Re: Text file description of GUI - controller uploaded

Chris,

I suppose "cheap" is in the eye of the beholder.
Putting "cheap" in the name of a group designed for the "home" shop
is contradictory in itself by implying that a person not only has a
roof over their heads, but a shop to boot.
Some people run mill-drills in their basements, I personally have a
3000sq ft shop attached to my home. Personally I don't have much
spending money because I devote much of it to my pursuits, including
my shop. As a machinery dealer, even going through all the trouble of
retrofitting a 25 year old mill is going the cheap way because I'm
constantly surrounded by 100,000 dollar top-notch CNC's. For me, and
perhaps some others, buying a 3000 dollar machine, a 500 dollar
computer, a 500 dollar touchscreen and 500 buxs worth of jog encoders
and misc., works out to be a lot cheaper than buying a current
machine for 20 grand or more. I am at the poor end of my peers
considering the level of what I am trying to accomplish, and that
*is* frustrating. A person such as myself (part-time-inventor) needs
to do more than some engraving or small parts, but needs to have
close to "pro" capability without a production shop budget.
There is no catagory for us. We aren't truely "hobbiests", but we
definately aren't manufacturers either.
Add to this that a great part of this is that as I attempt to
retrofit my first machine, the reward is in being able to do it, and
that spirit lays in everyone, whether they are building an Enco 3-in-
1 or retrofitting a 12k lbs VMC.
Everyone has their own personal needs. The hard part is when you
discover that the capibilites of the machine you need aren't covered
in the current "cheap" retrofit arena...but close.
At some point you think to yourself "scr*w it" and strongly consider
just saving, or financing, or some other way to afford pro stuff, and
I suppose that's ok except you also get robbed of the experience and
accomplishment of doing your own, in addition to very possibly over
stressing your finances.
I've started a few debates in my last week here on the board. They
elude to jog controls and touchscreens and all this stuff normally
reserved for high dollar (non-home) equipment, but keep in mind that
CNC in iteself only recently found itself in a personal shop, which
was made possible by the people who wouldn't give up on having the
capability. It got cheaper to do and I will predict that the same
thing will trickle down for the controllers, add-ons, and "pro"
luxuries if people keep at it. It is obvious that the PC "hobbiest"
controls are very close, so why not encourage the next steps to
having "pro" level control and capability for everyone?
Certainly it wasn't so long ago that the electronic editing of video
via computer ranged in the 6 figure amounts, same for audio and other
ventures. Now it can be done for less than a grand in someone's
basement.
It's merely the progression of technology and those who endevour to
expand it.

Sean


<datac@l...> wrote:

>

> Chris,
>
> Having used quite a few PC based Controls, I have yet to recall one

that >forced<

> you to even have a mouse. Most of the users I witnessed in

operation were simply

> too lazy to learn the key commands !
>
> And again, Adding a keyboard emulator circuit like X-Keys literally

can change

> someones "canned" concept into what an individual user wants.
>
> When we get back to "Cheap" ( home based cnc stuff) which should be

part of the

> name of this group, I think the Touchscreens are out even at the E-

Bay level. They

> start low, but end up high, usually.
>
> The Other Chris