CADCAM office in my tool box!!!

thinking here

been kickin the idea around in head aboot buying a locker side cabinet for my 41" roller cab, which i want to build it up so my lappy is situated inside the locker. power bar inside and i'll just run a power cord to power (and i can hook some lil speakers up to my lappy as well!!!!heavy metal on demand!!!!!!!) and still trying to keep my cabinet semi-mobile to wheel-aboot

in 6 months i'll be responsible for 5 CNC machines and hopefully still doing some manual (the honest truth is i'm already missing my Okuma LS lathe)

we do have a second office totally set aside for programming, but having the lappy right next machining center is truelly a luxury

Can be done - actually if you think about what you're describing there are a lot of POS (point of sale) terminals that are of a design you could rob - enclosed computer with shielding over the sensitive bits.

If you can manage it, I might think about shielding for the keyboard - perhaps a cheap flat-panel monitor and a membrane-coverd full keyboard/touchpad for I/O to the device. Laptop keyboards are relatively sensitive beasts and a few sessions dripping coolant and/or chips into the keyboard/pointing device might not be a good thing...

Best thing is that this way the laptop itself would be completely independent of the I/O - you could unplug it and replace it, or take it away to do remote work and leave the screen and keyboard behind as needed.

I have a laptop that lives in my shop - mostly for entertainment but it does get used for lookups and random note-taking. Its keyboard needs regular cleaning just from the dust and random stuff in the air - it's kept well away from the chip-producing toys.

Alan

Yes I second mrchurchill... Put in a docking station and mount a full size keyboard and lcd monitor and keep the laptop out of harms way in a separate drawer.

Put in a docking station

Click to expand...

Honestly, for the applicartion I think that's a bit overkill. I've never run into a laptop that needed one for just KB/rodent/monitor.

If you're connecting and disconnecting this thing on a multiple time per day basis then most certainly a dock is the way to go. If plugging it in and leaving it for days or weeks save the time and money and just go direct.

One other thing - cooling is a must. Don;t put a laptop in an unventilated container of any kind - you need airflow for those filthy little lap heaters...8*)

I would think about a small fan, mounted internally to the box toward the top and pulling in outside air through a foam filter to trap the bigger goobers. Positive airflow in the cabinet to keep out random dust incursion is a good thing.

Sorry - been a technogeek for far too many years...

Alan

I should have gone into a bit more detail when i said "so my lappy is situated inside the locker"


i was thinking of tig welding in a second self 4 inches or so below the one thats already build into the locker...roller bear sliders, pull out the shelf, unfold lappy.....pull up a chair

ok, this lappy is only worth 899 when it was on sale (spent 3 times that on mics alone)... so i'm not going to go though all this effort of getting a KB and another moniter to protect it and i think the locker will protect it fine, i may get a cover if i need too, but i'm not too worried about chips...all the previous programs always had their lappy's sitting on top of their soft cases on top of benches or tool boxs