Clough42 Electronic Leadscrew Project Implementation Notes

I have been avidly watching Clough42 on YouTube.  James comes over as a really nice guy and his presentation of his projects is excellent.

My principle interest is the Electronic Leadscrew modification to lathes.  When installed this removes all the hassle of gearboxes and look up tables to be able to cut both Imperial and Metric screw threads and to set X axis movement feed rates.

The concept is simple but his implementation is second to none.  A rotary encoder is fitted to the spindle to count revolutions of the chuck and a stepper motor (or servo hybrid) controls the rotation of the leadscrew.  The resulting feed speed is derived from look up tables.  The whole installation is controlled by a Texas Instruments LaunchPad C2000 microcontroller development board.

I have documented how I implemented this on my Myford Super 7 Big Bore lathe and the pdf can be downloaded below.   There is also a ZIP file of all the Fusion related models for either CNC or 3D printing.

Electronic Leadscrew on Myford Super 7

Minor edits added to v3 relating to programming the servo controller

Electronic Leadscrew on Myford Super 7 v3

Electronic Leadscrew Fusion 360 Files

Updates : –

Painted control panel for Clough42 Electronic Leadscrew
Finally got the Clough42 Electronic Leadscrew control panel box painted and rather pleased with the result.

Since installing the ELS I have incorporated thrust bearings on the leadscrew mounting.   This impacts on the coupling to the stepper motor.

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