Rotary on Elite

You could create extra roughing toolpath only for those areas. Deskproto lets you chose the area and depth of cut. Although it might be faster to just take a chisel to it.

1 Like

Yeah. Ran into this issue my first time doing an 8-sided carve. I think that, despite showing the stock as having a square profile, DeskProto is calculating it as more of an octagon, so its always milling on a flat. I was a bit surprised when I saw the depth of the roughing passes. Wasn’t a big deal since I had it configured to do the roughing pass as cross-grain cuts across the x-axis (rotary parallel to Y-axis) to reduce the shaking of my Foreman/QCW combo.

1 Like

I’ve been attempting to get this answered from LightBurn support. I think their first line support is having difficulty understanding what I’m asking. They first suggested the same thing I did to you, that you can select the rotary motor is on the A axis. Then they said it’s a machine problem, and they don’t support the machines. Then they said they don’t support it. Then they came back and said it’s a machine setting again. It’s not though. LightBurn needs to output gcode that moves the Y axis instead of the X axis, if the rotary is aligned with the Y axis. They need to add a configuration option to support that.

It might be useful if others with their rotary along the Y axis would also email support@lightburnsoftware.com to get some more attention to this. Hopefully it will get escalated to someone who understands the issue and they can see that enough people care about this that they should prioritize the feature.

I’ve joined the rotary team and purchased the China rotary and suggested stepper driver. I’ve followed the instructions above (by the hardest) and I’m not getting any results from the rotary. The green light on the stepper drive is on so I know it’s getting power. I also hear and feel the stepper motor is getting power.
thanks.

See attached pictures for wiring.

Rotary: CNCTOPBAOS K12-100mm CNC Router Milling Machine Rotational Axis 4th Axis A axis Rotary Table A axis 100mm 4 jaw chuck dividing head,MT2 65mm Tailstock Reducing ratio 6:1 for CNC Engraving Machine
Stepper: STEPPERONLINE CNC Stepper Motor Driver 1.0-4.2A 20-50VDC 1/128 Micro-Step Resolutions for Nema 17 and 23 Stepper Motor

I haven’t done this with your separate stepper driver, and I can’t see enough of the wiring to tell you much. I will say that using a Masso motor makes this integration pretty easy.

Also, I’ve started a playlist on YouTube of ways to improve your Elite, and I will be adding one on the complete installation and configuration of rotary within the next 2-3 weeks. Here’s that playlist if you want to follow along: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXNeixYCMZCexWHJK2ZkTd7omgFujrmIY

1 Like

That is an awesome channel. I just bought the Masso screen extender today.

I have an Elite Foreman and bought the Z-Brake so I have the old z axis motor I was planning on using for a 4th axis. I was going to get the K11-100M, which I hope will work. I should be able to hook the stepper motor straight to the Masso right? A wiring diagram and parts list would be awesome. I saw a lot of items mentioned in this thread but for my application I am not sure which ones are necessary. A video on it would be great too. Thanks for all the info in this thread.

2 Likes

Adam, thanks for your reply.
Here is my wiring diagram for the stepper that came with the rotary, non-masso closed loop stepper. I hope this explains my attempt based on what I previously read. Any help would greatly be appreciated.
I also pain to buy a new z-brake stepper then use my current for my rotary. This seemed a little easier to get going while waiting for the new motor to arrive.

1 Like

Hey Ted,

you got the enable (ENA) the driver. See the stepper driver manual

EDIT: Forget what I wrote, if ENA± is left unconnected, driver should be “enabled”

would be nice if you provided a wwwlink to the manufacturer’s page or datasheet

EDIT: → Found it.

♞【Stepper motor】Nema23 2-phase 3A stepper motor 57x57x76mm 4-lead wires:

Red wire=A+;
Green wire=A-;
Yellow wire=B+;
Blue wire=B-
port.

Wiring seems okay

According to your image above, your DIP switch is set to 2.03 A RMS / 2.48 A peak and 800 pulses/rev.

Was that by intention?

Masso writes in Setup Rotary Axis:

A value of 8000 to 10000 Pulses per revolution should be more than enough for most applications.

1 Like

Adam,

Waiting to see your implementation… I still need to create another wiring harness to swap out with my existing JTech rotary(roller). I too have swapped my Masso motor, since I did the z-brake version…

Scott,

I got the KL-80MM and the only thing I had to do was swap out the screws and use nuts to hold the new motor on as the ones on the motor that came with it were the wrong size for the Masso stepper.

1 Like

The SW8 thru SW1 setting was set based on previous post. I’d assume this may be the issue since it’s not working. What would you propose the setting should be?
thanks.

Hey Ted,

much higher. I have no experience yet with such a rotary, but others who posted above have (here, here, here, and here).

Seems you have a 6:1 belt gear, so even more higher value.

Masso writes:

How to Calculate Rotary axis settings

Gather the following information:

The number of steps per revolution of your motor. For example most steppers are 1.8 deg motors with 200 steps.

The gearing reduction ratio between the stepper and the rotary axis output. If you do not have any gearing the ration is 1.

Microstepping set on your motor drive.

  • Calculate pulses per revolution as follows:
  • Motor: Degrees per revolution = 360 (Please note this value is fixed and cannot be changed)
  • Drive: Pulses per Revolution = Motor steps per revolution x Gearing x Microstepping
  • Maximum Feed rate = Set a value that suits your rotary axis capabilities. Remember that this is in degrees per minute and not RPM
  • Acceleration = This value will depend on your machine’s drives and cannot be calculated. These are found by actual testing on your machine.
  • Maximum and Minimum Travel = If this is a Mill Rotary 4th axis by setting large maximum and minimum travel will allow you to use it like a wood lathe and sand your masterpiece if your machined part is suitably shaped and your maximum feed rate is fast enough…
  • Maximum and Minimum Travel = If this rotary axis is used as part of a 5 axis machine you may need to limit the travel of the axis to prevent it running into hard stops. Set the travel values accordingly.
  • Backlash = Measure and set according to your machine’s measured backlash.

WARNING: Always calculate the rotary axis setting. Do not run axis calibration. Unlike a linear axis which can vary due to component tolerances, a rotary axis will always calculate accurately.

INFORMATION: MASSO has a rotary axis unwind built into the G28 command. G28-return-to-machine-home

My Rotary Axis moves Slow

This is caused by confusing linear and rotary speeds. Your axis will move at the rate of the slowest axis and reasonable linear speeds can be very slow when changed to degrees per minute and in the worse case scenario can make the machine look like they are not moving at all. A feed rate of 10 inch per minute will take 36 minutes for the rotary axis to complete 1 rotation. Check out Rapid Rotary to get a better understanding.

Additional resources

Rapid Rotary - a G94 to G93 Converter

– Source: Setup Rotary Axis – Masso Documentation

You can’t break something by experimenting with the value

1 Like

Hey Ted,

I am no expert, but jut set this up over the weekend. The stepper driver comes from the factory set at 24v…reset it to 5v…it’s on the side of the stepper driver. The signal voltage was my problem.

Ray

Thanks for all the help. It now appears to be working after making a few changes. I made the following changes after the above replies. I changed the 24v to 5v. (good catch). It then rotated but went around 8 times to get to 360. I then change the Stepper Drive Switches (set to the following) SW1 = off, 2 = off, 3 = on, 4 = on, 5 = off, 6 = off, 7 = on, 8 = on. Drive Pulses on F1 Setting Page = 9600.
I guess I’ll restart this again once i receive my new masso closed loop stepper.

1 Like

Theses settings worked for me.

Ray

2 Likes

I have successfully wired the rotary table to my elite woodworker; However, I must have motor settings incorrect for the motor only moves very slow in continues jog mode. I am using the motor from my Z-slider after I replaced it with the braking motor. Can you please help me with this?

Can you share an image of your settings and of your dip switches?

This video might also help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmR62GVjsjY

Adam thank you so much for your help looks like I am up and running!

1 Like

Hey Adam

I’m thinking of doing the same and use the Masso motor on my rotary axis.
Why did you pick the 3Nm over the 2Nm?
Are you going to upgrade you power supply due to the required current by the Masso 3 Nm?