Rotary Direction

Here is my lathe so far...

LEAD 1010 with the High Z modification
Reduced size of the width (X axis) to 21"
OpenBuilds limit switch at Max of Z
OpenBuilds limit switches at the Min and Max of X and Y (wired in parrallel respectively)
NO limit switch on A
BlackBox x32 controller (Rotary option flashed)
OpenBuilds LEAD 1010 machine profile selected
--> Reversed X axis direction because motor mounted on opposite side
--> Reversed Y axis direction because motors mounted on front
(XYZ axis travel in the correct direction)
"Limit Switches Installed" option selected
K12-100mm Rotary 4th Axis Parrallel with Y (NEMA 23, 6:1 Speed Reducing Ratio)

Here is a picture of the machine. I have not added the plywood panel over the frame yet. At this point, the distance from the top of the 2040 frame rail and the bottom of the spindle carriage is 9 1/4". Basically, an 8" round piece of wood stock can be carved on. The lathe chuck and tail support are just in temporary placement to help with visualization.

My question....

Facing the machine from the front (you will be looking at the PULLY side of the lathe)...
In the CONTROL software, clicking on the A+ button, the PULLY rotates counter clockwise. Is this the correct direction? It seems like the lathe is moving in a negative (counter clockwise) direction. Although, facing the lathe from the CHUCK side, it is moving positively.

 

Thanks Peter for your reply.... But, as most of the references, discussions and builds that I have found and read, they most often fall in the category of "replacing/swapping an axis (X or Y) for the rotary and essentially still treating it as a 3 axis machine" or "the rotary axis is aligned parrallel to the X axis". I chose to align my rotary axis parrallel to the Y axis to gain alot more room. Both in the circumfrence and length of the wood stock.

With that said, if the center section of the picture (the one you sent above) depicting the lathe was rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise (parrallel with the Y axis), it appears that the A axis is turning the correct way (positive) counter clockwise. Would you agree?

 

I was just reading the cookbook you sent and it says:

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The first 3 Axes are the familiar X axis, Y axis, and Z axis. The A axis and B axis are potential 4th Axes. We refer to the A axis and B axis as "rotary axis". If the machine has both A axis and B axis and they are independent, it is a 5 Axis CNC Machine.

In other words, you can choose to install your 4th Axis as either Axis A or Axis B. The convention is that A has a rotary axis that spins about the machine's X axis and B spins about the machine's Y axis. In practice, since the 4th Axis is usually removable, most of the time you'll refer to it as the A-Axis whether it is aligned with respect to X or Y. Aligning to X or Y is just a decision you'll make based on the job you're doing.

Let's assume you choose to set your 4th Axis up as "A". Then you can simply refer to it as such in G-Code. So, for example, you can rotate to the 0 position via "A0".
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I did get the DeskProto CAM software and when setting up the preferences, I did have to select an additional setting to make the rotational axis parrallel with Y. So looking at the movement picture you sent again, B rotation would be parrallel to Y. But even so, the rotation of the PULLY is the same as A, which is still rotating counter clockwise.

 

Let me first acknowlege how thankful I am for the help. I promice I am not trying to be a pain in the butt.

I have VCarve Pro. But, isn't VCarve only three axis? My understanding is that it only wraps around the rotary axis limiting the operation to a sperical cut. So, as a basic example, it would not be able to do a four sided indexed carve.... like cutting a cylinder piece of wood into a rectangle piece using only four 90 degree rotational movements of the fourth axis (A axis). Additionally, doesn't it require a swap of the wiring from eithr X or Y to the A axis?

Here is the machine configuration in DeskProto that I was referring too..... Notice that it is still referring to a four axis machine... it just sets it parrallel to Y.




As soon as I'm able (holiday obligations...), I'm gonna try and get a carve going to test the direction question... Hopefully, not really an issue.

But, if not, I have been thinking of a work around for this... what if I was to swap the X and Y motor wires going into the BlackBox X32... Basically, the machine would stay the same ecept for being a "wide / short run" machine with the rotary axis (which gets to stay where it is) parrallel to X.