Computer in the Shop

[Andrew Kertesz]

How many have a computer in your shop? What do you do to protect it from the dust? Do you really use it in the shop?

[William Adams]

I use a Fujitsu Stylistic (Pretty much sealed except for some vents along the side and some buttons on the front.) attached to my CNC router. Currently, I depend on dust collection and just vacuum it off occasionally.

[Bruce Darrow]

I have just, in the last month or so, had a nice Mac on my desk in the shop at work. I have been without all these years, for fear of the dust problem. So far, so good, but time will tell.....

I love having it there - I can use a Sketchup file directly off the screen instead of relying on a print - far superior, IMHO.

I am just draping a towel over it at night and on my days off to protect it from airborn dust. The shop has good DC.....BUT.....it is also visited, most perniciously on my days off, by jerks who either don't, or even worse, WON"T use the DC system (this is apparently, in some strange manner, a matter of principle or perhaps just plain laziness, I'm really not sure - it depends on the particular jerk of the moment) and therefore, I have reservations as to the long term health of the Mac. As it is not my money involved, I guess I can watch and wait - LOL.

[Matt Meiser]

Mine's in a small office in the corner of the shop but still gets pretty dusty. I just blow it out periodically. One of the fanless PCs would probably be about perfect.

[Rick Hutcheson]

I have had a computer in the shop for close to 10 years now. The back side of it is where I use my scrollsaw. I blow the dust out once in awhile and have not had any problems with it. It is mainly used to run my CNC router and normally just covered in dust.

[Keith Outten]

Andrew,

I also own a CNC Router so there has been a computer in my shop for about ten years. Not the same computer, I think I have used three different machines that I have changed mostly because of upgrades. Several months ago I started using an old iPad as my shop MP3 player and for email so thats number two.

I remove the case from my CNC computer once a year and blow out the dust.
.

[Clay Crocker]

I wanted a computer in my shop for some time, but was worried about dust being a problem. One wall of my garage shop is common to the house and allows easy access to the unfinished portion of my basement. I already had some computers stationed in this part of the basement (game room ), so my solution was to install a dual output video card in one of my PC's so I could run two monitors simultaneously. One monitor, mouse, and keyboard are in the shop, while the tower and a separate monitor, mouse and keyboard are in the basement. I use Sketchup extensively for most of my projects; having computer access in the shop has improved my efficiency immensely! No more running back and forth between the shop and my office to check a dimension or make a drawing change.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have 2 one desktop and 1 laptop the desktop is hooked to my CNC and has been running for 7 years.

[Ernie Miller]

I don't have room in my shop to keep a 4' x 8' blueprint on display, so I take all of my measurements directly from CAD files on my computer. I wouldn't be able to work without having a computer in the shop. That said, I've resigned myself to the fact that the lifespan of a computer in my shop is two to three years. The only thing I've tried that helps is the use of keyboard covers, which are very inexpensive and don't interfere with typing at all. All of the dust that would get into and under the keyboard are caught by the covers. Every once in a while, I take the cover off and rinse it clean in the sink. I highly recommend using them.

[Jerome Stanek]

I use a roll up keyboard on mine

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Andrew, I don't have a computer in the shop, if I need one I bring my laptop with me...............Rod.

[David Helm]

One side of my shop has a 120 sq ft office with french doors out to the shop. In the office I have (and have had for many years) a desk top PC, a printer, file cabinets, library, stereo, easy chair, couch. All it lacks is a reefer for beer. If you look at the picture below, the office is to the left of the door where the windows are.

[Peter Quinn]

I have brought the iPAd into the shop with PDF drops from sketch up on it, and I have a small home office with 27" monitor driven by a laptop which I use on more complicated projects. Simpler things I rely on prints, often. Series of isometrics to get the views I need.

[Keith Hankins]

I switched to a laptop a long time ago, and I take it with me to the shop and back out. I don't worry about the dust too much. I'm in IT so I've always got a can of blaster air around.

[Bruce Page]

I never had one in the shop until I bought my CNC router last year. It lives in the table/cabinet that I built for the CNC.