Thanks John, looking forward to eventually using RELS but don't hold your breath.
Ralph
I have changed the digitalhobbyist forum cover photo.
This current photo is of my control box for all RELS functions including,
Straight turning, facing, screw cutting or threading, with options for finish/ or known as spring passes, taper turning INT/EXT and a angular display for indexing slotting splines or cutting keyways.
The plastic box base and lid I 3D printed.
I hope of interest to all our group members.
Thanks
John
--
John
--
Clausing 8520, Craftsman 12x36 Lathe, 4x12 mini lathe, 14" Delta drill press, 40 watt laser, Consew brushless DC motors and a non working 3D printer
|
I have changed the digitalhobbyist forum cover photo.
This current photo is of my control box for all RELS functions including,
Straight turning, facing, screw cutting or threading, with options for finish/ or known as spring passes, taper turning INT/EXT and a angular display for indexing slotting splines or cutting keyways.
The plastic box base and lid I 3D printed.
I hope of interest to all our group members.
Thanks
John
--
John
|
Please see files section of RELS data.
I will be sending wiring schematics and photos at a later date.
The arduino file is my current file, although there are more BETA version if required.
The tables.h file will need to be included in the arduino sketch.
Suggest you read the doc files first,?
I think this info will be of help and more than sufficient to digest at this moment.
--
John
|
Hi Tamara.
Nice to hear from you. Yes I produced all the STL files based on a pdf drawing that was included?in the original wooden laser cut model. A lot of hours to convert to CAD, some 60 parts to STL and finally 3D print. I used a Prusa type Geeetech 3D printer.
Thanks
John
John, I don't have that many colors of filament print.? Did you create all the STL files?
I have an Elegoo Resin and SeeMeCNC Boss Delta filament printers.
Tamra
--
John
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John, I don't have that many colors of filament print.? Did you create all the STL files?
I have an Elegoo Resin and SeeMeCNC Boss Delta filament printers.
Tamra
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Changed the cover photo.
I drafted and 3D printed a harley Davidson bike, approx 250 mm long.
I have all the STL files and assembly sheets available.
Just let me know
Thanks
John
owner.
--
John
|
Yes still alive and kicking, sorry for the absence, blame Covid, it gets the blame for all the topsy turvy world? we all live in currently. Anyway, I will try and invigorate this forum, naturally with the help of over 200 members. Firstly I will try and re introduce the ELS system that I built, but I would like to see how many members are still interested. I still have all the relevant drawings, schematics required for this project. I have built a total of 3 units in the past suitable for a Real Bull mini lathe. Any members that wish to drop out of this forum, then please do so, I then will have a head count? on members.moving forward. Again, very best wishes, happy hobbies. John Lindo Owner [email protected]-- John
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Hi Ralph, good point although I suspect it's going to be a pain to assemble frequently.? Your suggestion does however spark the thought of sacrificial panels that could be easily changed.
Mike, not seen the Wixey scale before.? Be interesting to see if the pcb is any smaller than the one from the caliper.? As a wood worker, it may well be of interest to Mark.?
I've seen that compound readout before, great project, but not something that one would use too often.?
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??? ??? Not to suggest more work , looks like you have a plan
here .? I found this a couple of years back & it's on the list
to add to my newer to me lathe at some stage hopefully sooner than
later . Thought it may be some interest . These folks make a scale
that I am told has the same characteristics as these cheaper
digital calipers . It should be long enough for the X on a lathe .
??? ???
??? ???
??? ??? znimzl
On 8/29/2022 10:05 AM, Julian wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Quick sitrep for those interested.
?Electronically ...
With Marks help, things have progressed well, with one small
issue.? For the X axis I chose a caliper that displayed to a
resolution of 5 microns, but the digital format from the caliper
only allows for 5 digits. So despite the display, the digital
signal only has a resolution of 0.01mm. Not the end of the world,
but had I have known I probably could have got away with using a
much cheaper caliper.
It's yet to be built into the Arduino sketch, but we may require a
facility to circumvent the "auto off" function built into the
caliper.? This should be easily achieved by getting the sketch to
monitor the out put from the caliper when it requests a reading.?
If there's no response the sketch can set a pin high which will be
connected to the on/off switch contacts on the caliper pcb.? A
really tricky bit of soldering given the size of the contacts.
Does anyone have experience of Bluetooth signals?? I'm a little
concerned that all the metal surrounding the Arduino board may
shield the signal.? I've run a test where I enclosed the caliper
and Arduino in a steel biscuit tin and it functioned fine, but any
additional info or experience would be appreciated.
The Z axis should be fairly easy as it will be a replication of
what many others have done before with standard linier scales.
?
Mechanically ...
This is the state of play in the virtual world ...
Bit confusing so I'll post "thinned out" screen shots as I go.
Things have not worked out quite how I'd envisaged (hoped).? I'd
planned to locate the caliper pcb in a pocket milled in the saddle
and fit the magnetic strip on the underside of the cross slide.?
Unfortunately there was insufficient space between the lead screw
and the cross slide to fit them in ...
So I'm having to resort to the rather ugly solution of an
extension to the back of the cross slide (red) and saddle (blue).
The caliper pcb can be seen mounted in the blue saddle extension,
sitting in a 3D printed frame with the sensing area facing up in a
light grey.? The magnetic strip will be mounted on the under side
of the red cross slide extension and extend a way on to the cross
slide.? The printed frame is employed 1) because the fixing screws
for the pcb are absolutely tiny and I'm not certian I could
replicate the thread in metal.? They should, however, screw quite
nicely into the ABS of the print.? The frame can then be fixed to
the saddle extension with M3 screws (which I have a fighting
chance of? of making threads for).? 2) it will isolate the pcb
from the metal of the lathe and 3) give me an easy way to adjust
the gap between the magnetic strip and the reading head by varying
the thickness of the frame either by machining or re-printing.
The Arduino and Lipo battery will be mounted within the blue
block, (arrangement not yet finalised).? I'm undecided as to
pocket out an aluminium block for this or use an aluminium frame
with a 3D printed cover.? Probably the latter will be easier and
be less of a block to the BT signal, but I'm concerned about hot
chips melting into the plastic.??
For the Z axis, the mechanical install is pretty standard, but
will employ a sturdy chip guard (in green) which has worked very
well on my milling machine.? The magnetic scale is fixed to the
chip guard and read head is driven by a bent bracket (yellow)
fixed to the saddle extension (design not yet finalised).
That's about it.? Not too much progress but it's coming along
slowly.
Welcome any ideas or comments.
|
Julian, I would not worry about chips melting into the plastic. If you ge an?accumulation?just print a new cover.
Ralph
On Mon, Aug 29, 2022 at 1:05 PM Julian < julian@...> wrote: Quick sitrep for those interested. ?Electronically ... With Marks help, things have progressed well, with one small issue.? For the X axis I chose a caliper that displayed to a resolution of 5 microns, but the digital format from the caliper only allows for 5 digits. So despite the display, the digital signal only has a resolution of 0.01mm. Not the end of the world, but had I have known I probably could have got away with using a much cheaper caliper. It's yet to be built into the Arduino sketch, but we may require a facility to circumvent the "auto off" function built into the caliper.? This should be easily achieved by getting the sketch to monitor the out put from the caliper when it requests a reading.? If there's no response the sketch can set a pin high which will be connected to the on/off switch contacts on the caliper pcb.? A really tricky bit of soldering given the size of the contacts. Does anyone have experience of Bluetooth signals?? I'm a little concerned that all the metal surrounding the Arduino board may shield the signal.? I've run a test where I enclosed the caliper and Arduino in a steel biscuit tin and it functioned fine, but any additional info or experience would be appreciated. The Z axis should be fairly easy as it will be a replication of what many others have done before with standard linier scales. ? Mechanically ... This is the state of play in the virtual world ...  Bit confusing so I'll post "thinned out" screen shots as I go. Things have not worked out quite how I'd envisaged (hoped).? I'd planned to locate the caliper pcb in a pocket milled in the saddle and fit the magnetic strip on the underside of the cross slide.? Unfortunately there was insufficient space between the lead screw and the cross slide to fit them in ...  So I'm having to resort to the rather ugly solution of an extension to the back of the cross slide (red) and saddle (blue).  The caliper pcb can be seen mounted in the blue saddle extension, sitting in a 3D printed frame with the sensing area facing up in a light grey.? The magnetic strip will be mounted on the under side of the red cross slide extension and extend a way on to the cross slide.? The printed frame is employed 1) because the fixing screws for the pcb are absolutely tiny and I'm not certian I could replicate the thread in metal.? They should, however, screw quite nicely into the ABS of the print.? The frame can then be fixed to the saddle extension with M3 screws (which I have a fighting chance of? of making threads for).? 2) it will isolate the pcb from the metal of the lathe and 3) give me an easy way to adjust the gap between the magnetic strip and the reading head by varying the thickness of the frame either by machining or re-printing. The Arduino and Lipo battery will be mounted within the blue block, (arrangement not yet finalised).? I'm undecided as to pocket out an aluminium block for this or use an aluminium frame with a 3D printed cover.? Probably the latter will be easier and be less of a block to the BT signal, but I'm concerned about hot chips melting into the plastic.??  For the Z axis, the mechanical install is pretty standard, but will employ a sturdy chip guard (in green) which has worked very well on my milling machine.? The magnetic scale is fixed to the chip guard and read head is driven by a bent bracket (yellow) fixed to the saddle extension (design not yet finalised).  That's about it.? Not too much progress but it's coming along slowly. Welcome any ideas or comments.
--
Clausing 8520, Craftsman 12x36 Lathe, 4x12 mini lathe, 14" Delta drill press, 40 watt laser, Consew brushless DC motors and a non working 3D printer
|
Quick sitrep for those interested. ?Electronically ... With Marks help, things have progressed well, with one small issue.? For the X axis I chose a caliper that displayed to a resolution of 5 microns, but the digital format from the caliper only allows for 5 digits. So despite the display, the digital signal only has a resolution of 0.01mm. Not the end of the world, but had I have known I probably could have got away with using a much cheaper caliper. It's yet to be built into the Arduino sketch, but we may require a facility to circumvent the "auto off" function built into the caliper.? This should be easily achieved by getting the sketch to monitor the out put from the caliper when it requests a reading.? If there's no response the sketch can set a pin high which will be connected to the on/off switch contacts on the caliper pcb.? A really tricky bit of soldering given the size of the contacts. Does anyone have experience of Bluetooth signals?? I'm a little concerned that all the metal surrounding the Arduino board may shield the signal.? I've run a test where I enclosed the caliper and Arduino in a steel biscuit tin and it functioned fine, but any additional info or experience would be appreciated. The Z axis should be fairly easy as it will be a replication of what many others have done before with standard linier scales. ? Mechanically ... This is the state of play in the virtual world ...  Bit confusing so I'll post "thinned out" screen shots as I go. Things have not worked out quite how I'd envisaged (hoped).? I'd planned to locate the caliper pcb in a pocket milled in the saddle and fit the magnetic strip on the underside of the cross slide.? Unfortunately there was insufficient space between the lead screw and the cross slide to fit them in ...  So I'm having to resort to the rather ugly solution of an extension to the back of the cross slide (red) and saddle (blue).  The caliper pcb can be seen mounted in the blue saddle extension, sitting in a 3D printed frame with the sensing area facing up in a light grey.? The magnetic strip will be mounted on the under side of the red cross slide extension and extend a way on to the cross slide.? The printed frame is employed 1) because the fixing screws for the pcb are absolutely tiny and I'm not certian I could replicate the thread in metal.? They should, however, screw quite nicely into the ABS of the print.? The frame can then be fixed to the saddle extension with M3 screws (which I have a fighting chance of? of making threads for).? 2) it will isolate the pcb from the metal of the lathe and 3) give me an easy way to adjust the gap between the magnetic strip and the reading head by varying the thickness of the frame either by machining or re-printing. The Arduino and Lipo battery will be mounted within the blue block, (arrangement not yet finalised).? I'm undecided as to pocket out an aluminium block for this or use an aluminium frame with a 3D printed cover.? Probably the latter will be easier and be less of a block to the BT signal, but I'm concerned about hot chips melting into the plastic.??  For the Z axis, the mechanical install is pretty standard, but will employ a sturdy chip guard (in green) which has worked very well on my milling machine.? The magnetic scale is fixed to the chip guard and read head is driven by a bent bracket (yellow) fixed to the saddle extension (design not yet finalised).  That's about it.? Not too much progress but it's coming along slowly. Welcome any ideas or comments.
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I took those diagrams to be external to the caliper if required.? Anyway running off the same power supply (in the test the usb from a laptop because I needed the connection to run the serial monitor) it seems to work just fine.
The Arduino sketch does indeed set the data and clock pins as internal pull ups.
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After looking at the image, the REQ pin has an internal pullup (typical 100k, range 70k to 140k) to 1.55v. That would mean that the 3.3v supply of the Arduino would pull up very close to 3.3v. Current into the resistor would be 17.5uA and that probably would be just fine. If you think it may be not working well, you can always use the pin as a high impedance (tri stated) input as a 1 and an output set to 0 for a zero. That is a cheap way to get a level translation when the pin has a pullup built in. You can afford to let it float up for a 1 and drive it to gnd for a 0.
The two outputs are open drain, so you will need to turn on the internal pullup on the input pins of the Arduino for Data and Clock. Those are 7v max tolerant mosfets so so pulling up to 3.3v is no issue..
Hopefully they copied
Mitutoyo faithfully.
On Mon, Jul 25, 2022 at 6:34 PM Julian < julian@...> wrote: Batteries look really good, John. i'd never have thought of making my own ... respect!
Mike, for the X axis I'm not using a scale typically as in John's second photo.? I'm intending to dismantle a caliper, this one ...?
I'm hoping to remount the magnetic tape on the underside of the cross slide and the pcb in/on the saddle.? One of the connections isn't used, but I'm hoping to do a work-around, not exactly to disable the "auto off" function, but to switch it back on via the Arduino before the TouchDRO realises it's lost the BT signal and drops the link.? Although, thinking on my feet here ... it would still be seeing a signal from the Z axis scale ... hmm, needs some consideration, still work in progress!
This is the spec for a Mitutoyo caliper, the one I've bought seems to follow this exactly.
--
Buffalo John
|
John D
Nice print work
?
John L
On Tue, 26 Jul 2022 at 01:23, John Dammeyer < johnd@...> wrote: You might find this photo interesting too. ? The calipers really don't like the power supply a long way from the unit.? Tends to result in noisy readings even when powered from that plug in cable. ? So what I did is build my own batteries.? A bit of brass tube from the local model railroad shop.? Both Tantalum and ceramic surface mount capacitors soldered in and then filled with epoxy.? ? This replaced the battery and is charged up when power is supplied through the cable.? Holds the readings between power bumps and keeps interference from screwing up the readings. ? Mine have been connected to a Shumatech DRO-350 now for 15 years with zero maintenance. ? John Dammeyer ? ? That's a rather elegant design, John.? Perhaps I should have checked Thingiverse before I made my version.?
Mine was only ever going to be a temporary item though.? The finished version will be soldered directly to the pads on the pcb.? I wanted to hold back on the soldering until I had a reasonable idea it was viable, leaving me with a working, unmolested caliper if it wasn't.?
On mine the contact strips were taken from some spare USB sockets and are only 0.8mm wide ... very fiddly work.? They were initially held in place by melting plastic tabs over the top of them, however, I made the stupid mistake of not soldering the wires to the contacts before before melting the plastic which resulted in the misaligned pins and application of hot glue you see in the photo.?
Live and learn I guess!??
--
John
|
Batteries look really good, John. i'd never have thought of making my own ... respect! Mike, for the X axis I'm not using a scale typically as in John's second photo.? I'm intending to dismantle a caliper, this one ...? I'm hoping to remount the magnetic tape on the underside of the cross slide and the pcb in/on the saddle.? One of the connections isn't used, but I'm hoping to do a work-around, not exactly to disable the "auto off" function, but to switch it back on via the Arduino before the TouchDRO realises it's lost the BT signal and drops the link.? Although, thinking on my feet here ... it would still be seeing a signal from the Z axis scale ... hmm, needs some consideration, still work in progress! This is the spec for a Mitutoyo caliper, the one I've bought seems to follow this exactly. 
|
??? ??? Julian , I just saw the pic of your connector , what
scale are you using that has 5 pins ?
??? ??? thanks
??? ??? animal
On 7/25/2022 3:49 PM, Julian wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
That's a rather elegant design, John.? Perhaps I should have
checked Thingiverse before I made my version.?
Mine was only ever going to be a temporary item though.? The
finished version will be soldered directly to the pads on the
pcb.? I wanted to hold back on the soldering until I had a
reasonable idea it was viable, leaving me with a working,
unmolested caliper if it wasn't.?
On mine the contact strips were taken from some spare USB sockets
and are only 0.8mm wide ... very fiddly work.? They were initially
held in place by melting plastic tabs over the top of them,
however, I made the stupid mistake of not soldering the wires to
the contacts before before melting the plastic which resulted in
the misaligned pins and application of hot glue you see in the
photo.?
Live and learn I guess!??
|
You might find this photo interesting too. ? The calipers really don't like the power supply a long way from the unit.? Tends to result in noisy readings even when powered from that plug in cable. ? So what I did is build my own batteries.? A bit of brass tube from the local model railroad shop.? Both Tantalum and ceramic surface mount capacitors soldered in and then filled with epoxy.? ? This replaced the battery and is charged up when power is supplied through the cable.? Holds the readings between power bumps and keeps interference from screwing up the readings. ? Mine have been connected to a Shumatech DRO-350 now for 15 years with zero maintenance. ? John Dammeyer ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Julian
Sent: July-25-22 3:50 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [digitalhobbyist] Lathe DRO? That's a rather elegant design, John.? Perhaps I should have checked Thingiverse before I made my version.?
Mine was only ever going to be a temporary item though.? The finished version will be soldered directly to the pads on the pcb.? I wanted to hold back on the soldering until I had a reasonable idea it was viable, leaving me with a working, unmolested caliper if it wasn't.?
On mine the contact strips were taken from some spare USB sockets and are only 0.8mm wide ... very fiddly work.? They were initially held in place by melting plastic tabs over the top of them, however, I made the stupid mistake of not soldering the wires to the contacts before before melting the plastic which resulted in the misaligned pins and application of hot glue you see in the photo.?
Live and learn I guess!??
|
That's a rather elegant design, John.? Perhaps I should have checked Thingiverse before I made my version.?
Mine was only ever going to be a temporary item though.? The finished version will be soldered directly to the pads on the pcb.? I wanted to hold back on the soldering until I had a reasonable idea it was viable, leaving me with a working, unmolested caliper if it wasn't.?
On mine the contact strips were taken from some spare USB sockets and are only 0.8mm wide ... very fiddly work.? They were initially held in place by melting plastic tabs over the top of them, however, I made the stupid mistake of not soldering the wires to the contacts before before melting the plastic which resulted in the misaligned pins and application of hot glue you see in the photo.?
Live and learn I guess!??
|
I've built these and they work great.
? John Dammeyer ? ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gene Pavlovsky
Sent: July-25-22 6:48 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [digitalhobbyist] Lathe DRO? Hey Julian,
Are you planning to keep using the battery in the caliper? Wouldn't it be possible to hook up power from Arduino to supply the caliper with power, getting rid of the battery?
A fresh 3 V (nominal) button cell (e.g. CR2032) may easily measure at up to 3.5 V (no-load) when you first unpack it. I'm reasonably sure a caliper would work fine on a 3.3 V power supply.
I don't know if these links will be of any use to you, but here they are:
Caliper2PC is an interface box for connecting various kinds of linear encoders. I guess it first started off in a similar way as what you're doing now, but by now it supports all kinds of encoders: TTL/quadrature signal glass scales, magnetic scales, rotary encoders, iGaging scales, various kinds of calipers, Mitutoyo Digimatic calipers and indicators, even analog sensors. The author is pretty responsive and helpful, perhaps you might want to discuss with him what you're doing, maybe he could give some helpful tips. I personally have two of these Caliper2PC boxes, one for the lathe and for the mill. I'm using a couple of second-hand Thinkpad X230t 12.5" convertible laptops/tablets as displays.
Keep us posted on your experiments.
Best regards,
Gene
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Hi Julian. Well done, send as many photos as possible please
John
On Mon, 25 Jul 2022 at 19:14, Julian < julian@...> wrote: Hi Gene,
I found that site a while back, very useful.? The calipers they show are the very cheap ones which, I believe, have a different output format and are usually 1.5v.? The caliper I'm intending to use copies a Mitutoyo item in both operation and output (think it's called Digimatic SPC or similar). I've played with using the cheap ones but have settled on this 3v version for the exact reasons you're suggesting.
The idea is a little different to the usual TouchDRO arrangement in that the MKR wifi 1010 will be located at the back of the lathe saddle as will the caliper pcb and the Z scale reading head.? The whole lot will be powered by a Lipo battery attached to the Arduino board which has a Lipo charging facility.
By this arrangement, assuming it all works, there will be no wires from the lathe to the tablet as the connection is via BT.? The only time a wire needs to be attached is when the battery is charging and this will be whilst the lathe isn't being used.
I had already powered the caliper from the Arduino output prior to my first post, so was fairly confident the data connection would work.? But with my level of electronics knowledge, it's nice to have some reassurance for experts.
?
--
John
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John Lindo
Tamra
BuffaloJohn
