Touch screen??

[Kitwn]

I though I would just like to have a touch panel mounted on the machine with PC stowed safely away elsewhere .

John,
Not sure if this would fit your requirements, but if your software has keyboard short-cut keys for all commands (as LinuxCNC does) you could use a keyboard, or a set of more robust pushbuttons driving a keyboard emulator, plus a non-touch screen to do something similar. As an example of how this trick can work I've been using one of these as a pendant for LinuxCNC for a few years now. Each button is configured to emulate a specific keyboard key to provide jogging etc.