What's on your CNC computer?

Carol Reed

In Memoriam
Messages
5,533
Location
Coolidge, AZ
I am curious, especially with you folks using Vectric products. And are you isolated from the Internet and connected? Do you have SketchUp loaded? Any other word processing or data management software?

I have to make a computer decision soon. So far I have an HP cpu, monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse. No wifi or modem. My main machine is a MacBook that I love. I can draw on it and transport via a thumb drive as needed, but tell me what you think is practical.
 
I have a computer on my CNC machine. It is set up with wireless connection to my home network. I do NOT use the CNC computer for anything except operating the CNC machine. No particular strategy, it's just the way it is. I do have internet connectivity, but that's just default, as the wireless network goes through the wireless router, which is connected to the cable modem.

I program from my desk computer mostly, but also a little bit from my shop computer.

Vectric is on my desk computer and my shop computer, but not on the CNC computer.

When I post programs from Vectric I post directly to the CNC computer via the wireless network. The posted programs (g-code) go directly to the CNC machine and nowhere else.

In the CNC computer I keep only the g-code programs I am working with. All other g-code programs get deleted. I do not save g-code programs. I DO save and organize the vectric files and all associated programming files, pics, previews, notes, spreadsheets, CAD layouts or any other pertinent information about the project in a separate and unique folder for the project. All of that is stored on my main desktop computer, on a separate and dedicated internal hard drive JUST for data storage. That is backed up to an external hard drive monthly.

I don't use any Apple products at all.
 
as it stands now, i have the new permanent brain (dell), with universal gcode sender, sketchup 8, vcarve, and cut2d on it. nothing else. no internet access needed, as i can do that at home. wireless trackball.
 
I updated my shop computer a couple months ago mainly because it was older and I wanted a new one. I got an HP at Office Depot on one of their deals. It has 12gb RAM and a 1TB HD. I run VCarvePro, SketchUP, MS Office and Internet routinely as well as using UGS to drive my CNC at the same time. Oh, and when there's a possibility of storms moving in, I have a window open with NWS radar in it. I'm running two monitors also.

Edit: It's on wireless to my Internet router.
 
Vcarve, drobbox, mach3, and virus software, windows updates are turned off. I typically do my design and gcode generation on the shop computer and save them to dropbox, they show up within a minute or so on the cnc computer. I really don't need Vcarve on the cnc computer, had just loaded it when I was first setting it up. I'm not sure I really need the virus software since it's all scanned at my shop computer also. I don't get on the internet on the cnc pc either.
 
I do almost nothing on the computer that drives the CNC - it's just a really old PC with windows XP and mach3 on it - not much else. It does have internet connectivity but i don't browse the web with it. It's on my network so i can get files from the other machines onto it.

I use my daily driver laptop for CAD/CAM work most of the time - vCarvePro is on this laptop and i do 99% of my drawing here. Then I generate the gcode and throw 'em on a network share that the CNC machine can get to from the shop. Copy the files to that machine, load up mach3 and send it running.
 
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