I regularly follow practicalmachinist.com forums.
Especially the cnc machining section of it.

I notice when CNC Speeds and Feeds questions come up people often suggest my HSMAdvisor Machinist calculator.
A referral by a satisfied customer is the best referral in my opinion. Thank you to everyone doing this great favor to me and my prospective users!

Other times users of HSMAdvisor question speeds and feeds it generates and instead of going to me, they ask on forums.
Which is always fine, because extremely often "wrong" results mean something wrong in users expectations or the data he feeds the calculator

In the process of discussion it usually turns out that the calculation results were correct, but because user decided to use a depth of cut or tool length, larger than he should have, HSMAdvisor compensates and gives a very conservative feed rate.

Just like in this forum post over here: Engraving with a 1/32 ball mill machinist wanted

First of all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !

There has been a spur in development in the last couple of weeks.
Mainly due to the fact that i took a vacation from my day job.

I also used this time to pay a visit to some businesses operating in the area to get some feedback on my software, hear out their needs and desires.

I have not been able to post about the latest updates, so let's summarize what we have at this moment in the latest v1.110 update

• New 90 Degree metric Flat Head screw reference tool
  
• Ability to use comma sign instead of dot as a decimal point.
  HSMAdvisor will still convert comma to dot, but now it treats input properly
  This was done to accommodate users whose language settings use comma on their numpad
• Fixed scaling for all DPI types.
• Added a bunch of materials like Machinable Wax, Plywood, some Steels etc.
• Improved and made more predictable loading of tools and cuts from the database
• Made improvements to Machine definition window.

Most of the work has been finished on the CAM integration feature.
If any of you, my users, feel like you want the FREE integration with their favorite CAM, please nag your CAM support and/or sales desk!!

........

........

Now did I mention I plan on NOT changing a dime for the integration feature?

If not, then let me repeat it again.

CAM Integration feature will come at no price for my users!

So if i were you, i would file support tickets (make some phone calls, write letters) to your CAM providers and ask them to consider enabling their software to speak with mine.

My contact details can be found here: http://hsmadvisor.com/index.php?page=help&shell_id=241&article_id=4426

Have a nice New Year!

We have changed a Web-Server hosting company

This will translate to much better loading times for our users. Especially those who use the FSWizard:Online Calculator

Thank you for patience.

Our Halloween Sale is now Officially Over

Once again I would like to thank everyone who invested into development of this software.

Each one of you is not just a customer, but a co-creator. Thanks to your contributions our software gets better and better with every release.
And all of it comes back to our users in a form of features they have suggested or asked for.

At this point in time i can see the results of adding the subscription-based floating licensing model.
NOT surprisingly the Permanent License Type is still more popular than the subscription-based one.

Perhaps it is attributed to the fact that most people only use HSMAdvisor on one computer anyway, which most of the time is their CAD/CAM station and relatively few people need to move their seat from one computer to another.

More User Interface Improvements are Coming

I am in the process of re-vising the work-flow of loading a Tool/Cut From the database.

Tool and Cut drop down lists will disappear from the screen. Instead a couple of buttons will be added that would allow loading a Tool/Cut from the database, editing/viewing parameters etc.

This should greatly unload the screen and make things easier to read.

Have a good and productive day!

There is more than one way to skin a cat! Previously i have showed how to machine multiple pieces out of a flat plate holding only on to 0.010" thick material on the outside of the part. (here) But there is more than one way to do it. Sometimes your part is so hard to hold, that using tabs or skin is the best, or even the only way of machining something. Very often, working in prototyping, I have to make only one single part and designing and producing special fixturing is also not feasible.

Here is how you can easily machine a difficult-to-hold part from both sides without using a separate fixture:

Setup: Put or part in vise. Make sure to square off at least two sides contacting the jaws for accurate positioning and minimum distortion.

Program part normally. Perform as many operations on the first side as possible.

When machining outside profile, machine to the exact depth of your part.

Here is how your part might look after completing the first OP:

Whats New:

• Update Notification Added
  (when a newer version is available you will see a notification on the bottom of the HSMAdvisor window)
• Number of Flutes and Corner Radius now display on the Tool Drop-Down list

Whats Improved:

• Chamfering tools improved significantly. Almost everything has been redone and works very solid.
• High Feed Mills Tool Display has been changed and internal model has been improved.
  Tip Diameter now specifies the maximum Diameter of the mill.
• A typo has been fixed in the material list. Now It displays 15-5 Stainless steel instead of 15-8

Here is how  Update Notification looks:

Since you will be downloading this very update it will say you are up to date.
But next time i upload something, you will know right away!

Also Big changes happened to chamfering tools:

In this update i fixed some of the annoying things that were present in my app before.

Firstly i have totally changed the way app renders. Instead of using gradient backgrounds i am now using background images everywhere. This prevents glitches that some users reported before.

Then main menu now takes the whole screen. Small but descriptive icons were added to ease the navigation. Also scrolling problems for all of the devices were fixed there.

Phone Back button now exits the main menu or the virtual keyboard.

To shut down the app you have to tap Back key twice. This prevents acidental exits.

Phone Menu button opens main menu now. So the workflow is a lot like in the rest of android apps.

As a test i gave it to my wife to try out. She was pleased and managed to run through the whole app within a couple of minutes and never got lost. She especially liked menu icons, said they looked cool.

Email me or post on forums if you have any feedback.

main menu updated keyboard

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

We all have manufacturer speed & feed charts and have used their recommendations.

But sometimes those charts just don't apply.

For example manufacturer charts assume you are using their endmills at a certain stickout length, flute length and at a certain depth of cut.

But in the real life you rarely match all these conditions.
Sometimes you need to use longer endmill. Sometimes your flute is longer than what manufacturer gave you speeds and feed for.

What i am trying to say is that whenever your real life conditions differ from "normal" you "need to adjust accordingly".
In fact this is what is printed below many charts.

Too bad not many sources tell you how and what to adjust.

While failure to adjust cutting parameters often leads to chatter, poor surface finish and even tool breakage, one of the biggest mistakes people do when machining is

If you cant, then dont clamp it at all!.
Skin it!

In here i have to program and machine several sets of roundish aluminum pieces with +/-0.001" outside tolerance. and within 0.002" thickness repeatability.
Instead if fixturing it one by one i decided to skim cut a 33" x 23" x5/8" to within 0.0015 flat. And then machine each piece completely leaving .005" outside to holt everything together.

Worked out great. 

for pics

Here i will show you how to calculate Tool Engagement Angle using tool diameter and Width Of Cut (radial deopth of cut)

Lets first draw a pretty image that shows us everything we need.

Where:

• r: Radius of the cutter = Diamater /2
• a: TEA - Enagagement angle we are trying to find here
• WOC: Width of cut or RADIAL Depth of Cut
• r2: The difference between r and WOC, r=r2+WOC

Below we develop 2 formulas that allow us to find TEA and WOC