to make spin 1 time the shaft of my gear box. The ratio is 1:0,0075= viceversa from shaft 13:1. Now assuming that what How I should set this data in configuration.H?

[@steelbarz]

Just bought a similar lathe and am building this amazing lathe project with you now, just bought the parts on eBay. My lathe has a DRO for the spindle speed with an encoder in the system somewhere. what would be the things I would have to figure out and look for to connect the existing hardware to this process?

[@phildalgleish2381]

Hi...this is a little off topic, but... were you the one who made a "V" bracket and mounted it between the Z column and the wall to stabilize the column? ie: bolt the small part of the "V" against the column and the wide part against the concrete wall.... and it really made a diff in the column flex!... if you made this vid please let me know which one.... Thanks! ( if not... try it! ) Phil

[@phildalgleish2381]

Never Mind...found it... kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpCZmmeJg5Vofrc it may Help Your Mill? Regards.. Phil

[@HansFormerlyTraffer]

Twisted pairs make a huge difference...

[@seanwolfe9321]

I'll tell you James, I'm gonna guess others will have done what I did. In video 10, many of the settings (software)you put in, I copied. However, your final (hardware)setup I copied. I'm guessing others besides my self used many of your settings in the config.H file. You never went back and said, "because I ended up with this gearing, I changed this, I went with this motor so I changed this". Even once I got this all fixed, my ELS puts out 32tpi when I have it set to 8. It took a lot of research to gather the stepper required a special cable and software to go in and change that from 4000 steps/rev to 1000 step/rev. You did nothing wrong...I'm not suggesting that, but many here are dabbling into things they have no prior experience with. Ended up being trial by fire. After 6 months now (and hopefully my stepper programing cable arrives...I'm close to fully up and running.

[@kurtbilinski1723]

To be fair, he did mention that in Video 10, that each of us need to check the settings line by line. For this update, I compared my old configure.h settings with the most recent, and made the needed changes. In my own note above, I suggested that James put a reminder in his Description about where to find the compile and load information, which as you note, is in Video 10.

[@seanwolfe9321]

@@kurtbilinski1723 Nothing to be fair about..its all good, I'm just saying some (many people) copied his system down to the smallest detail. What he ended up with is what many ended up with. Rather than test parameters, maybe discussing the changes he made to these settings and why. The trouble I went to get down to my latest problem and how to fix...huge Pain. John at Automation Technologies actually said to change the dip switches on driver, said there was no way to change the rev/rotation in driver....the link is on his page. I've come across many others with similar, learn as you go experiences. There is value to that, but also frustration. If we are now talking about which wire to use NOW (part 20) I mean, I feel like that's a no brainer..but again, some people needed to know that, obviously by it coming back up now. James it talking to a WIDE ARRAY of people. I didn't know what a stepper driver was prior to this experience!

[@westischer2110]

Sean Wolfe, I would be interested in knowing if changing the values in the software of your driver corrected your problem. I am in exactly the same boat you were in with my lathe, my ELS puts out 32 tpi if it is set to 8 tpi.

[@DrZoidbergism]

i have no leadscrew at all in my lathe, and i wanted to add a ballscrew to the lathe, which will be driven by the servo motor. So i need a way to power down the stepper motor while the machine turns, is it possible to reenable the power button while the machine turns, or should i just have a big button of disenablement on my machine disenabling the stepper driver. As some kind of a "virtual halfnut".

[@richardparsons6563]

so what all do I need to buy to make it so I can cut threads with the lead screw as far as the boards well everything except for the motor

[@thomasbonse]

Have you considered a differential transceiver chip for I2C? Such as NXP’s PCA9615?

[@dieSpinnt]

I2C = IIC = INTER IC Communication. INTER Integrated Circuit ... got it? Suitable for very short and on board / very short board to board connections. Meaning: Very bad choice. Even worse than the full serial (and also inappropriate for such industrial applications) interface here. RTFM Thomas?:)

[@judkiewiczj]

James, in one of your episodes 1 - 20, you have promised that touch screen for this project is coming, do you still have it in your mind?

[@helistorm98]

I don't have a lathe, and probably wont soon, but I'd like to see a tft screen instead of the panel I know you sell those, and i respect your business, but a tft panel would be a lot more versatile (specially with double screw lathes)

[@rennkafer13]

If you watch the entire series, he goes into why he didn't use one. His reasons are solid.

[@Troncatore]

James I'm really actracted from your nice ELS project but at moment, in Italy, is not to easy to buy the Texas instruments product...have you any suggestion for an appropriate substitute using your kit? Thanks a lot processing my question...and what You think for using a 5 inch touch screen as someone did?

[@Clough42]

The TI boards are hard to get at the moment due to the semiconductor shortage. Most distributors are showing expected stock in June or July. I'm not a fan of touch screens in the shop, in general, because my hands are always oily. My CNC machines all have touch screens, and it's a mixed bag.

[@Troncatore]

@@Clough42 Thanks I'll wait untill July...👍

[@MrJsantiagoar]

Hello, do you have new kits for international sales? thank you

[@WAEviltechie]

Still noticed that you have one of the pulleys mounted with the magnet. Any plans to make that permanent?

[@robeggers5560]

Did I miss the electric magnetic half nut lock so imperial and metric screws can be cut by engaging and disengaging lead screw?

[@Clough42]

Disengaging the halfnut for hybrid threads would also require having a scale to track the motion of the carriage while unlocked and waiting for the correct relocking intervals, which is at best every 127 screw rotations. It's easy to imagine and much harder to do.

[@en2oh]

is there a lower limit to the TPI that this ELS can handle? Could it cut a 1 TPI or .5 TPI?

[@patwicker1358]

The link you provided to a servo motor on Amazon no longer works. Will the stepper motors with an encoder on Amazon work instead? Or can you list an alternate source?

[@vincentguttmann2231]

What about using a parity bit in the communication? I know that it's overkill now, but it would be cool to have

[@Clough42]

The communication is defined by the TM1638 chip, so unfortunately I don't have that option unless I design the control panel as well.

[@vincentguttmann2231]

@@Clough42 Well, since it is overkill anyway, I would not worry about it. It's just something I thought of in that moment. And really, as long as it works, it's fine.

[@lohikarhu734]

RS-422 drivers & Receivers?