Computerized Indexer Build
I’ve made some progress on this project. This gave me another reason to get a midi lathe, so I took advantage of the recent Jet sale and bought a 1221vs. As previously mentioned I bought a stepper motor on Ebay. I got a couple of Molex connectors from Ebay also. The controller and MXL pulleys are from the sources Bill Ooms lists on his website. Rummaging through parts I have, I found a 5v 1a power supply and a cover. Here are some pictures of what I done so far.
The leads from the stepper motor were long enough that I cut them in half and soldered the pins for the Molex connector on the motor leads and then six for the controller. I used some plastic tubing that I had to protect the wire; I think it was medical oxygen tubing. The alligator clips sure helped to solder the pins on the wires. I think next time it will help if I will drink less coffee before hand. ☺
Here are both plugs completed and connected to controller per instructions provided by Bill Ooms website.
I had a small plastic electrical box and a piece of plastic (HDPE?) to mount and protect the control module. It came with USB connector. The small MXL pulley needed to be drilled out slightly to fit the shaft. The source that had the larger pulley didn’t have 20 tooth one with a ¼†hole and I didn’t want to buy from two places and pay shipping twice. I drilled out the aluminum insert on the 130 tooth one and mounted it in a chuck to make it fit my lathe.
I think the new model lathe has a slightly different hand-wheel than Bill’s has, as it didn’t seem like I would be able to thread it on enough with the addition of the pulley. So I decided to position the pulley on the wheel. The MXL pulley was solid plastic and cut nicely. I must of lucked out sizing the pulley to my hand-wheel, as it was a pressed fit. I can’t move it by hand so I might just leave it without epoxying it.
After checking the sizes of belts available at McMaster-Carr, I decided it was a good idea to see what might work. I taped up some speaker wire the approximate size of a belt to see how it would fit. I think I'll order a belt so I'll have it on hand before I put on the mounting brackets.
The back of this lathe is different than Bill’s so I plan on mounting a bracket on the bottom similar to the top one. I also don’t have any end mills to make the slots or recesses in the mounting brackets so I sketched up the brackets and emailed them to a machinist friend of mine to make them for me.
I suppose I should download Bill’s software, hook up the motor to a computer and see how it works while I’m waiting for the brackets.
That’s all for now.
