How much faster with a new PC?

[stargategfx]

I have my design computer and my Shopbot at two different locations.
Designing and toolpathing is normally done on my design computer but I frequently have to edit my toolpaths on the computer that runs the 'Bot, an old Celeron 333.
Needless to say the processing time was painful so today I ran out and purchased a new 2.8ghz Pentium 4 with 512 megs of ram to run the 'Bot.
Overkill?...possibly, but I am curious as to how much (if any) more cutting and jogging speed the new PC will allow me, I cut mostly signfoam,styrofoam and medite.
I am running a near new PRT96 with a Colombo spindle and up to date software.
Any thoughts?
I will be setting up the PC for the Shopbot next week.
Also, seeing as new PCs don't have any extra serial ports I will be connecting the Shopbot via a usb to serial adapter, will I run into problems?

[Mayo]

What exactly are you doing when editing toolpaths? With what program?

Are you seeing a delay when creating the toolpath or after the toolpath is already created and you want to add or delete or change parts of it?

I previously used a (believe it or not) 486DX266, and then a Pentium II 350, and now a Pentium III and I didn't notice any difference in "editing toolpaths". (Adding or deleting nodes, changing curves, putting in tabs or bridges, etc)
By the way, I'm talking about 2-D cutting files.

Where I did notice a difference was the amount of information the computer would send to the shopbot before it would stop and wait for more information. The faster computer was able to keep the shopbot going through almost every file without pausing to wait for more information.

I don't know if this was strictly a result of the faster processor or perhaps that and a larger hard drive and more memory...

I don't think the computer will limit your cutting and jogging speed as much as the stepper motors will.

I have a PRT96 that's a couple years old and it generally doesn't like to jog more than 3" per second. This is with the Windows control software.

The stepper motors I have are connected to gearboxes, which I am told make it powerful but not fast. That's ok - I'm not in a hurry. It cuts fast enough to break bits while using the Porter Cable router so what the heck.

So, have you met Samantha Carter yet? ;-)

[stargategfx]

Mayo, the files that I was editing the other day were fairly complex, a 4x8 piece of signfoam covered in a few hundred hieroglyphs, the glyphs were raised with the surrounding background "area cleared" to a depth of 3/8".
The processing time for toolpath editing between my celeron and my old P4 were night and day.
What I could do on the P4 in seconds took a couple of minutes on the celeron.
I also had frequent lost steps when running the 'Bot at anything over 2"/ps.
I am curious about other users maximum cutting speed with non-alpha shopbots.
And yes I see Samantha / Amanda Tapping almost every day, one of the nicest people in the business.

[srwtlc]

Boyd, I just finished building a new box for mine. I used to have a 1800+ Athlon XP with 256mb ddr ram running Win98se. The new box now has a 2500+ Athlon XP (Barton core) with 512mb ddr ram in dual channel mode running WinXP. The old one ran my PRT fine with the exception that I was having stuttering issues every once in a while (bad one day and not for the next couple days) that I could never nail down. This spring my control box and serial ports took a lightning strike that took them out. I got another control board and started using a USB to serial cable. I thought the problem was gone, but it came back again. The strange thing was that it wouldn't happen with a slow PII 266 laptop and never in dos mode. I decided to send that motherboard to Asus for warranty, build a new one and start using WinXP. So far so good (probably just jinxed that
). Anyway, I tried to see if it made any difference with jog speed (I've never had a problem with 3.5 to 4 in/sec) and I could get 5in/sec without a stutter, but 5.5 and 6 would. I have the same gearbox steppers as Mayo.

My USB to serial adapter seemed to work fine. I couldn't attribute the stuttering issue I had to that as it would do it with the serial ports also. I also tried a PCI serial card. That worked great for about a week until the stuttering came back again. Also, when I tried to load the DOS control box loader, the computer would flat out crash and reboot when I was prompted to turn on the control box. Needless to say that went back to the computer store! So it was off to Newegg.com for some new stuff (they're the best!). $450 for motherboard, 2500+ processor, 521mb memory, 80gig harddrive, case & power supply, 2 CD-RW's, and a floppy drive. When it comes to bang for your $$$'s Athlon XP processors are hard to beat. A comparable P4 is almost twice the price.

Not that I would recommend it, or that I do it myself, but I can run Winamp and play my tunes (legal mp3's thank you) and run the Bot at the same time.


Scott

[Wes Day (Unregistered Guest)]

I just moved my old design computer (bought a new one) to the Bot. It's a Celeron 1.1 Ghz with 512 megs of ram. I was running an old Pent. II with 64 megs of ram running the dos software. About the fastest I could cut was 1.8 ips with no problems. All I cut all day is 1/2" mdf, one pass, 13,000 rpm PC, 3/16" downcut BELIN spiral O bit. AND ONLY BELIN!!! Now with the "new" computer on the bot and running Windows software, I can cut at 3" - 3 1/2 ips. The ramping seems to be SOOO much smoother.

Now I am waiting for the delivery of my Alpha with a Colombo in a week or so.


BTW...does anyone know of a company that can resharpen spiral o bits CORRECTLY?

[Wes Day (Unregistered Guest)]

I hope the FRENCH choke on the few measley dollars the make from me !!!

OOPS....Did I say that out loud???

[srwtlc]

Wes, I don't know where your located, but Vortex Tools and Great Lakes Carbide in Wisconsin do. I would think that most distributers for Onsrud Cutter would be able to also.

[Wes Day (Unregistered Guest)]

I sent several bits to Southeast Tool, out of 7 Belin Spiral-O's I sent them (EXACT same bits), they sharpened one correctly and ruined the other 6. The bits would just try to "plow" through the wood and break if I didn't shut it down in time.

I called Southeast Tool and they didn't have any idea what was wrong. I sent the bits back to them to look at. After about a month of not hearing anything back from them, I called, and I called, and I called, and I called.....I would always talk to "Steve" but he didn't ever know anything. He said he would refer everything to Chuck (the president). SO........I waited, and waited, and waited......after another 5 or 6 weeks I called and talked to Chuck. He said he would look into it. NEVER heard from him. They NEVER called me, I ALWAYS had to call them. So after a couple of weeks I got the bits back in the mail. I was confused so I called Chuck and he told me they had done nothing wrong, but that some of the bits were left hand and some were right hand.
I called Multicam, who I buy the bits from, they said no way!

Anyway, I would not recommend sending ANYTHING to Southeast Tool forr sharpening.

[stargategfx]

Got the new P4 talking to the Shopbot this morning.
I can only think of three words to describe the difference..."Un, Bee, Leevable."
Cutting signfoam at 5"p/sec, smoother ramping, quieter operation.
Can't wait till I have time to really play with it and see just how far it can be pushed.
I may just skip the Alpha upgrade afterall.