Sourcing Stepper Motors & Drivers, Measuring Spind

rexhunt wrote:

So if I make up an aluminium disk like and set up a light gate and make sure I don't cut threads over a certain speed then that's all I really need to do correct? Would I need some kind of index pulse for cutting threads if it's going to take multiple passes?

Yes, you need index too.

You can use _only_ index and hope that the spindle speed doesn't change much during the cut. This is probably a safe bet with a 10hp lathe and a 14" chuck, less so with a Sherline. The encoder module has a "position-interpolated" pin which outputs a smoothed position between pulses.

Otherwise you need a pulse and an index sensor (typically you make one slot deeper and push the index sensor deeper into mesh)