Hello. I'm considering a machine upgrade that would involve moving from UCCNC and a custom screenset (cncwoodworker.com) to a GRBL based system. I'd like to get off Windows, and I like the idea of moving the motion control to a dedicated processor. Plus it would be economical to buy a combined controller and stepper motor driver.
I'm looking for input on this project. A simple question is recommendations on controller hardware. A more complicated question is about the software to run on the PC (regardless of OS). I use many of the features of the UCCNC custom screenset and its macros, I wouldn't want to give any of that up. And I want to be able to flexibly view the tool paths while seeing the position of the actual tool. Plus being able to program my own macros and functions is a big plus (I'm a professional programmer). I've seen a few free packages that get real close, but I've so far come up just a teensy bit short. I might be able to overcome this because they are open source, but I don't want to waste a ton of time programming as opposed to building.
OK, that's enough to start a discussion. I'll know how to ask better questions once a discussion starts ....