I finally got down to the wire , and have made the decision to buy a mill
NOW . What I'm wondering , how much computing capacity is needed when I
(eventually) do the CNC conversion ? I currently have a HP that runs a 1.1
Ghz Pentium CPU , has 512 mb RAM (maxed out for this motherboard) , and 70
Gb storage .
I currently have XP Home loaded on this machine , but can go to Linux
(Ubuntu , likely) or any current Windows OS .

--
Snag
'90 Ultra "Strider"
'39 WLDD "Popcycle"
Buncha cars and a truck

Terry Coombs wrote:

I finally got down to the wire , and have made the decision to buy a mill
NOW . What I'm wondering , how much computing capacity is needed when I
(eventually) do the CNC conversion ? I currently have a HP that runs a 1.1
Ghz Pentium CPU , has 512 mb RAM (maxed out for this motherboard) , and 70
Gb storage .
I currently have XP Home loaded on this machine , but can go to Linux
(Ubuntu , likely) or any current Windows OS .

That should be sufficient to run either Mach3 (Windoze) or EMC (Linux)
the two most popular CNC controllers. I use Mach3 because at the time I
compared them Mach3 was much more refined than EMC. EMC2 is supposed to
be available now and more user friendly than the old EMC. Mach3 isn't
free, but it's cheap, EMC is free, but isn't or wasn't as refined. Both
have comparable capabilities.

I think it depends upon how much CAD you are going to do to prepare
drawings for the CNC work. Especially if you are going to 3D CAD and
want to do things like revolving your work in space to look at it,
animation of drawings, etc. In these cases, more computer is better,
since there's a lot of graphics processing going on. And if you are
using a large screen with high resolution a good graphics card is
important too.
I have used a Bridgport EZ trak (2 axis CNC) and things happen so
slowly (computer wise) that it's hard to imagine a computer too slow to
feed it data. I think the EZ trak I used had an IBM PC-AT type mother
board somewhere inside.

Pete Stanaitis
-----------------

Terry Coombs wrote:
I finally got down to the wire , and have made the decision to buy a mill
NOW . What I'm wondering , how much computing capacity is needed when I
(eventually) do the CNC conversion ? I currently have a HP that runs a 1.1
Ghz Pentium CPU , has 512 mb RAM (maxed out for this motherboard) , and 70
Gb storage .
I currently have XP Home loaded on this machine , but can go to Linux
(Ubuntu , likely) or any current Windows OS .

Robert Swinney wrote:

By the time you adequately master manual operation of the new mill you will likely have a newer,
different computer. Or at least you would if you didn't slop through it and try to go directly into
CNC. Machine tools are for machinists. A mill without CNC is like a scalpel in the hands of a
skilled surgeon. A mill with CNC is like a myopic butcher.

Have fun engraving degree scales in anodized aluminum with your manual
mill... Or doing circular interpolation to do large holes without a
boring head (yes Iggy, I know you did it)...

spaco wrote:

I think it depends upon how much CAD you are going to do to prepare
drawings for the CNC work. Especially if you are going to 3D CAD and
want to do things like revolving your work in space to look at it,
animation of drawings, etc. In these cases, more computer is better,
since there's a lot of graphics processing going on. And if you are
using a large screen with high resolution a good graphics card is
important too.
I have used a Bridgport EZ trak (2 axis CNC) and things happen so
slowly (computer wise) that it's hard to imagine a computer too slow to
feed it data. I think the EZ trak I used had an IBM PC-AT type mother
board somewhere inside.

No, no no. You CAD workstation needs to be a relatively high powered PC
in the house where it's comfortable. The CNC control PC is an older hand
me down that lives out in the shop with the machine it controls. The
network moves your g code out to the shop.

Robert Swinney wrote:
By the time you adequately master manual operation of the new mill
you will likely have a newer, different computer. Or at least you
would if you didn't slop through it and try to go directly into CNC.
Machine tools are for machinists. A mill without CNC is like a
scalpel in the hands of a skilled surgeon. A mill with CNC is like a
myopic butcher.

Bob Swinney
"Terry Coombs" wrote in message
...
I finally got down to the wire , and have made the decision to buy a
mill
NOW . What I'm wondering , how much computing capacity is needed when
I (eventually) do the CNC conversion ? I currently have a HP that
runs a 1.1
Ghz Pentium CPU , has 512 mb RAM (maxed out for this motherboard) ,
and 70
Gb storage .
I currently have XP Home loaded on this machine , but can go to Linux
(Ubuntu , likely) or any current Windows OS .

I appreciate your response , Robert . And I wonder how you know my skill
level ... I can see the analogy , and I can somewhat agree . In the hands of
a hack , CNC is likely to be a real cluster**** . I intend to start simple ,
and expand as my knowledge base and skill levels increase . That said , I've
made a living with my hand skills for a long , long time . And every man I
meet knows something I need to ...
Oh , and I already DO have a new comp , in fact , I built both this
desktop and the server in the next room , both dual core machines with large
storage capacities . I also have a PowerKraft (Logan) lathe which I use to
fabricate motorcycle parts . It's not a candidate for CNC though grin .

--
Snag
'90 Ultra "Strider"
'39 WLDD "Popcycle"
Buncha cars and a truck

Nick Leone wrote:
I'd imangine this depends on what programs you want to run on it. As
far as raw speed, my 75mhz pentium running command line linux has
been more then adiquite for my computer-related automation tasks. Of
course, it was fairly simple C code with no graphics or intense
computation adding overhead.
I would suggest figuring out what software packages you want to run,
and look at the requirements of those. That said, I'd be supprised
if a 1.1GHz machine is too slow.


Well , I need to learn a good bit about milling and CNC programming before
I take that step . I was just wondering if I was going to need something
faster/more RAM to do basic machining , or if this unit is adequate for a
beginner . I'll probably never want to carve a bust from aluminum billet ...

--
Snag
wannabe machinist


-Nick

"Terry Coombs" wrote in message
...
I finally got down to the wire , and have made the decision to buy
a mill NOW . What I'm wondering , how much computing capacity is
needed when I (eventually) do the CNC conversion ? I currently have
a HP that runs a 1.1 Ghz Pentium CPU , has 512 mb RAM (maxed out for
this motherboard) , and 70 Gb storage .
I currently have XP Home loaded on this machine , but can go to
Linux (Ubuntu , likely) or any current Windows OS .

--
Snag
'90 Ultra "Strider"
'39 WLDD "Popcycle"
Buncha cars and a truck

Pete C. wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:

I finally got down to the wire , and have made the decision to buy
a mill NOW . What I'm wondering , how much computing capacity is
needed when I (eventually) do the CNC conversion ? I currently have
a HP that runs a 1.1 Ghz Pentium CPU , has 512 mb RAM (maxed out for
this motherboard) , and 70 Gb storage .
I currently have XP Home loaded on this machine , but can go to
Linux (Ubuntu , likely) or any current Windows OS .

That should be sufficient to run either Mach3 (Windoze) or EMC (Linux)
the two most popular CNC controllers. I use Mach3 because at the time
I compared them Mach3 was much more refined than EMC. EMC2 is
supposed to be available now and more user friendly than the old EMC.
Mach3 isn't free, but it's cheap, EMC is free, but isn't or wasn't as
refined. Both have comparable capabilities.

Ah , this is good input ! Looks like Terry has some research to do ...

--
Snag
wannabe machinist

Terry Coombs wrote:

Pete C. wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:

I finally got down to the wire , and have made the decision to buy
a mill NOW . What I'm wondering , how much computing capacity is
needed when I (eventually) do the CNC conversion ? I currently have
a HP that runs a 1.1 Ghz Pentium CPU , has 512 mb RAM (maxed out for
this motherboard) , and 70 Gb storage .
I currently have XP Home loaded on this machine , but can go to
Linux (Ubuntu , likely) or any current Windows OS .

That should be sufficient to run either Mach3 (Windoze) or EMC (Linux)
the two most popular CNC controllers. I use Mach3 because at the time
I compared them Mach3 was much more refined than EMC. EMC2 is
supposed to be available now and more user friendly than the old EMC.
Mach3 isn't free, but it's cheap, EMC is free, but isn't or wasn't as
refined. Both have comparable capabilities.

Ah , this is good input ! Looks like Terry has some research to do ...

--
Snag
wannabe machinist

A lot of users of both, and some others at http://www.cnczone.com

Pete C. wrote:
spaco wrote:

I think it depends upon how much CAD you are going to do to prepare
drawings for the CNC work. Especially if you are going to 3D CAD and
want to do things like revolving your work in space to look at it,
animation of drawings, etc. In these cases, more computer is
better, since there's a lot of graphics processing going on. And if
you are using a large screen with high resolution a good graphics
card is important too.
I have used a Bridgport EZ trak (2 axis CNC) and things happen so
slowly (computer wise) that it's hard to imagine a computer too slow
to feed it data. I think the EZ trak I used had an IBM PC-AT type
mother board somewhere inside.

No, no no. You CAD workstation needs to be a relatively high powered
PC in the house where it's comfortable. The CNC control PC is an
older hand me down that lives out in the shop with the machine it
controls. The network moves your g code out to the shop.

Well , I'd guess I'm set as far as comp's go then . This machine is a
dual-core 2.3 Ghz cpu with up to 8 Gb of RAM . I'm only running 2 gigs right
now , and it's the fastest comp I've ever used . Better have my compugeek
son make me a long enough cable ... and get back to studying AutoCad .

--
Snag
'90 Ultra "Strider"
'39 WLDD "Popcycle"
Buncha cars and a truck

On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:56:51 -0500, "Terry Coombs"
wrote:

Nick Leone wrote:
I'd imangine this depends on what programs you want to run on it. As
far as raw speed, my 75mhz pentium running command line linux has
been more then adiquite for my computer-related automation tasks. Of
course, it was fairly simple C code with no graphics or intense
computation adding overhead.
I would suggest figuring out what software packages you want to run,
and look at the requirements of those. That said, I'd be supprised
if a 1.1GHz machine is too slow.


Well , I need to learn a good bit about milling and CNC programming before
I take that step . I was just wondering if I was going to need something
faster/more RAM to do basic machining , or if this unit is adequate for a
beginner . I'll probably never want to carve a bust from aluminum billet ...


The average CNC machine itself would be more than happy with an 8Mhz
AT - Many ran on 8086 4mhz processors. It's the cad work and the
graphical interfaces that take the computing power.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

clare, at, snyder, dot, ontario, dot, canada wrote:

On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:56:51 -0500, "Terry Coombs"
wrote:

Nick Leone wrote:
I'd imangine this depends on what programs you want to run on it. As
far as raw speed, my 75mhz pentium running command line linux has
been more then adiquite for my computer-related automation tasks. Of
course, it was fairly simple C code with no graphics or intense
computation adding overhead.
I would suggest figuring out what software packages you want to run,
and look at the requirements of those. That said, I'd be supprised
if a 1.1GHz machine is too slow.


Well , I need to learn a good bit about milling and CNC programming before
I take that step . I was just wondering if I was going to need something
faster/more RAM to do basic machining , or if this unit is adequate for a
beginner . I'll probably never want to carve a bust from aluminum billet ...

The average CNC machine itself would be more than happy with an 8Mhz
AT - Many ran on 8086 4mhz processors. It's the cad work and the
graphical interfaces that take the computing power.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

The 20 yr old CNCs perhaps. Modern CNCs have nice user interfaces, tool
path displays and other features that require more horsepower. They
don't need a fire breathing machine, but they definitely will not run on
an 8086. I run Mach3 on a P2/733 with 256MB on W2K and it does fine. My
CAD runs on a P4/3GHz with 2GB on XP.

Terry Coombs wrote:

Pete C. wrote:
spaco wrote:

I think it depends upon how much CAD you are going to do to prepare
drawings for the CNC work. Especially if you are going to 3D CAD and
want to do things like revolving your work in space to look at it,
animation of drawings, etc. In these cases, more computer is
better, since there's a lot of graphics processing going on. And if
you are using a large screen with high resolution a good graphics
card is important too.
I have used a Bridgport EZ trak (2 axis CNC) and things happen so
slowly (computer wise) that it's hard to imagine a computer too slow
to feed it data. I think the EZ trak I used had an IBM PC-AT type
mother board somewhere inside.

No, no no. You CAD workstation needs to be a relatively high powered
PC in the house where it's comfortable. The CNC control PC is an
older hand me down that lives out in the shop with the machine it
controls. The network moves your g code out to the shop.

Well , I'd guess I'm set as far as comp's go then . This machine is a
dual-core 2.3 Ghz cpu with up to 8 Gb of RAM . I'm only running 2 gigs right
now , and it's the fastest comp I've ever used . Better have my compugeek
son make me a long enough cable ... and get back to studying AutoCad .

That should do the CAD just fine. FWIW I run TurboCAD Pro for the little
stuff I do and it does nicely.

I had no problem putting together the design for degree and position
scales to engrave on parts for a camera bracket in TurboCAD and then net
the DXF out to the Mach3 PC in the shop, convert it to G code, and then
run that G code on some test MDF blanks before engraving on the final
anodized aluminum parts. The degree markings were done using a 4th axis
to engrave around the round part BTW.

Pete C. wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:

Pete C. wrote:
spaco wrote:

I think it depends upon how much CAD you are going to do to prepare
drawings for the CNC work. Especially if you are going to 3D CAD
and want to do things like revolving your work in space to look at
it, animation of drawings, etc. In these cases, more computer is
better, since there's a lot of graphics processing going on. And if
you are using a large screen with high resolution a good graphics
card is important too.
I have used a Bridgport EZ trak (2 axis CNC) and things happen
so slowly (computer wise) that it's hard to imagine a computer too
slow to feed it data. I think the EZ trak I used had an IBM PC-AT
type mother board somewhere inside.

No, no no. You CAD workstation needs to be a relatively high powered
PC in the house where it's comfortable. The CNC control PC is an
older hand me down that lives out in the shop with the machine it
controls. The network moves your g code out to the shop.

Well , I'd guess I'm set as far as comp's go then . This machine
is a dual-core 2.3 Ghz cpu with up to 8 Gb of RAM . I'm only running
2 gigs right now , and it's the fastest comp I've ever used . Better
have my compugeek son make me a long enough cable ... and get back
to studying AutoCad .

That should do the CAD just fine. FWIW I run TurboCAD Pro for the
little stuff I do and it does nicely.

I had no problem putting together the design for degree and position
scales to engrave on parts for a camera bracket in TurboCAD and then
net the DXF out to the Mach3 PC in the shop, convert it to G code,
and then run that G code on some test MDF blanks before engraving on
the final anodized aluminum parts. The degree markings were done
using a 4th axis to engrave around the round part BTW.

There's a little machine shop around the corner from the commercial
millwork (fancy name for break room cabinets and reception desks) shop where
I work . I stopped by one day to ask advice ... he demonstrated a little
routine that indexed a rotary table for cuts , can't remember just what it
was . But I was hooked .
I've had the lathe a few years now , and feel the need to take the next
step . The possibilities are limited only by my own imagination ... well ,
and budget , let's not get get too excited !
I finally heard back from a guy that wants to sell a small B'port , he
wants way more than I can afford , and I don't have room anyway .
An RF45 / clone , however , will be relatively easy to integrate into my
shed . Build one slightly larger, much sturdier open cabinet across one end
of the shed ... And set it up there , one component at a time as I
completely clean/lube/tune the whole thing . I know I'm limiting myself in
the scope of projects I can do , but this is as big a machine as my space
can handle . And if I never start ...
--
Snag
'90 Ultra "Strider"
'39 WLDD "Popcycle"
Buncha cars and a truck

On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:20:44 -0500, "Robert Swinney"
wrote:

By the time you adequately master manual operation of the new mill you will likely have a newer,
different computer. Or at least you would if you didn't slop through it and try to go directly into
CNC. Machine tools are for machinists. A mill without CNC is like a scalpel in the hands of a
skilled surgeon. A mill with CNC is like a myopic butcher.


indeed. well said


gunner, CNC service tech


Bob Swinney
"Terry Coombs" wrote in message
. ..
I finally got down to the wire , and have made the decision to buy a mill
NOW . What I'm wondering , how much computing capacity is needed when I
(eventually) do the CNC conversion ? I currently have a HP that runs a 1.1
Ghz Pentium CPU , has 512 mb RAM (maxed out for this motherboard) , and 70
Gb storage .
I currently have XP Home loaded on this machine , but can go to Linux
(Ubuntu , likely) or any current Windows OS .

at yoyodyne they were all veterans of the psychic wars
exiled from the eighth dimension where the winds of limbo roar"
* * * * * * *mariposa rand mair theal

I have a lathe that I bought with a bad Anilam control. I used a 800mhz
PIII I bought on eBay and EMC2, the computer runs fine for this. Though I
haven't tried it on large programs, I should be able to run as big of a
program as the hard drive will allow. I was able to leave the servo's and
drives wired, just connected the control signal and encoders to card in the
PC. I also added a VFD to give me single phase in to 3 phase out plus I
added speed control, a feature the existing Anilam control didn't have.
With my setup I get 2 micron resolution (12700 counts per inch) and rapids
of 240IPM. I wouldn't be able to get that with steppers with a 800mhz PIII
though.

I plan to convert a Bridgeport mill next, replacing my Anilam control with
an Athalon 1000 PC running Linux with EMC2. I looked a Mach 3 but I didn't
see any options for the +-10V signal the drives need and the encoder
feedback with PID running in the PC. If I didn't already have servos and
drives I could have used drives that will take step and direction and used
either Mach 3 or EMC2.

RogerN


"Terry Coombs" wrote in message
...
I finally got down to the wire , and have made the decision to buy a mill
NOW . What I'm wondering , how much computing capacity is needed when I
(eventually) do the CNC conversion ? I currently have a HP that runs a 1.1
Ghz Pentium CPU , has 512 mb RAM (maxed out for this motherboard) , and 70
Gb storage .
I currently have XP Home loaded on this machine , but can go to Linux
(Ubuntu , likely) or any current Windows OS .

--
Snag
'90 Ultra "Strider"
'39 WLDD "Popcycle"
Buncha cars and a truck

Terry Coombs wrote:

Pete C. wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:

Pete C. wrote:
spaco wrote:

I think it depends upon how much CAD you are going to do to prepare
drawings for the CNC work. Especially if you are going to 3D CAD
and want to do things like revolving your work in space to look at
it, animation of drawings, etc. In these cases, more computer is
better, since there's a lot of graphics processing going on. And if
you are using a large screen with high resolution a good graphics
card is important too.
I have used a Bridgport EZ trak (2 axis CNC) and things happen
so slowly (computer wise) that it's hard to imagine a computer too
slow to feed it data. I think the EZ trak I used had an IBM PC-AT
type mother board somewhere inside.

No, no no. You CAD workstation needs to be a relatively high powered
PC in the house where it's comfortable. The CNC control PC is an
older hand me down that lives out in the shop with the machine it
controls. The network moves your g code out to the shop.

Well , I'd guess I'm set as far as comp's go then . This machine
is a dual-core 2.3 Ghz cpu with up to 8 Gb of RAM . I'm only running
2 gigs right now , and it's the fastest comp I've ever used . Better
have my compugeek son make me a long enough cable ... and get back
to studying AutoCad .

That should do the CAD just fine. FWIW I run TurboCAD Pro for the
little stuff I do and it does nicely.

I had no problem putting together the design for degree and position
scales to engrave on parts for a camera bracket in TurboCAD and then
net the DXF out to the Mach3 PC in the shop, convert it to G code,
and then run that G code on some test MDF blanks before engraving on
the final anodized aluminum parts. The degree markings were done
using a 4th axis to engrave around the round part BTW.

There's a little machine shop around the corner from the commercial
millwork (fancy name for break room cabinets and reception desks) shop where
I work . I stopped by one day to ask advice ... he demonstrated a little
routine that indexed a rotary table for cuts , can't remember just what it
was . But I was hooked .
I've had the lathe a few years now , and feel the need to take the next
step . The possibilities are limited only by my own imagination ... well ,
and budget , let's not get get too excited !
I finally heard back from a guy that wants to sell a small B'port , he
wants way more than I can afford , and I don't have room anyway .
An RF45 / clone , however , will be relatively easy to integrate into my
shed . Build one slightly larger, much sturdier open cabinet across one end
of the shed ... And set it up there , one component at a time as I
completely clean/lube/tune the whole thing . I know I'm limiting myself in
the scope of projects I can do , but this is as big a machine as my space
can handle . And if I never start ...
--
Snag
'90 Ultra "Strider"
'39 WLDD "Popcycle"
Buncha cars and a truck

The Seig X3 mill is a popular CNC'ing target and has pretty decent
capacities. It's sold by Harbor Freight, Grizzly and others in the US. A
number of references on CNC conversions for it around now.

Pete C. wrote:



The Seig X3 mill is a popular CNC'ing target and has pretty decent
capacities. It's sold by Harbor Freight, Grizzly and others in the
US. A number of references on CNC conversions for it around now.

And after checking prices , I may end up with an X3 . I figgered prices
had gone up , but not 300 bucks in less than six weeks . Lathemaster is out
of stock right now , and Wholesale Tools has jumped their price from 1200 to
just under 1500 bucks (This price is for the RF 45 / clone mills) . Well ,
I'll buy as much mill as I can afford ... and make do until I can afford
more .
--
Snag
'90 Ultra "Strider"
'39 WLDD "Popcycle"
Buncha cars and a truck

With today's prices, deals, and a glut of used high powered computers, just
get twice as much as you need and be done with it.

Steve

Terry Coombs wrote:
I finally got down to the wire , and have made the decision to buy a mill
NOW . What I'm wondering , how much computing capacity is needed when I
(eventually) do the CNC conversion ? I currently have a HP that runs a 1.1
Ghz Pentium CPU , has 512 mb RAM (maxed out for this motherboard) , and 70
Gb storage .
I currently have XP Home loaded on this machine , but can go to Linux
(Ubuntu , likely) or any current Windows OS .


Are you kidding?

An old 286 will be plenty of computing power to run a milling machine.
So what you have is plenty powerful. You won't live long enough to fill
up a 70 GB hard drive with tool paths, which are all text files.

And if you do run out of storage space. External hard drives are very
cheap, and getting cheaper every day.

--
Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 21:49:13 -0500, "Pete C."
wrote:


clare, at, snyder, dot, ontario, dot, canada wrote:

On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:56:51 -0500, "Terry Coombs"
wrote:

Nick Leone wrote:
I'd imangine this depends on what programs you want to run on it. As
far as raw speed, my 75mhz pentium running command line linux has
been more then adiquite for my computer-related automation tasks. Of
course, it was fairly simple C code with no graphics or intense
computation adding overhead.
I would suggest figuring out what software packages you want to run,
and look at the requirements of those. That said, I'd be supprised
if a 1.1GHz machine is too slow.


Well , I need to learn a good bit about milling and CNC programming before
I take that step . I was just wondering if I was going to need something
faster/more RAM to do basic machining , or if this unit is adequate for a
beginner . I'll probably never want to carve a bust from aluminum billet ...

The average CNC machine itself would be more than happy with an 8Mhz
AT - Many ran on 8086 4mhz processors. It's the cad work and the
graphical interfaces that take the computing power.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

The 20 yr old CNCs perhaps. Modern CNCs have nice user interfaces, tool
path displays and other features that require more horsepower. They
don't need a fire breathing machine, but they definitely will not run on
an 8086. I run Mach3 on a P2/733 with 256MB on W2K and it does fine. My
CAD runs on a P4/3GHz with 2GB on XP.


As I said - the graphical interface takes the computing power.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:38:12 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm,
"Pete C." quickly quoth:

The Seig X3 mill is a popular CNC'ing target and has pretty decent
capacities. It's sold by Harbor Freight, Grizzly and others in the US. A
number of references on CNC conversions for it around now.

Griz is about to start their summer sale, too.

I just visited their site to see if it had started and it hadn't. I
did see this metaldorking catalog for the first time, though:
http://grizzly.com/catalog/2008/Metalworking/

--
Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is a nobler art of
leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination
of nonessentials. -- Lin Yutang