I came across a very educational post on Practical Machinist.

The topic-starter used over-aggressive speeds and feeds for his tiny BT30-taper machine and the retention knob (a.k.a Pull Stud) snapped causing the holder to drop lower, disengage from drive lugs and mess up the spindle bore in the process.

Just in case you don't know. Retention Knob looks like this and is used to pull the tool holder in to the spindle bore, thus holding it in place:

(Retention knob is the detail on the right)

This whole article is to remind everyone the importance of proper tool holder and retention knob maintenance.

Retention Knob Tips

• Retention knobs (according to HAAS) have service life of about 6000-8000 hours.
  That means that if a tool holder is used 3 hours a day, you should replace the knob after 8 years in service.
  For smaller BT30 knobs, you should probably replace them every 4 years.
• Retention knobs should be lightly oiled or greased (if TSC is used) once a month to lubricate the draw bar.
• There should be no visible damage or rust on the knobs.
  
• Do not exceed the maximum cutting force recommended by your machine manufacturer.
  Some of those high-helix end mills create large down-force that could in certain cases cause the knob to snap!
• Also retention knobs should be torqued to manufacturer specs and the tightness should be regularly checked. Overtightened knobs may lead to taper of the tool deforming and causing uneven contact with the spindle bore.

Tool Holder Maintenance Tips

• Keep Tool Holders clean. Especially the taper part that is matching to the spindle bore.
  Wipe them with a clean cloth. 
• Do not use sand paper to clean tool holders! Soft Scotch-brite is acceptable to clean very dirty ones.
• Repair dings and notches on the taper.
  Even an aluminum chip will cause a ding, that will create a high spot around it.
• Replace worn-out tool holders with new ones.
  Signs of ageing is uneven contact with the spindle bore and fretting (blackening of taper in certain spots)
• It is also a good idea to re-grind the spindle as well when replacing the tool holders - there are lot's of services that do that for very reasonable price.
• Like wise when a new machine is purchased, only new holders and retention knobs should be used. Using old worn out holders on a new spindle bore will lead to its premature wear and even damage.

Those are all the things I could think of at the moment.
Let me know if there is anything missing.

Have a safe and productive week!

3D Prining is about to to take over traditional machining the same way CNC Machining took over manual machining.
Eventually 3D printing will replace casting too.

Since 3D Printing does not require complicated setup and programming, this in turn will lead to massive loss of machining-related jobs.

Read more to see if this is true!

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FSWizard: Online now has Service workers!

It is a cool new technology that allows otherwise online applications to run completely offline.

From now on FSWizard will be able to cache all of its files on your mobile or PC device.

Also a reminder: you can "Install" FSWizard right from your browser by going to menu and hitting "Add to Home Screen"
Then FSWizard will be able to run in full-screen mode.

Depending on your usage, Chrome may actually prompt you to do that automatically.

Cheers!

I try to not comment on things outside of my immediate area of knowledge or specialization.
But this one caught my eye and I thought it would be interesting to share with you guys.

So the news in a nutshell is Amazon applying discounts to products that third-party vendors are selling on its platform.

For example. Company "A" is selling its smartphone for $1000.
That is the price of the product on their online store and brick-and-mortar stores and other platforms like for example Amazon.

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I have just uploaded the HSMAdvisor hook for MasterCAM 2018.

That calls for a drink!

The C++/CRL interop that runs on the back end has been developed over 2 years ago and i have not opened it much since.
Because there were some breaking changes in 2018, i had to reopen the can of worms and ... whew! That was not eazy to remember all the horrible things i have done so long ago ago!

Any way. Now we have a nice lineup of HSMAdvisor plugins for 3 latest MasterCam versions (X9, 2017 and 2018). 

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Ever since we stopped offering free educational licenses, there has been steady demand for either free or discounted license options for colleges and schools.

We could not give out free licenses any longer because they still cost money in hosting and support. 

So today after a lot of consideration we decided  to start offering special Educational HSMAdvisor License Package 

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I have done quite some work on HSMAdvisor in the last couple of weeks.

Let's just cover real quick the new things in this update.

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Howdy everybody!

I hope you guys enjoyed your weekend.

Mine was a productive one.

FSWizard Online has had a big update and now Materials list contains all material groups:

There is a catch, however: In the free version, ONLY material groups are available.

To get all the avialable materials you need to go to Settings, click on the "Customer Login" button and enter your FSWizard PRO credentials.

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As you might have noticed, our FSWizard.com Online Speed and Feed Calculator has a limit of just 3 workpiece materials.

But if you are our customer you can get access to all the latest materials using your FSWizard login details.
Just go to Menu->Settings->Customer Login and enter your First name, Last name and email.

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Better Material Cross Reference

Yes you can now use HSMAdvisor with non-US/UNS material standards!

Our users have asked for better integration between HSMAdvisor's built-in Materials library and the thing called Cross Reference table and finally here it is!

Now when you click on the "More" button next to the "Material" drop-down list...

... the updated Material Cross Reference dialog appears.

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