Linx CNC vs Mach 3

[ed vitanovec]

I am looking at a couple of different machines and one uses Linx CNC, others are Mach 3. I am basically a beginner in the CNC world and have used Mach 3 a little bite. One machine is running Linx CNC and wonder if there are any users out there running Linx CNC, is this software hard to learn and wondering how it compares with Mach 3.

[Dan Hintz]

Subscribing... never used Linx, but I wouldn't mind getting away from Windows on my main machines.

[John McClanahan]

I tried the free Linux CNC (don't remember the exact name of it) a number of years ago. I don't have any experience with Linux and couldn't get anywhere with it. If I knew Linux I may of liked the CNC program. I have a Mach license, and with its generous terms there is no need for any other.


John

[Robert Parent]

I have used Mach3, LynxCNC, and WinCNC......... Each has its positives and negatives depending on what you are doing and your experience. Mach3 is at end of life but has a large support base. LynxCNC is really coming up to speed and works well, machine configuration is the hardest part. WinCNC is a commercial product and works well but at a cost.

All products have a learning curve......

Currently have LynxCNC on a milling machine, WinCNC on a router, and MACH3 on a router.

Robert

[Jim Fong]

You can download a linuxCNC live CD and boot that up to get an idea of how it looks and feel. I used to use linuxCNC when it was called EMC2 but switched over to MACH3. It's been several years now and MACH3 hasn't been updated nor will any bugs get fixed anymore. The authors have moved onto MACH4. Some people have been running MACH4 but from what I've read, it's still not ready yet. There's been lots of updates to linuxCNC since Tormach is now shipping the OS with thier CNC mills. Version 2.7 has the new trajectory planner that smooths high speed moves. Mach3 always had a problem with contours and rounding corners when moving at high rates of speed. I see this issue sometimes when my router cuts at 250ipm or more. I will be moving over to linuxCNC soon so hopefully those issues will go away. I have it running on a test PC now and I like what I see.

Until Mach4 is ready for prime time, I'm going to say linuxCNC is the better choice over Mach3 at the moment.

[Gary Janssen]

I have been using linuxcnc for the past 7 years on my home made router.
I believe we are heading for a problem as it ships with Ubuntu 10.04 which is not supported any more. However if you are using the computer just for machine work it should be fine. My setup has never even given a hick-up.

[Ken Gentry]

I have been using linuxcnc for the past 7 years on my home made router.
I believe we are heading for a problem as it ships with Ubuntu 10.04 which is not supported any more. However if you are using the computer just for machine work it should be fine. My setup has never even given a hick-up.

I am on the other side of this discussion. I am a software engineer with 20+ years of experience. LinuxCNC is going to have a bit of a learning curve simply because it is not Windows. That said it will look very familiar and with a bit of patience you will be able to figure out how to do what you need to do within Linux (i.e. joining a network, moving files around, launching programs, installing system updates). I liked LinuxCNC for it's interface but had trouble with real-time control warnings because I was running on a 10 year old computer. On more recent hardware you will be good.

I'm not sure where you saw the old Unbuntu version mentioned but that is outdated information. The current LinuxCNC installation instructions are for Ubuntu v12.04 (newer but not the latest version) and Debian v7.00 & 8.00.

If you have an extra hard drive laying around or buy one you can put LinuxCNC on the extra drive without disturbing your Windows system. At the end of the Linux installation the installer will put a "dual boot" setup on your system so you can choose to boot into Windows or Linux.

[ed vitanovec]

I would like to try out linuxcnc before I buy but do not have the right PC to run Linux, maybe a second hard drive installed will help me decide.