We have many helpful articles over at HSMAdvisor Help portal. But beacuse of that very reason not many website visitors actually read any of them.
It is a pitty that most advanced users will never actually visit the help section, because they already know how to operate HSMAdvisor.

And this particular one, I believe, is too useful (I just updated it to include more info) for my customers and other machinists to keep it burried in some help section that few ever read.

So here you go:

Proper machining depth and width of cut are just as important as proper Speeds and Feeds. 

This is not only importanttant for professional machinists, who are machining on the edge of their tooling and setup capability, but also for hobbyists, who often face limits from the machine rigidity side of the equation.

HSMAdvisor Speed and Feed calculator has a unique tool used for figuring the best engagement values for each particular cut you are making.

It is called Performance Slider. And it adjusts expected load on the tool and machine depending on your preferred machining mode.

Check out this video I made that explains Performance Slider' functionality:

Micro 100 Specialty Carbide Tooling company has approached me asking for a branded version of my FSWizard:Online Speeds and Feeds Calculator.

Customer requests for Speeds and Feeds amount for a large portion of their customer support calls.

I hope this partnership will unload their phones AND bring some new users to my commercial products such as desktop HSMAdvisor and FSWizard for mobile platforms.

And here is the link for the custom Speed and Feed calculator i made for them http://micro100.hsmadvisor.com/

PS.

A big. A VERY BIG and VERY GOOD news are coming to those of my users who also use MasterCAM  :)

More goodies for our HSMAdvisor users!

I have just uploaded an update that allows several computers running HSMAdvisor to share the same database.
Please check out Tutorials section for more info on how it works and how to turn it on.

I have been bearing this idea for quite some time, but HSMAdvisor user Kevin E. (koodos!) sent me an email and suggested that i finally implement it.
He has almost a dozen CAM computers in his shop and he and his co-workers frequently change workstations.
Obviousy in this kind of setting it would be hard to keep importing/exporting yout tooling data without loosing anything.

Before you go ahead, however, please make sure you create a backup copy of your database yto prevent possible data loss should anything go wrong.

Also several things were improved and fixed.

First of all, Automatic Registration that allows users with multiple purchased seats request and receive their license key online on-demand has been fixed.
All 2 accounts with keys wrongfully issued this way were fixed :)

I also improved the way Tools and Cuts are loaded into the calculator.
Before there was a bit of confusion when loading tools from myCutDB page- speed and feed overrides would pick up wrong values - now it is fixed.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me with their suggestions and feedback.

In HSMAdvisor starting from version 0.750 it is possible for sevaral HSMAdvisor seats to share the same tool and cut library (myCutDB).

All you need to do is tell all HSMAdvisor seats where the shared database file is located. And then check "Shared Database" option in settings page.
This will make all seats use this file in synchronous mode.

Which means changes to the DB made on one computer will automatically propagate to other computers as well.

This is how it looks in a more schematic way:

Our most recent sale is over and it has been a huge success.

I would like to thank everybody who helped me make this software better with every update.

I just wanted to tell you about an incoming update here.

One of early users- Kevin, expressed his desire to install HSMAdvisor on 9 CAM computers in his shop. Now all computers are connected to the network, so he was wandering if it was possible to make all seats share the same tooling database.

It was not possible back then, so I decided to add that functionality in there.

The testing is almost complete and soon everyone will be able to download an update that lets multiple users share the same tooling database over the network. You could even share it over the internet if you use software like DropBox.

I bit later I will create a tutiorial on how it is done. 

This goes to show how important user feedback is for software makers like me.

So if you have any idea and would like to see it implemented, please let me know.

It it looks stupid but it works, it is NOT stupid!

Hello guys.

There have not been any updates for quite a while now.

But it is so for a reason.

See i am in the mids of implementing some long awaited features.

So far Boring bars and taps are in the works. I am also planning to include plunging feedrates and revise some other tooling definitions.

If you have something small you wish to see implemented in the next release let me know.

If you are working in mold-making, prototyping or even in a job shop you have had to use unusual form tooling before in your life.

Form tooling is often used to machine undercuts and other features on regular 3 axis machines that would otherwise require a multi axis machining centre or are not machinable o at all.

The classical example of a form tool is a tear-drop ball mil, also known as a "lollipop". It has a tip with a certain diameter and a much smaller shank that produces enough clearance to machine undercuts on straight walls. It can also be used to regular surface finishing and 2d milling.

Another example is a T-slot cutter that is used to produce key-ways and t- slots

The main thing to consider when machining with reduced shank end mils is deflection and torque.

While deflection is especially dangerous for long tools, torque becomes much more important for tools with severely reduced shank.

Torque required to break a tool is directly proportional to the diameter of its shank.

And when shank diameter is much smaller than the tip diameter it does not matter how short that weak portion is: unless you compensate for it you will snap the tool.

The first thing that crosses the mind in many such cases is "I gotta run this tool very slow". It may take forever, but in many cases job gets somewhat done.

Contrary to that many experienced machinists have been proponents of different approach. Instead of reducing feed rate to the point of rubbing and below, it is much more productive to reduce cutter engagement if possible and leave feed rate settings largely unchanged.

Trying to keep proper chip load is even more important when machining work-hardenable materials like stainless steel and titanium. In those cases rubbing is not just unproductive, it leads to a very premature, in many cases instantaneous tool failure.

Just how much of a cut is possible to take in each particular case is the black magic that separates beginners from seasoned pros.

Not to worry though

Here is an example

I often read how somebody is suggesting other people to use TiAlN coated tooling for machining aluminum alloys.

I even see that coming from developers of other cnc speed and feed calculators who should know better.

Wake up people and stop misinforming your users.

TiAlN coating is NOT FOR Aluminum!

HarveyTool application chart

HSM or High Speed Machining is becoming more and more popular each day.
Many of us have seen those youtube videos where endmlls remove large amounts of material at high speeds/feeds.

While definitions of HSM may vary between tool manufacturers and even individual shops, the physics behind it remain the same.

In this article i would like to explore flat endmills.

HSM is not about ramping up your speed/feed overrides to 200% and puling out your smartphone to record another youtube-worth video.

What is HSM?

HSM is a complex of programming, machining and tooling techniques aimed at radical increase of productivity.

Programming

The cornerstone of HSM is low radial and high axial engagement of an endmill with the workpiece.

There are many CAD/CAM systems that allow you to create HSM tool-paths. Mastercam's Dynamic milling and SurfCAM's Truemill are some of them.

When radial cutter engagement with the material is smaller than the radius of the tool an interesting thing happens.
Chip load- the distance the tool advances per cutter revolution per tooth- does not equal the actual chip thickness anymore.
Chip thinning mainly happens at radial engagements below 30% of the diameter.

In order to get compensated chipload you need to multiply recommended by manufacturer chipload by the chip thinning factor.

Usual Radial Engagement for HSM toolpaths however is between 5 and 15%.

Axial depth of cut varies depending on geometry, but

Radial Chip Thinning HSMAdvisor Screenshot