List of CNC devices I can use with LinuxCNC?

I am brand new to CNC. I've thought about it in the past, because I have a number of signs I want to put up on our lot (like, "All Deliveries, Stop Here" to stop idiot delivery drivers from messing up our front yard or taking the wrong turn and leaving packages at our guest house!). I've also figured that once I get a CNC machine and start using it, I'll find uses for it every time I'm thinking of a new project I want to build.

I have used Linux for decades and love it for many reasons. I currently have a server running on a mini computer that cost me very little and I'm thinking I could get another one like that for my shop, to control a CNC machine. My desktop systems are Macs and I haven't used Windows since XP, so I'm out of the loop there and don't want to have to get a Windows box just for this one task.

I've seen this list of hardware in the wiki. It's quite possible I don't know all the terms I need to know, but it looks to me like no specific actual CNC systems or machines are listed. Ideally, I'm looking for a machine that can work with a 2' x 2' cutting area, but where I could slide the board I'm working on sideways so I could double my work area without modifying the machine.

I thought Bob's Evolution 4 CNC Router Kit would be just what I needed, but I see the only software they sell with it is Windows only. I have seen Bob's routers discussed in the forum, along with, "Does not play well with LInuxCNC." (Or something similar.)

At this point is there a way to use LinuxCNC with Bob's devices?

Is there a list of CNC devices LinuxCNC will work with? (Or if the list is on the page I'm looking for, what terms describe a full CNC machine on that list?)

I'm just trying to find a CNC machine or kit I can use with LinuxCNC so I can do what I've mentioned above.

I often thing people forget one of the bigget advantages the get with fpg stepping:
Very small phase jitter The constanter step generation gives especialy steppers smother torque jumps.

"I thought Bob's Evolution 4 CNC Router Kit would be just what I needed, but I see the only software they sell with it is Windows only. I have seen Bob's routers discussed in the forum, along with, "Does not play well with LInuxCNC." (Or something similar.)"

BobCNC machines uses Grbl controllers and related stepper drivers. Replace those with e.g. a Gecko G540 and you can use the machine with LinuxCNC using a parralel port or Mesa card.
The software they are selling is CAM software. Linux might have a limited set of replacements for those specific packages, I don't know because I chose not to limit myself so still use Windows.

How hard is replacing the GRBL controllers with a Gecko G540? Once I really get into something, I do a lot of hacking, but since I'm brand new, my goal, at the beginning, is to just get this working so I can make things. After I've been doing that for a while and know the system, I always find I'm hacking things and replacing or modifying parts. I just don't want to do that until I'm used to things.

You say I need a parallel port. Can I use a USB to DB25 cable to do that?

tommylight wrote:

Tango wrote:

Can I use a USB to DB25 cable to do that?

Nope, that will not work with LinuxCNC.
Parallel port PCI cards are cheap, but some of them will not work so try to find something with the NetMos chip.

Okay, got that. The issue is that the minicomputer I was looking at using does not have PCI slots - just an extra SATA connection inside for a 2nd internal drive.

Also some older PC's have parallel ports, and most motherboards do have it or a header for it.
New ones do not have any of those things.

Is there some adapter or something external so I can plug it into a USB port and plug the parallel cable into that converter or adaptor?

tommylight wrote:

No USB anything, USB has terrible latency and is not real time in any way, shape or form.

Any chance of anything I can connect to via ethernet?

But there are Mesa boards, namely the Mesa 7i92 that will do two parallel ports at much faster rates, or whatever you might need. It connects to the ethernet port on the PC.
There are also Mesa 7i96 and 7i76E, both ethernet and both with plenty of IO and everything required to run a machine.
For small PC's those are the only viable solutions that do not cost an arm and a leg.

It sounds like I have to get a computer with at least one PCI slot, then. Is that right?

And if I get one of those boards, then (from another reply), I can use a Gecko G540 on the CNC platform itself. Do you know if that's an easy substitution to make?

Rewire the stepper motors to the G540 or similar. Use the Grbl controller and stepper drivers for some other project
The cost diff between 5i25 (Pci board) and 7i9x boards is minimal, and removes t he need for pci slots. You will however need a second ethernet port. Use the builtin port for the 7i9x board, add a wifi or ethernet usb dongle for internet/network use.