Genius setup Bucky! The drawer idea is a great idea and I when I saw you reused the drag chain I couldn't believe it. Seems like it's all really coming together and can't wait to see how you find the MK2 and it's various accessories like the dust shoe and covers
Just got an MK2, love it, enjoyed watching your build - I did something very similar with a Husky tool cabinet that had a drop down extension wood top that make it perfect size for the 32" model, and easy to keep the parts from wandering off. Ordered from Home Depot - very reasonable price as well. But really cool how you doubled up your machines into one footprint. Wanted to comment on your Mini PC suggestion, kind of right up my alley: I took a 2012 Mac Mini and (using 3rd party bootloader you can install) converted it to a complete Windows machine, IE it boots to Windows not using MacOS or Bootcamp, etc. That's a great form factor for a cart mounted PC situation like you have with your slick build here - and is very power efficient, and the i7 server version still holds up pretty well performance wise. However for an off the shelf "no hacking" option I'd STRONGLY recommend the UltraSlim Form Factor (USFF) version of the HP8300 - a 10x10x2.5" sturdy metal box (with VESA mount holes on both sides of the case) that's an industrial grade PC (and uses desktop CPU so considerably faster than laptops - 2012-2016 era PC, the i5 and i7 still does very well, certainly plenty for CNC and basic CAD duties. Comes with a WIndows license Key, most have Win10 or you can upgrade free if they don't / if it's an older Win7 model. Most don't come with WiFi but you can add in a miniPCI card and internal antenna to the motherboard or perhaps just use a USB dongle for that, or of course plug it in via LAN (perhaps most bullet proof option for CNC machine anyway). Also, you can get (cheap) mSATA SSD's that mount to the little motherboard (almost as small as NVME drives) so you can have much faster performance, and can use the 2.5" drive caddy for a large 4 or 5TB backup drive (handy as a backup machine in general) and of course extra copies of your CNC files / backing up Windows, etc. They have a DVD Burner which can occasionally come in handy since Laptops typically don't anymore - not a bad idea for storing an extra copy of those CAD/CNC and other shop files that you never want to lose. These also for that matter are great Linux machines or even Hackintoshes, great place to store your security cam videos, your movie collection, etc. These were everywhere under cash registers, in doc exam rooms, etc. over the last 10 years (you'll still see them if you look) and were built to survive low ventilation / dusty environments, so perfect for the workshop. Super easy (and cheap) to fix as well. Firmware was consistently updated including within the past year or two. Typically $80-125 on Ebay, and they sell by the pallet loads from universities, corporations, etc. My all time favorite Swiss Army Knife desktop mini PC. They'll still keep up with all but the newer / more expensive laptop CPU's as well. Strong recommendation for the Workshop, will run up to 3 monitors and has 4 USB3 ports in the back (4 USB 2.0 ports in the front). Can completely disassemble with a screwdriver and 5 minutes time, which is what makes them so fun to work with. Finally might add that Windows Remote Desktop is very good and easy to set up (search for it in your windows settings to enable it) and any operating system will have clients for signing onto it from your home network --- then you can use the CNC machine's PC via your laptop / chromebook etc - or design on your CNC PC from the living room, etc. You'll notice minimal lag or delay, as Microsoft has this really perfected now and is a slick way to make use of a Mini PC for any purpose.
Great info Joe!! Thank you for taking the time to do this! I really appreciate it! I will start researching today! Right now I run both cnc's from one laptop so really hope this mini PC solution will work. Thank you again!
You have great instructions, always.. Can you some time make a video on how to best replace your mk1 backlash nuts? I am having issues. Would appreciate it.
Definitely another small computer and then just net work a NAS drive or an external drive therefore they can access the files no matter which computer you use or where you are. Very cheap and will cut down on production
What a great idea!! I can cave my longmill under my workbench in a drawer and save all that garage space… perfect
Nice video, can't wait to see a video with the mk2 and the extended longmil actually in action
Hey Dwayne! Thank you!
YEAH, IM STILL WAITING FOR MINE, WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE IT NOW, HOWEVER GREAT THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO ARE PATIENT
you need a bigger flag there. cool video, thanks.
Love the drawer Dana great idea!
Thank you!
Genius setup Bucky! The drawer idea is a great idea and I when I saw you reused the drag chain I couldn't believe it. Seems like it's all really coming together and can't wait to see how you find the MK2 and it's various accessories like the dust shoe and covers
Thanks, Chris!
Just got an MK2, love it, enjoyed watching your build - I did something very similar with a Husky tool cabinet that had a drop down extension wood top that make it perfect size for the 32" model, and easy to keep the parts from wandering off. Ordered from Home Depot - very reasonable price as well. But really cool how you doubled up your machines into one footprint.
Wanted to comment on your Mini PC suggestion, kind of right up my alley: I took a 2012 Mac Mini and (using 3rd party bootloader you can install) converted it to a complete Windows machine, IE it boots to Windows not using MacOS or Bootcamp, etc. That's a great form factor for a cart mounted PC situation like you have with your slick build here - and is very power efficient, and the i7 server version still holds up pretty well performance wise.
However for an off the shelf "no hacking" option I'd STRONGLY recommend the UltraSlim Form Factor (USFF) version of the HP8300 - a 10x10x2.5" sturdy metal box (with VESA mount holes on both sides of the case) that's an industrial grade PC (and uses desktop CPU so considerably faster than laptops - 2012-2016 era PC, the i5 and i7 still does very well, certainly plenty for CNC and basic CAD duties. Comes with a WIndows license Key, most have Win10 or you can upgrade free if they don't / if it's an older Win7 model. Most don't come with WiFi but you can add in a miniPCI card and internal antenna to the motherboard or perhaps just use a USB dongle for that, or of course plug it in via LAN (perhaps most bullet proof option for CNC machine anyway). Also, you can get (cheap) mSATA SSD's that mount to the little motherboard (almost as small as NVME drives) so you can have much faster performance, and can use the 2.5" drive caddy for a large 4 or 5TB backup drive (handy as a backup machine in general) and of course extra copies of your CNC files / backing up Windows, etc. They have a DVD Burner which can occasionally come in handy since Laptops typically don't anymore - not a bad idea for storing an extra copy of those CAD/CNC and other shop files that you never want to lose. These also for that matter are great Linux machines or even Hackintoshes, great place to store your security cam videos, your movie collection, etc. These were everywhere under cash registers, in doc exam rooms, etc. over the last 10 years (you'll still see them if you look) and were built to survive low ventilation / dusty environments, so perfect for the workshop. Super easy (and cheap) to fix as well. Firmware was consistently updated including within the past year or two. Typically $80-125 on Ebay, and they sell by the pallet loads from universities, corporations, etc. My all time favorite Swiss Army Knife desktop mini PC. They'll still keep up with all but the newer / more expensive laptop CPU's as well. Strong recommendation for the Workshop, will run up to 3 monitors and has 4 USB3 ports in the back (4 USB 2.0 ports in the front). Can completely disassemble with a screwdriver and 5 minutes time, which is what makes them so fun to work with.
Finally might add that Windows Remote Desktop is very good and easy to set up (search for it in your windows settings to enable it) and any operating system will have clients for signing onto it from your home network --- then you can use the CNC machine's PC via your laptop / chromebook etc - or design on your CNC PC from the living room, etc. You'll notice minimal lag or delay, as Microsoft has this really perfected now and is a slick way to make use of a Mini PC for any purpose.
Great info Joe!! Thank you for taking the time to do this! I really appreciate it! I will start researching today! Right now I run both cnc's from one laptop so really hope this mini PC solution will work. Thank you again!
You have great instructions, always.. Can you some time make a video on how to best replace your mk1 backlash nuts? I am having issues. Would appreciate it.
I will as soon as I can. You can go to the resources page On sienci.com and follow the assembly instructions in the mean time.
@@BuckysCustoms Thank you Again. You are very informative
Easy question here. Can't you have both longmill connected to the same laptop? By the way congratulation for your setup!
Yes. I did it for a while using USB switch but,I could only run one at a time. So, I bought another cheap laptop and I can run both simultaneously.
Definitely another small computer and then just net work a NAS drive or an external drive therefore they can access the files no matter which computer you use or where you are. Very cheap and will cut down on production
cnc machine