Once the magic smoke comes out, things don't work any more.
John Kasunich
jmkasunich@fastmail.fm
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Sun, 17 Dec 2006
Controls, and where to put them
Had an interesting discussion on IRC this morning. The topic was where to put the monitor and keyboard. LawrenceG posted a picture of his Shoptask conversion. He mounted the CRT monitor and keyboard on a post behind the tailstock end of the machine. The keyboard angle seems kind of steep, but its not like I'm programming or doing tons of typing, its just a machine controller.
I already know I'm going to use an LCD instead of a CRT monitor. New 15" LCDs are available for around $100 these days (less on eBay), so it just doesn't make sense to put a big bulky CRT on the machine. I'm also going to have a jogwheel and some actual pushbuttons for the most commonly used controls, so the keyboard doesn't have to be ultra easy to reach. Alex suggested a touch screen, and I'm going to give that some serious thought. New ones aren't cheap, but eBay has a few. I forgot to ask cradek or jepler if Axis would work with a touch screen.
Since the computer I'm typing this on is only three or four steps away from the operating position of the machine, I will probably wind up running a remote GUI here in addition to the GUI on the machine itself. For things like examining an Axis preview plot, working on the machine config, and anything where I want to sit down and type a lot, I'll just step over here. So a small monitor with a touchscreen and no keyboard at all (or a keyboard tucked away somewhere) might be the best bet.
(posted: 17 Dec 2006 16:22) (permalink)