computer in the shop

[Ajcoholic]

I have worked in a woodworking shop for many years, but this is the first time I will have a computer in the "shop" and not behind the office doors.

How much should I worry about the dust? I mean, as clean as I work, there is still going to be dust getting on the keyboard, etc. I am using a laptop I bought, dedicated to running my buddy. SHould I look into some sort of cover or can I just blow off the dust at the end of the day? I have no idea how a modern laptop computer will handle being out in the shop.

AJC

[curtiss]

You might cover the keyboard or place a small fan near it to keep any extra dust off it....

[steve_g]

Andrew

Keep in mind that in order for the universe to be in balance... my shop must be as messy as yours is clean! That said, I use a membrane keyboard glued to the lid of my shop desk. I wouldn't want to use it for extensive typing, but it works well for keeping out dust, soft drinks and over spray. I burned up two laptops in my shop, even after trying to be careful with the second! an autopsy of both laptops indicated they were not suitable for my environment. My solution, not recommended for all, is a bare naked (settle down Jack) Computer. At the end of the day, A swish with an air hose cleans all out. I've been running this way quite awhile now with good results. The computer is located in the shop desk under the lid with the keyboard glued on top.

Steve

[bruce_taylor]

Like everyone else I saw the pics of your shop, You should have no problem with any computer in that place, My shop is a mess in comparison. I blow off the keyboard so I can see the letters and numbers, i keep the computer in a small room off to the side so its not as bad but still not the cleanest environment and I've had no real problems. I use my laptop for design out of the shop and have a desktop networked to the bot computer for design while in the a/c ed office while in the shop. I would suggest a this setup as desktop are pretty cheap and having a backup is nice and you can load your files on it as a shared drive and use a thumb drive to transfer files from the laptop keeping the system mostly sterile and avoiding any internet connection on the bot computer. But dust has never been a problem in my very dusty, down right dust ridden shop environment. Oh I'm using my original computers still going on almost 8 years. I did replace the mouse a few years back, just because I found one I liked better.

[adrianm]

For the first 18 months of my 'bot ownership I used a normal keyboard with a Logitech Rumblepad for movement. No issues with dust at all. The same for the PC itself although the one I use has a separate power supply so there aren't so many fans to stir the dust around.

Now I use a touch screen and a remote keyboard (http://www.ebuyer.com/250233-xenta-wireless-mini-keyboard-with-touchpad-and-multimedia-keys-usb-pkb-1720) which again has no problems with dust.

[kbraat]

I will agree with the membrane style keyboard. If you look around, these are rather inexpensive. After the keyboard that came with the PC died, I switched to one of these with no problems so far. It is not the best to do any extended typing with, but I do my design work inside and then take the files out to the barn where the Shopbot is located and might only have to make minor tweaks to the files.

There are also sealed mice, but these are a bit more expensive. I have looked into them, but with a low cost optical mouse under $10, I would just buy another. The older roller ball style mouse had the left button die from buildup. Just hit the mouse with some air blasts after you are done to help keep clean.

I also use a wireless Logitech Rumblepad for setup and control on the Shopbot to allow me to easily move around the table. This gets put away in a drawer once the cutting starts.

[cowboy1296]

I have been doing this as a hobby for 2 years with no dust collection and recently started experiencing headaches. it almost has to be the dust. A dust collector will be delivered this week. Even with the dust collector i plan on building this box for my laptop. This picture was found on the vetric forum.

[michael_schwartz]

An optical mouse is a must have. A ball mouse in a dusty environment just doesn't work. I only say this because people tend to use older hardware they have kicking around in a shop.

Computer techs will freak out about the idea of dust building up on the motherboard, and other components but I am not so sure this is such a big deal. I make sure to open up my case and clean things out from time to time.

The air in my shop is reasonably clean. Most dust gets collected at the source. You want to protect your computer from direct sources of dust, and chips. Make sure your Shopbot is not flinging dust and chips right at it. If you really want to go the extra mile you can build a positive pressure cabinet with filtered intake air.

[dana_swift]

I just bought the cheapest wireless keyboard at the local office supply. Wireless is great so you can move around the bot and still type commands.

(I wish the display on SB3 where it shows what I am typing was large enough to be read easily from 15 feet. Product improvement suggestion..)

I have had to change batteries in the keyboard periodically as expected, but I have had no reliability problems at all, and it is not a membrane keyboard, just a cheapo. The keyboard seems to always be coated with a layer of dust. You can see the keys I use all the time because there is no dust on them. For instance: k, c, z, 1, 2, 3 and the arrow keys. Those are almost always dust free. Ones I never use like q can look pretty bad.

The thinking is if the dust gets to it I would just go get another cheapo. Likewise I just bought the cheapest optical mouse I can.

As to the compuer, about a year ago, I let all my friends know that I was interested in any cast-off XP machines. I ended up getting 4 complete computer systems given to me. One is now my dedicated SB controller.

Before I had the dedicated XP box, I used a laptop. The dust would make the keys stick after a while, but they would blow out just fine and go back to working correctly. I am using that laptop to type this in without any keyboard problems. So: A) Yes I had keyboard problems on the laptop, and B) They are easy to fix.

My current approach is disposable items that are sensitive.

D

[gene]

i use an old dell with the standard keyboard and a optical mouse. a few months ago it quit. i opened it up and blew it with the air hose and it is still working . you wouldn't believe how much dust you can get in there. any way its still going strong and the computer and everything sits the end of my bot . it goes against everything i have heard but ,,,
with a laptop i dont know , i design everything with an office computer and run the files on a thumb drive ,it works for me

[pkirby]

Here's what I did last weekend. I bought a the cabinet off craigslist and then added a bathroom ventilation fan on the inside so that it sucks air from the shop (via the 12x12 filter) and then builds pressure inside of the cabinet to keep dust from coming in. It's worked well so far, but it's only been running for about a week.
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[dlcw]

I purchased a refurbished Dell office computer (mini tower type), hooked up a USB hub. My keyboard and mouse are inexpensive wireless. Inexpensive 20" LCD monitor. I can take the keyboard to the CNC table and move the spindle around easier that way.

I even have a Dymo label printer for my eCabinets work hooked right to the USB hub and that works great.

Today was the first time I blew the dust out in about 4 months because it was having a hard time booting up. Once dust was blown out, worked like a champ. I created a dust storm in my shop. Thank goodness I had a fan blowing the dust toward and air cleaner. Made short order of the dust. I think I need to blow the dust out more often then every 4 months. Maybe weekly would be nicer to the computer. :D The 'puter sits in a little role around cart I made awhile back.

If I get the next large sign job ($25K) I will be getting one of the all-in-one computers and maybe hanging it on the wall next to the CNC.

[cnc_works]

My confession is, and this is not a recommendation to others...I use ordinary computers, including my design machine, two control computers (2 cnc's), keyboards, optical trackballs with a cordless Logitech Rumblepad II for movement. With the exception of the Rumblepad, a more recent acquisition, this has been my practice for 15 years now and I have never lost anything to dust invasion. I blow computers and keyboards out from time to time (probably not as often as I should). Obviously this would not work in a cnc machine shop with oily metal dust, nor in a shop with a smoker to provide the glue to hold the dust to components. My equipment is just a few feet from the cnc, so my personal observation is that dust isn't such a serious consideration for me.

My favorite story concerning this comes from my time in active computer service when I took in the computer from a local millwork company for software maintenance. As a general practice, I clean any computer that comes into the shop and I discovered that dust was banked covering the whole bottom of the computer up to about eight inches onto the motherboard and everything was working just fine. I wish I could find the pictures I took of that!

[Ajcoholic]

Today I made a little shelf which attached to the Buddy frame with two 1/4-20 machine screws (the tapped holes were already in the frame.. not sure for what).

I ran a bunch of stuff, and, with my 7.5HP dust collector it seems to keep everything clean.

I was more worried about fine dust, from other operations (like hand sanding) while the bot was running. But, from what most of you suggest a cleaning with the compressed air line should keep things working.

I plan to get the bot into it's own room soon, so it should be isolated more or less from the main shop area. I wont stress about it for now!

AJC

[bobmoore]

I had my dell tower die from dust inhalation. It is over 30 miles to the doctor so I built a positive pressure cabinet with filtered air for less than 20 bucks. Good value in my estimation.
Bob

[GlenP]

I personally have never had a laptop running my cnc. I don't think they are best suited for it but that is just my opinion. I realize some guys run them and may or may not have any issues but I prefer a desktop. I find laptops have too small of power supply and motherboard and all devices are crammed into a small area and tend to overheat. I ran a Dell with XP on it for years and now built my own pc with win7. I ahve two pcs in the shop. One has allot of software and internet and other is strickly runs the bot. Both are exposed to dust and my shop is a working shop so I do keep as clean and tidy as possible but it gets dusty when doing mdf doors and sanding. I blow off pcs and the shopbot controller with air WHEN THEY ARE TURNED OFF. Worst thing I have had happen is power supply fan get noisy....but that might have just been due to use. Now where are the pics Andrew.:)
Glad you got it and are running....hopefully we can connect sometime this year. Are u using Aspire or Partworks software. There is a user group in Guelph in October. One day event....casual thing.

[Ajcoholic]

I personally have never had a laptop running my cnc. I don't think they are best suited for it but that is just my opinion. I realize some guys run them and may or may not have any issues but I prefer a desktop. I find laptops have too small of power supply and motherboard and all devices are crammed into a small area and tend to overheat. I ran a Dell with XP on it for years and now built my own pc with win7. I ahve two pcs in the shop. One has allot of software and internet and other is strickly runs the bot. Both are exposed to dust and my shop is a working shop so I do keep as clean and tidy as possible but it gets dusty when doing mdf doors and sanding. I blow off pcs and the shopbot controller with air WHEN THEY ARE TURNED OFF. Worst thing I have had happen is power supply fan get noisy....but that might have just been due to use. Now where are the pics Andrew.:)
Glad you got it and are running....hopefully we can connect sometime this year. Are u using Aspire or Partworks software. There is a user group in Guelph in October. One day event....casual thing.

Glen, I have been posting lots of pics in other threads.. :)

I am running Aspire - so far I like it a lot. I have a lot to learn but it is coming along slowly but surely.

WHat day is that get together? Now that Porter is flying daily to Timmins/Toronto it is quite cheap to fly to Toronto. I have friends in Guelph, and am always up for a visit to my old college, Conestoga's Woodworking Center of Ontario in Kitchener.

AJC

[myxpykalix]

I have been running a laptop for 6 years now with no issues at all. The worst thing that happened was i got the air nozzle too close to the keyboard once and blew some of the keys off the keypad, but they fit right back:o
Mine is setup right next to the computer and the only time i am concerned about dust is when cutting MDF. I like it and i hate it...
I like running a laptop because i can unhook it and take it inside during the cold times of the year.

[WoodMarvels.com]

My laptop toughed-it out for about 3 months then I had to get it cleaned, not sure if it was dust related but I'm sure it didn't help. I have only one computer to do everything on for at least the next few months... I do like the cabinets others have built with the positive air pressure. I'm probably going to go that route myself with a cheap desktop in the very near future, more so I can render and cut at the same time than for dust... though it's a nice side benefit.

I think the ShopBot Desktop produces far less dust with a good vacuum that the larger machines you guys use due to its smaller footprint and slower cutting speeds. I never use MDF either, only 6mm plywood, which I think may make a big difference.

Jon