MDF Rose Engine Lathe 2.0
Control System for Multiple Stepper Motors
Bright red & green buttons show the spindle
is currently moving, in this case clocckwise
Enabled
Indicates that the spindle stepper motor is enabled even when not in use. Touch this to change it to Disabled. The More screen can be used to set this to be continuously Disabled or Enabled. These buttons temporarily override that configuration setting.

Key Note:When using DM542T stepper motor drivers, this needs to be Enabled (especially for work using indexing), otherwise the position will be lost and the movement will not be predictable.


Disabled
Indicates that the spindle stepper motor is only enabled when in use, and then disabled. Touch this to change it to Enabled.

Used to index the spindle in a counter clockwise direction. On a traditional lathe, this is considered forward.

Used to stop the motion of the stepper motor. If the button is pressed next, the spindle is returned to the start position. Otherwise the position is lost.

Used to return the spindle 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 index the spindle in a clockwise direction. On a traditional lathe, this is considered forward.

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.
Index Screen
Degree Option

Purpose: This screen allows indexing the spindle for use in index work or other uses.

On this screen, the indexes are in Degrees.

1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , and 5 may each represent separate files, however the value of 1 is used by the CW and CCW indexing movements on the

in either Divisions or Degrees, depending upon which is toggled.

Deg Sets the divisions to degrees.
 
Div
Touch Div on the screen image to see the instructions for that approach.
Used to set the indexing to divisions of a circle.

File
Touch the Filename field (shown as "INDEX_02") to see the details for using a file for indexing.
Used to set the indexing to information to be fed from a user-created file.
 
Fixed Sets the increments based on the Divisions setting.

  Index   This is the number of times the axis has been indexed. It is decremented each time the spindle is moved counter clockwise, and incremented when moved clockwise.
  Divisions   Sets the amount of each index as a fraction of a circle. \[ Indexing ° = \frac{360 °}{Divisions} \]
  Next Index   This is the ID number for the next indexing operation. If this is less than  Index , then the Clockwise button was last used; if it is higher, then the Counter Clockwise button was used.

Tapping on this does enable the user to reset the index; however that does not affect the position of the spindle.


Limit Switches

Limit switches cannot be used with this function.


Specific Axis Notes

Axis Comments
Spindle
Movement continues until the identified movement (i.e., the specified number of degrees) is completed, or the stop button (shown to the right) is used.
Z
n/a - Indexing only applies to the spindle
X
n/a - Indexing only applies to the spindle
B
n/a - Indexing only applies to the spindle