Rose Engine Butler was developed by ornamental turners for use with a rose engine.

It is designed to provide the ornamental turner a way for synchronizing activities on the rose engine using stepper motors, in a manner which also assists the ornamental turner with reducing the workload for onerous tasks.

Design goals

We want Rose Engine Butler to provide the ornamental turner the ability to:

1. Execute relatively simple movement using menus.
2. Remove the mundane tasks from the ornamental turner’s activities, increasing the likelihood that the final product will have fewer errors (e.g., adding a turk’s head design onto the end of a piece).
3. Implement more complex designs using standard gCode (such as software simulation of geometric chucks).

We designed Rose Engine Butler to be one which:

1. Is powerful enough to drive simultaneous movement on multiple axes:
   • 2 spindles
     • traditional spindle
     • rosette phaser/multipler
   • traditional axes, which can be any selection of these:
     • linear axes: X, Z, U, V, or W
     • rotary axes: A, B, or C
2. Can control complex movement using standard gCode.
3. Is integrated with the devices provided by ornamental turning vendors.
4. Can have the software upgraded easily by the user as new functionality is developed and become available.

Rose Engine Butler is more than the software or the hardware

The ornamental turner needs a system which is not just powerful, but which has a set of tools surrounding it to make it functionally easy to use. To that end, there are additional pieces being provided.

Designed with the ornamental turner in mind

The system configuration files are developed around the needs of an ornamental turner using a rose engine.

Online user manual

There is an on-line user manual which will be continually updated.

Settings

Very Easily Configured

Typically, LinuxCNC is not easy to configure. Additionally, it was not designed for reconfiguration based on changes to the system on a regular basis (as is done by an ornamental turner when using different devices).

To make changes to the way Rose Engine Butler works, there is a graphical interface accessible to the user.

Reuben

Based on Debian Linux, but easy to use

Though it is based on Debian Linux, the user interface has been customised so that the usage of the system will be very intuitive (you only need to double click on Reuben’s head picture on the desktop).

Supports very complex work using gCode

LinuxCNC allows for the use of standard gCode. The LinuxCNC gCode language is based on the RS274/NGC language, and outlined in the International Organization for Standardization’s standard, ISO 6983-1.

We are providing an online library for gCode programs developed by ornamental turners, allowing for re-use of the code by other ornamental turners. The intent is that the gCode will be documented in such a way that users can easily take a bit of gCode and modify it as needed for their own needs. This library will continue to grow over time.

There are also links to gCode manuals for quick reference.

OT equipment vendor support

We are working with vendors of ornamental turning hardware to have their parts designed for use with Rose Engine Butler. For example, a curvilinear slide could come with a stepper motor attached, and also have the necessary jack to plug it into Rose Engine Butler.

We have also architected the configuration files so that updated files can be supplied by the vendors when they supply the hardware (e.g., a new definition for the Z axis could be supplied with the curvilinear slide, ensuring that the configuration works as expected).

Update

A system for now ... and the future

Rose Engine Butler’s software can be upgraded using an easy mouse click from the Applications menu. And unlike many annoying systems we had at work, this system will not constantly harrass you to upgrade; and the upgrades will not take many hours to complete.

We selected vendors for all the components (especially the cabling) which show reliability for being around for a while, and supplying quality parts at reasonable prices.

Buy it off-the-shelf

We want Rose Engine Butler to be one which can be purchased as a completed system, needing no user design nor development. Just plug it in and go.

What are some examples of how it can be used?

Some examples of the way Rose Engine Butler can be used include:

• Run the rose engine as a typical machine:
• Spindle by itself,
• Rosette phaser/multiplier (RPM) by itself, or
• Spindle and RPM together (which can be at different speeds).
• Index one of the axes of movement:
• Spindle by itself,
• RPM by itself,
• Spindle and RPM together,
• Any linear axis (X, Z, U, V, or W), or
• Any rotary / angular axis (A, B, or C).
• Coordinate the movement of any of the axes, or make other complex movements possible, through the use of gCode (e.g., a software simulation of a geometric chuck).

What is Rose Engine Butler not designed to do?

Rose Engine Butler is not intended to be used to replace the ornamental turner. It is not a system built to enable the user can develop a complete design, load it into Rose Engine Butler, and press GO.

We believe that workmanship at risk^① makes for the most beautiful products.

Certainly, a user could develop a sufficiently complex gCode program which would do all the work for the user, making it work similarly to what is done for 3D printing or a CNC woodworking router. But even that has risk in the ornamental turning world. Wood is a natural material, and the opportunity for a problem is ever present. An operator needs to be managing the process, not leaving it to a computer.

But more importantly, the process of ornamental turning should be fun. Rose Engine Butler is designed to help you with that journey.

^① Workmanship at risk is the idea outlined by David Pye in his book, The Nature and Art of Workmanship.

Why is LinuxCNC being used?

LinuxCNC ...

1. can be configured to meet the design goals needed for use on a rose engine, without having to develop a set of programs which may be difficult to support later.
2. is powerful enough to handle the design goals.
3. has been around for many years, having been initially designed by the U.S. National Institue of Standards and Technology in 1993. (A complete history of LinuxCNC is online at this web link.) It has a strong user community with good support. And it continues to be upgraded to provide support needed for new computing hardware.
4. continues to support the same basic ideas and interfaces, and it does not require the user to re-learn the system each time it is upgraded.
5. does not have a high license cost to get started, nor a high maintenance cost for contined use.

All this provides for a system which can meet the current needs at a reasonable cost, and provide for good long-term support.

What is the underlying technology being used?

Rose Engine Butler uses:

1. LinuxCNC, an open-source system which runs on general purpose computers like a PC or Raspberry Pi.
2. A Raspberry Pi 5 which is a powerful, low cost, general-purpose computer.
3. Readily available, off-the-shelf parts:
   • Standard computer monitor
   • Standard computer keyboard
   • Mesa 7i92TH Programmable I/O Card
   • Stepper Online DM542T Stepper Motor Drivers
4. And a custom printed circuit board (PCB), developed to make the wiring of the system easier, faster, and more reliable.