We have finally reached version 1.00!

Here is a list of new and improved features:

What's New

• Material Drop-Down list now shows 'X' on the row when the current Library Tool has Custom Surface Speed and Chipload settings.
• Load Tool dialog box now has Tool Type Icon. The same column shows a readable Operation Type Icon for finishing, roughing, etc.
• Drilling Tool Types now allow user to enter a custom Pecking value
• Milling Tool Types now have Editable Plunge RPM and Plunge Feedrate
• Milling Tool Types' updated Circle/Ramp Dialog now allows to specify whether ramp settings apply to Plunge feedrate of Milling feedrate

What's Improved

• Custom Speeds and Feeds tab on Edit Tool Dialog was improved with new buttons to reset custom Surface Speed and Chipload settings
  Glitch with certain diameters in metric mode being missed is fixed
• Load Tool/Cut Dialog box' Search was improved
• Load Tool/Cut Dialog box now features much improved tool and cut list with better readability and usability
• Ballnose Tools have been improved to better show changing effective diameter for different depths of cut.

Now, because a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some screenshots as well.

Updated and Improved Load Tool/Cut Dialog:

Note new Tool Type and Cut type Icons in the third column.

In the latest update to HSMAdvisor i have added Machine Definition Import and Export.

To bring a new machine in to the active machine list

• Click on "Edit" button next to machine list on FSWizard screen
  Machine Definition manager opens up and there you click on "Import" button.
• A standard windows file-open dialog appears prompting you to select a file that contains the machine you wish to import.
• After selecting a file and pressing OK, you will be asked to choose which machine you would like to import from the file.
  This is necessary as each file may contain many definitions.

To Export a machine or many to an outside file

(to share it with your friends, coworkers, or maybe even me)

• Click on "Edit" button next to machine list on FSWizard screen
  Machine Definition manager opens up and there you click on "Export" button.
• A dialog appears where you are prompted to choose which machines from your current list you would like to export.
• After choosing your machines, click OK and select a file where you would like to save your machine list.

I know you guys have created your own machines for your self.

If you could use this new feature and send me your machines, that would be super sweet!

You can also upload them onto our support forums by creating a thread.
If there will be enough interest i will create a forum sub-category where users would be able to share their machines with each other.

This weekend was very productive

I have finished work on floating license scheme and volunteers have begun testing it.

Licensing like that requires a lot of work on both the web side AND the client side. So a lot of things can go wrong and hopefully testing exposes all of the possible problems before a paying customer has the opportunity to face any.

Aside from cleanup here and there i have added the material search feature.

"Material" panel is now expandable and it is hiding a search field.
When you type anything into that field, material list right above will filter out items that contain the text being searched.
To clear search results user can just click the red x button to the right of the search field.

Here is how it looks:

You don't really need to click on the magnifying glass button as searing and selecting of material is done in real time as you type text.

In fact in many cases simply typing things like "D2" will select the material you need.

What's New:

• Material Search Feature
• Added several new machine profiles to the default machine list
  (When you install over existing installation, use machine import function to add them to your current machine list)
• Finished floating license module (pending testing)

What's improved:

• Added Aluminum 6061-T4 to materials list
• Fixed missing Aluminum 6061-T6
• Added floating pop-up box to pretty much all fields on the FSWizard screen
• Cleaned up various things.

Whats new:

• New "Reference" Tab now hosts all old Tap and Drill charts along with 2 new interactive Fastener Head Clearance tables (For SHCS and 82Deg FHS).
• New additions to Aluminum, Copper, Stainless and Steel material groups.

Fixed:

• Manufacturer Chipload loosing default value in metric mode condition fixed.
• Improved Plugin Download workings in "Plugins" page. Now external links do not get broken. Also it works a lot faster too.

So, Let's see what new goodies we got here.

As you see i re-arranged some stuff around.
All data tables are now in "Reference" tab. and all geometric calculators are not in "Geometry" tab

Another week - another HSMAdvisor update!

Yesterday i uploaded a newer version. You can download it already.

Major change is only one: I have finally come around to implementing a Turning surface finish calculator.

After selecting any Turning Tool type, a "Scallop" button on Comp. panel will open a separate Turning Surface Finish dialog.

As usual you can change the units of measure by clicking "Units in/mm" label in top right corner.

Default units will be the units of chipload.

Also a corner radius is needed for calculator to work.

Changing Feed per Rev. or Corner Rad. values changes Surface Finish and Scallop and vise-verse

After you click "Apply", proper feed override is applied to the final result to get the surface finish you desire.

Aside from this new feature a couple of things got improved and fixed as well

• First of all, i believe i have finally fixed a plagues that most of software running under Windows:
  Scaling issues under DPI greater than 96 were addressed and i think from this point on i should get much fewer reports about things being cropped off in wrong places.
  Still, if something looks odd on your system, please let me know!
• A new "Stickout" column was added to the Tool Drop-Down List
• Turning Cuts with mixed in/mm data saved in them used to have conversion issue.
  It has been fixed in this update.
• Also collapsing panels that used to close when another panel is being opened now operate independently.
  Many people as it turns out like ot have ALL of the panels expanded at the same time.

New Things:

• New "Indexable Drill" Tool Type
• Some tool will now have Usage Tips in the warning box, IE new Indexable Drill Tool type will have recommendations to use through coolant.
• New Buttons on Tool Geometry pane:
  [Edit As New] button allows to quickly drop current tool and use its data to create a new one
  [Add Tool] Allows to quickly add tool to the library of your choise
• Edit/Add Tool dialog now allows you to choose tool library when you add or edit tool information data into the database

Whats fixed:

• On systems where comma (,) is used to in place of a decimal point, selecting Tap tool type would throw an error.
  This glitch has been fixed in this update.

What's new:

• Revised chiploads for smaller endmills.
• Revised recommended Depths of Cut for different material types for endmills with various number of flutes.
• Improved Deflection model to include cutter lead angle.

In this update i have re-visited speeds and feeds area of the calculator.

Recommended Depth of Cut and Deflection calculation was revised.
At the same time Chiploads for endmills smaller than 3mm or 0.125" were reduced in half.

This resulted in most things regarding actual Speeds and Feeds remaining the same, but i believe this update works better as it considers material type and number of flutes to calculate recommended depth of cut.

Also Deflection calculation was changed for tapered endmills

Hello guys,

I have just uploaded a latest release of HSMAdvisor v0.801.

In this update i only added a few calculators to the new Reference Tab.

Lets review all those calculators here.
And since i last time got repremended by mr rlockwood for making my post too long and dry, i will spice it up with a ton of pictures and even a download link. BTW you can download the updated version over here http://hsmadvisor.com/index.php?page=Download

There are 3 new calculators.

Those are:

• Scientific Calc -a child of my labor over this weekend.
  The standard Windows calc was driving me crazy with its small buttons, so i whipped up this one. Maybe later i will make it a separate pop-up window or something
• Drll Point Calc - a handy tool that allows to calculate depth required to make a countersink of set angle, and tip flat size
• Partial Bolt Hole Calc- allows to find location of equally spaced holes laying on an ark. 

Here is a full list of calculators available at this point in the Reference Tab:

Scientific Calculator

Bolt Hole

Bolt Line

Drill/Countersink Point Calculator

I plan to keep adding more and more new calculators and features and improving existing ones.

Should you have any suggestions, please let me know.