Stand Alone or Desktop PC as Controller?

[CStolzer338]

Around the beginning of this year I started and have been slowly putting together a Desktop CNC Mill(6"x18"x7"). This is a mostly off the shelf parts build. It's not a conversion or kit though. I may post a full tutorial on what parts I used and how I put it all together when I am done and have tested it.

For the moment though I would like to ask you guys for an opinion and if you choose to weigh in can you please give me some pros and cons about why you would do it one way or the other.

The question is would you go with a stand-alone unit like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-4-Axis-s...YAAOSw50JbRwIa
or would you use a desktop PC?

I have two desktop PC that have both Parallel and USB ports on them, one is running Windows XP and the other is has Linux Ubuntu on it so I could go with either Mach3/4 or with LinuxCNC(EMC2) but I am wondering if I would like the untethered ability of the Stand-Alone Controller like in the link?

Ohh and here's a picture of the machine as it sits right now. https://imgur.com/BUmMTnm.jpg Long ways to go, lead screws have to be swapped out with antibacklash, stepper mounts have to be made, spindle mount and spindle motor have to be mounted and the z-axis is only clamped on right now...and more.

Your opinions on Stand-alone vs Desktop and why you would choose one over the other would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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[109jb]

I was in the same boat as you with several old desktop PC's lying around and so I decided to give LinuxCNC a try. After all it is absolutely free, but also very capable. I use it on a basic 3 axis machine with limits and a probe input. I'm running it through the parallel port on the motherboard and it has worked flawlessly ever since I started using it(2012 or so) The only problem I ever had was a HDD failure that can hardly be blamed on LinuxCNC.

[machinehop5]

Depends on how you would use the machine...... and how deep your knowledge of Electronics you feel comfortable doing. One more thing to think about is CAD/CAM will have to run on a PC to generate G Code at some point ..I assume you don't have any System yet. Look here for one of many FreeCad programs and this one works on Linux or Winblowshttps://www.freecadweb.org/

Good luck on the Adventure.

[ger21]

Depends on what features you need. The cheap standalone controls don't have nearly the number of features that PC based controls do.

[tinmancarving]

I have never run a pc based controller, but I do own and use a DDCSV1.1 (3yrs running) on my cnc router. Like GER21 stated above, this system does not have any bells and whistles. It is a control system only.

A feature not support yet is g-code editing at the control. That is the only feature of a control that I miss after being the cnc business as a programmer for 35 yrs. I get around this by having a $150 refurb laptop in my shop with an editor on it. I also have several apps on it that produce g-code for basic functions like pocketing and drill patterns, along with back plot software. Having these functions separated allows the control system do what I want it to do. Control the system. I load the program, hit cycle start and walk away (literally). No computer operating system glitches to worry about. Never have to concern myself with PC operating system evolution that out dates my control software.

The link you posted is for the 2.1 version. There is actually a 3.1 out now that has a little bit larger screen. There is a user group on FB that is frequented by the software writer of this system who has proven to be very capable and responsive to request for changes on the software.

My opinion is that this type of system will eventually take a large market share as it matures.

My 2 pesos,

RobT

[109jb]

I ordered and tested a DDCSV2.1 and was not impressed. I ordered it through Amazon because I was unsure of how well they work and am glad I did because it had a lot of issues.

1.If you set it up for mm then mm programs were all you could run, and likewise if set up for inches you could only run inches programs. In other words G20 / G21 did absolutely nothing to change how far an axis moved. This alone was totally unacceptable to me.

2. Next was the MPG/pendant that came with the unit. If wired up to the DDCSV per the instructions it sort of worked but not well. It was apparent that it needed some software smoothing/debouncing of the signals from the MPG because it only wanted to work well when rotated at a smooth moderate rate. When turning the wheel at 1 click at a time it bounced back and forth a lot making the MPG totally unusable as far as I am concerned.

3. I also hooked the DDCSV up to my oscilloscope to see just how good/bad the step/dir signals were and while they weren't "bad", they weren't good either. To put it in perspective, I run Grbl on a $5 Uno and the signals are much cleaner all the way from 0 to 30kHz which is the Grbl maximum on an Uno. I also run a port of Grbl on a ESP32 and again the step/dir signals are cleaner from 0 to about 150 kHz. These are for ultra cheap MCU's so I would expect better from the DDCSV but was not the case.

4. The keypad is usable but is the cheap membrane keypad. I knew this going in but thought I'd mention it here.

5. Can't edit at the machine.

6. There are many codes that are not supported G41/42 cutter radius comp not supported. M4 CCW spindle not supported, Boring canned cycles not supported. I'm sure more but these I remembered off the top of my head.

The above list is what I discovered before even getting it off my test bench. Many have used the DDCSV and rave about it. Due to my background as a former CNC programmer and operator for a living, I cannot accept the above list of shortcomings. Your mileage may vary.

[CStolzer338]

Thank you all for the information and experience.
I think I will start by using one of my old PCs since I already have them and then maybe later I will convert over to stand alone if/when I build or convert a bigger mill.