MDF Rose Engine Lathe 2.0

Used to turn the spindle counter-clockwise. On a traditional lathe, this is considered forward.

Used to stop the motion of the stepper motor.

Also resets any Enabled stepper motors to Disabled.

Enabled

⇒

Disabled

Used to return the spindle or the selected axis to the start point of the previous operation.

When using this function, Be sure to stop and retract the cutter from the cut first. The return path does not always follow the same path as the initial cut. (Backlash and other factors come into play here.)

The speed of the return action is set in the Preferences | Returns screen.

Used to turn the spindle clockwise. On a traditional lathe, this is considered reverse. To change the direction of the spindle, you must stop it first. You cannot directly swap between clockwise and counter-clockwise.

Config

Touch Config on the screen image above to see the details for this screen.

This is used to display or edit the configuration settings for the MaxSpeed and the Acceleration for the respective stepper motors.

One Screen
Spindle Movement

Touch X, Z, or B on the screen image to the right to see the details for these axes.

Purpose: This screen allows for independent rotation of the spindle. It is useful for secondary spindle operation such as higher or lower speed functions than the Main Screen.

This selects the axis of movement. In this case, the spindle's motion is performed using the buttons at the bottom of the screen.

Only one axis of movement may be selected at a time.

These axes of movement are not selected.

Enabled

Enabling a stepper motor locks it into place, preventing motion along the relevant axis. One use for this would be to lock the spindle whilst changing a rosette.

The stepper motor on a given axis may be enabled even if that is not the axis of movement.

When the Stop button is selected, the stepper motor on this axis is reset to be disabled.

More than one stepper motor may be enabled at a time.

Disabled

This stepper motor is disabled, allowing for manual adjustment (e.g., manually moving the slide along the Z axis by rotating the leadscrew).

Speed

The controls on the left and right side of the screen are for controlling the respective stepper motor's speed and acceleration.

To change the Max Speed, touch the number, and you will be presented with the Number Pad Screen.

The slider is a red bar that can be moved up to increase the speed, or down to decrease it. The percentage shown in the bar (96% on the left, 81% on the right) shows the percentage of the Max Speed at which the stepper motor is set to run.

There is a slider for the stepper motor on each axis, and they operate independently.

The top number is the max speed for the respective axis' stepper motor. This is measured in pulses / second. The MDF Rose Engine 2.0 are set to 6,400 pulses / revolution, so a max speed of 30000 would equate to \[ \begin{align} MaxSpindleRPM & = \frac{30,000 \, \frac{\mathrm{pulses}}{\mathrm{sec}} \times \, 60 \, \frac{\mathrm{sec}}{\mathrm{min}}} {6,400 \, \frac{\mathrm{pulses}}{\mathrm{rev}} \times \, 9 \, \frac{\mathrm{motor \, revs}}{\mathrm{spindle \, revs}}} \\ & = 31.3 \, \mathrm{RPM} \end{align} \]

Thusly, at 90%,the spindle's speed is \[ \begin{align} SpindleRPM & = MaxSpindleRPM \times \, 0.90 \\ & = 28.2 \, \mathrm{RPM} \end{align} \]

Acceleration

The bottom number (5000) is the acceleration for the stepper motor.

To change this value, touch the number, and you will be presented with the Number Pad Screen.

Limit Switches

Limit switches can be used with this function. The pins used for this are configured on the Limit Switches Configuration Screen. (More information about the implementation of limit switches is on that page.)

Specific Axis Notes

Axis	Comments
Spindle	Movement continues until the stop button (shown to the right) is used, or a limit switch is engaged. Limit switches will only stop rotation of the spindle if Stop Spindle with Axis is selected on the Limit Switches Configuration Screen.
Z	Movement continues until the stop button (shown above) is used, or a limit switch is engaged (or it crashes).
X	Movement on this axis is the same as for the Z axis.
B	Movement on this axis is the same as for the Z axis.