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 :D), 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.

[Lornie McCullough]

I use an old desktop computer to listen to Pandora internet radio in the shop, and occasionally use the reverse polish calculator, or look up something on the internet. I make no effort to keep the dust out; I would simply replace it with another old computer. I leave it on 100% of the time.... so I should probably blow the dust out of it.....

I customized my channels on Pandora to suit any mood, and shuffle through them as the mood shifts.

Lornie

[Dave Richards]

One thing you might look at if you have a desktop computer is a CAT5 KVM extender. We run video, mouse and keyboard over CAT5 in a number of places at work such as radiation treatment rooms. The display, keyboard and mouse are pretty inexpensive these days if you have to replace them and you can use the same computer both in the house and in the shop. Video is excellent even beyond the published distance limits for CAT5.

[Matt Meiser]

I have a client who does that so their control room PCs are in a clean, air conditioned space and the relatively inexpensive, relatively disposable monitors, keyboard, and mice live in the control room. You'd never know. I run a video extender myself about 175' from our camera DVR to a monitor in my shop so I can see any activity in the driveway. I use a relatively inexpensive one and the quality is OK.

[Randy Tucker]

A used laptop is a good option for the shop. Close the lid when you're not using. Use Klear Screen (TM) and a microfiber cloth to clean the screen. If there's a lot of dust, you can get a soft, clear plastic/silicon overlay for the keyboard (or do your health a favor and get dust filtration system).

I picked up an older MacBook for a good price, and it's all I need for SketchUp, Word, Excel, viewing PDFs, and scouring the internet for the latest YouTube how-to woodworking videos. You don't need a powerhouse for that--core 2 duo for the CPU would be perfect. If you're doing CNC or CAD (like AutoDesk), then you might want something that's beefier and supports your specific needs in software.

[george newbury]

I've a Samsung Galaxy note 8 which I'm evolving to. That's an Android 8" pad w/stylus and handwriting recognition.

Before retirement I was DEEP in computers. I worked at IBM cutting chip's in the early '70's when they managed to cram 3 transistors on a chip and have been quasi IT ever since.

I've had a "pocket" computer since my HP 95 in '98. My attitude is that the best computer is the one you have with you, not the 1,000 core CPU with a gazillion Mb of ram back at the house (though I also try to keep a cutting edge desktop running in the house).

My note 8 "lives" in my Popper's cargo pants pocket. It's usually within reach 24/7. I surf the web for answers, use it for reference, take notes and pictures, "doodle" ideas etc. It travels with me like a cell phone.

So yes - I have a computer in the shop but then I have one EVERYWHERE.

/edit - and I keep it in an Otter box Defender case so it's relatively drop proof and dustproof. When I'm working outside in the rain (which happens a LOT in Mississippi) I slip it all into a large Ziploc bag so it's also waterproof.

[Ben Silver]

The single biggest killer of computers is heat.

In the shop your biggest contributor to heat buildup will be the dust that acts as an insulator when it settles into the details of the motherboard/other circuitry. Regular cleaning is utterly necessary to extend the life of the box.

I am truly surprised to hear that no one has built a dedicated wooden computer case, with good baffles for limiting particulates and a quality filter. Just have to add fans to make certain that your CFM of air is good enough for the cooling. Might have to come up with a project myself, it has been at the back of my mind for a long time, especially a case that will match the wood in the den so the computer doesn't look out of place so much. Lots of interesting details to get into.

As Dave mentions there are options for keeping the box (CPU) out of the workshop and that is a good consideration for keeping a decent machine (or a crappy one) in the best situation for long component life. Just don't forget to use something to blow out the dust from the monitor and you can keep it alive a long time, too.

I have no solution for keyboards and mice, except to say that you shouldn't spend an arm and a leg on them . . . even with cleaning I go through them about one each a year between three desktops at the house. More often when there is a toddler around.

[John Hays]

My wife gave me her old Nook which is great for viewing PDFs on, so I just download all of my SketchUp files and stuff to that and I'm good to go. I'm also thinking of keeping a laptop in the shop, which dust wouldn't a problem if you store it in a cabinet when done and have a small compressor to blow the dust out if need be.

[Ryan Mooney]

I have a Nexus tablet, which is good enough for looking stuff up on the internet, doing math to complicated to do in my head, taking notes and streaming music. I have a thin cardboard "sleeve" I keep it in to keep the dust off.

It fails miserably at trying to do any sort of design work, but mostly use pencil and paper for that anyway.