Gui for standalone thc

I am working on retrofitting an old cnc plasma.
It has a standalone thc, a hypertherm phc.
Since the thc controls the z axis, the only outputs I think I need for it are cycle start and corner hold/thc off.
Im using a mesa 7i97t so I haven’t be able use mesact to configure it for qtplasmac.
Ive been trying to get it to work in roundabout ways, but the more I learn about qtplasmac, the more I feel like qtplasmac is a poor choice. I love the plasmac look, but it seems way too complicated to make it work with no z, no probe/ohmic, and not being integrated with gcode that wouldn’t be used with my setup.

So I’m trying to figure out which gui would give me the best start for a simple plasma with minimal inputs and outputs. Should I continue trying to use qtplasmac or would axis, gmoccapy, or? be a better choice.

I used to use sheet cam for a mach3 plasma that I had set for super simple gcode. I’d like to use sheetcam again, and keep the gcode simple. 

Yes. But it doesn’t have a specific input for it. It has a cycle start input that will cause it to initial height sense and start the arc. It also has a switch for doing the initial height sense.

That looks similar to what I’m trying to do.
Id like the gui to not have a whole bunch of unnecessary clutter and just add a few buttons and indicators.
Looking in the linuxcnc manual, under axis customization hints, I see “difficult to customize.”
That statement makes me hesitant, since I’m just a beginner with linuxcnc.

So would you still recommend axis even if I’m a complete beginner? 
Is gmoccapy easier for a beginner to customize? 
Or should someone like me just focus getting a working machine and minimize customizing?
I’d hate to go through this retrofit and have a screen that looks like it should be on a mill, but I can get over that if it’s unrealistic for a newbie set up a custom plasma display.