[Stevembh]

Hi All,

I am currently in the market for software/hardware for a CNC router that I am building. I have narrowed the choice down to either Desk CNC or Planet CNC. I have a friend that has been using Desk CNC for quite a few years & is very happy with both the software & hardware. He also has been looking at a possible upgrade of the software/hardware. There doesn't seem to be much mention of Planet CNC except for the Planet CNC forums & from what I can see Planet CNC does not appear to be popular (maybe this is a complete misconception on my part) & doesn't seem in wide use.

The choice is made difficult by the features that Planet CNC has & the long term stable operation of Desk CNC for quite a number of years.

I would appreciate any info good or otherwise on the relative merits of either system in an attempt to make the choice of system to purchase.

Best regards
Steve

[ger21]

To be honest, I thought that DeskCNC had died out years ago. There website hasn't been updated in 8 or 9 years.

There doesn't seem to be much mention of Planet CNC except for the Planet CNC forums & from what I can see Planet CNC does not appear to be popular (maybe this is a complete misconception on my part) & doesn't seem in wide use.

Planet CNC is probably 50x more popular then DeskCNC.

I would do a little more research if I were you. Somehow, your choices are down to an old, probably obsolete option, and a much more modern option, that happens to be the least popular of the several more modern options.

There are quite a few other options out there.

Having said that, the people that I know that are using Planet CNC are very happy with it. It's supposed to be pretty good, and well supported.
I don't know of anybody that still uses DeskCNC. It wasn't all that popular 10 years ago.

[sgenevay]

i was interested by same choice as i was hesitating between planet cnc Mk3 and ending cnc ... I'm curious to know what are the more modern choices u are talking about ?
best.
Sylvain

[ger21]

UCCNC, EdingCNC, Mach4, LinuxCNC

[sgenevay]

Thx Gerry for your answer.
To be honest, i was watching Eding CNC, Planet CNC and mach4... but since mach 4 seem to be very complicated to run as it doesn't even read DXF files and u nee dot take an overpriced software just to convert your DXF in Gcodes....
plus, EdingCNC make some interpretations errors and add inexistant lines when loading a simple DXF ....
There is a full week i'm searching information to understand which system is better for me to buy and i don't find a real comparator.... So this is very complicated when u discover all this new universe and when u don't find answers....
without talking about which interface to choose... usb or ethernet ...
Best regards.
Sylvain

[ger21]

I wouldn't use the .dxf import with any of them. There are free CAM programs available that do a much better job of creating g-code.

[sgenevay]

god.... u just ruined my only hopes to find an easy all in one stuff ))))))
you have some name in mind maybe ? (sorry to abuse)

[ger21]

Fusion 360 is currently the most popular option.

[sgenevay]

Ok thx Gerry for pointing me all those things....
Fusion 360 seem to be a bit complicate but i will work on it and will be used to :-)
Looking well to every option i have i think i will go for UCCNC with the UC400eth and a HDBB2 breakout board (as i don't understand if the UC400ETH can work in standalone mode...). Normally this should work with my lead shine drivers.
only hope that UCCNC has options like tool sensor etc.... but from what i saw that's the case.
Thanks again fir your precious help
Best.
Sylvain