The math for using a lathe is simple. But I keep making mistakes. Lots of mistakes. Of the last six pins I tried to make I managed to ruin all six because of simple math mistakes. So, I made Lathe Helper…
http://lh.recycledknockers.com/
It’s parked at that domain solely because I already had it and it wasn’t serving a purpose. (“Recycled knockers” as in “door knockers made from recycled materials”. In case anyone was wondering.)
There are three inputs…
Goal: This is the target diameter. For example, if I am trying to cut a 1/8" section then I would enter 0.125.
Mic: This is the current diameter typically measured using a micrometer (thank you again Walter!). For example, if the brass rod I purchased is 0.2233" then I would enter 0.2233.
DRO: This is the current X-axis reading on the DRO. For example, if I had just touched-off then reset the DRO then I would enter 0.
The decimal is optional. If excluded then four digits should be entered. For example 0.125 can instead be entered as 1250 and 0.2233 can be entered as 2233.
Clicking Refresh recalculates. New is the new target DRO value. I would cut the section until the DRO reads this value. Final is what I should expect the new micrometer reading to be.
It should work nicely on a mobile phone.
I have not yet used it so I don’t know if it really qualifies for the label “helper”.
While the application could have easily been built using JavaScript (giving it an automatic refresh) I wanted to get some experience with something new. The application is written using Java / Spring Boot and hosted on Amazon Web Services / Elastic Beanstalk. All new to me.
Obviously, anyone interested is welcome to use it and feedback is welcome.