It is no secret that i am trying to make my software fit the broadest possible group of people. And while my much-respected hobby customers is a big deal for me, industrial machining is where HSMAdvisor really shines.
Recently a PracticalMachinist forum member Atomkinder posted a video of him machining something on his 1997 Fadal VMC. Here is what he had to say:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mtndew
One thing that I just thought of, you may want to look at buying the HSM advisor ($50) for your high speed toolpaths. Doesn't even have to be high speed, but toolpaths with long engagement and small stepover are proven to run a LOT faster than hogging out the conventional way that's been done forever. Advanced CNC Speed And Feed Calculator - HSMAdvisor
I use it daily, and I can't think of a time it's let me down. I second HSMAdvisor. I own my own seat (work doesn't have one) because I like it that much.
This isn't particularly special, but it is a 1997 Fadal VMC2216 box way machine. Removed a whole tool and something like 40% of the cycle time from the second operation of this part.
September 23, 2014, 10:47 pm by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)
Balancing Cutter Engagement
One of the handiest functions of HSMAdvisor is the ability to suggest Depth of Cut (DOC) and Width of Cut (WOC) based on tool type and user-specified tool geometry.
When Cut data matches the default or ideal data specific for the selected Tool Type, the DOC and WOC fields turn Green in color:
This article describes how to balance the Cutter Engagement and find the most efficient way of removing material.
October 24, 2013, 12:03 am by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)
HEM is a relatively new term.
It means High Efficiency Milling. It only became available when constant tool engagement toolpahs became almost standard on most of the CAM software.
Unlike HSM that utilizes chip thinning effect, HEM relies on much larger widths of cut and thus chip thinning does not occur. What gives it its name is much higher material removal rate that would normally be possible.
When you are machining a pocket you are most often only milling at about 50% WOC. But nevertheless you need to calculate speeds and feeds based on the fact that the very first move and every corner will be full slotting action. Which means that the whole pocket needs to be machined at lower feedrate.
HEM uses constant engagement toolpths to make sure that this never happens and that Width of Cut remains optimal. Tool never needs to make a full slot so you can ramp up the feedrate as if you were doing outside profiling.
Here is a video of a 1/2" 3 flute endmill machining a 5/8" deep pocket in aluminum at full depth. Normally this pocket would have been machined in 2 steps at 150 inches per minute.
Using Constant Tool Engagement toolpaths we can go full depth at 0.175" stepover and 275 inches per minute.
The advantage of this method is obvious- Higher Productivity.
HEM is not ideal for all cases and each application merits its own method of machining, but its always nice to know more than one way to do your job.
October 12, 2013, 11:32 am by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)
Lately there have been a lot of really interesting HSM topics on PracticalMachinist forums.
In one of them a guy who owns his own resharpening business posted a video of his endmill milling a block of D2 hardened to over 60 RC. The forum topic is located here First try on D2 62Rc(video)
Here is his post so you know what we are talking about:
Quote:
In an effort to perfect our speeds and feeds while hardmilling, this is the first try. Its not right yet, but far from a failure. I apologize for the language at the end, but I do not edit my videos. The endmill was a reground garr VRX at .353 diameter. Parameters were 750 sfm, .018 radial, .300 axial and .004 ipt. The next run will be at 650 sfm, .006 ipt using a mist sprayer. Also, any small areas will be blocked off to be ran at lower speeds to allow cooling time for the cutter. Just a note for anyone using a Mag Fadal, The E-stop button is not quick enough, use feed hold. The endmill was badly worn on the corners, but not broken, and will be resharpened and used again.
In the ensuing discussion i posted my own take on how and why HSM works
Quote:
HSM works in many ways.
1) Reduced cutting time per edge per revolution allows it to cool down more. 2) Chip thinning allows to increase chipload (advancement per tooth per revolution) 3) Increased depth of cut combined with shallow radial positively affects deflection. Tool bends less as it is more rigid towards the tool holder. 4) Higher cutting speed actually reduces cutting forces as heat generated in the cutting zone makes it easier to shear off a layer of metal. Yet because the time of contact is so small, most of the heat is carried away with the chip. 5) Higher RPM also allows to get rid of hot chips faster thus further reducing heat transferred to the tool. 6) Higher feedrate actually reduces relative cutting speed. 7) At high axial engagements more than one flute is in contact with the workpiece at different points along the axis of the tool. This too helps combat vibrations and chatter. 8) You are using more of the tool than just its tip, so technically you can do more work with one tool before it gets dull. 9) lastly it looks cool as hell and is very impressive. Whenever we know visitors or bosses are coming we try to make sure some HSM is going on even if application does not merit that I am not sure if the air that is moved by the endmill is doing much, but i suspect he didn't mean exactly that.
September 10, 2013, 5:00 pm by Eldar Gerfanov (Admin)
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.
Note: Certain HSMAdvisor Licenses Include FSWizard PRO For Android for Free!! Check out our HSMAdvisor Web Storefor Details
Absolutely the best handheld CNC machinist's speed and feed calculator around. Calculate cutting conditions simply by choosing your work and tool material. No need to know any numbers. FSWizard will automatically use recommended cutting speed and chipload.
* Made by a machinist for machinists *
Improve productivity and optimize cutter life.
* Milling, Drilling, Tapping and Turning * Suggests optimum cutting depth and balances cutting parameters. * Supports Chip thinning and HSM machining. * Required Power estimation, Recommended Depth/Width of Cut for extra-long cutters. * Built in tap drill calculator to calculate not only cutting speed and feed , but also drill dia in accordance with desired thread engagement. * Drill and Tap charts for both imperial and metric systems. * Oblique Triangle Calculator * Fillet Calculator will find tangent points to a circle and two lines * Machinists Bolt Hole Circle and Line Calculators
It just does it all.
*Milling Tools: Solid EndMill, Indexed End Mill and FaceMill, Solid and Indexable drills *Drilling Tools: Jobber Drill, Hi-Performance Parabolic Drill, Spade Drill, Reamer *Turning Tools: Profiling and Grooving
Please try the Free FSWizard Lite first to confirm your device capability. Also huge thanks to those who go through the trouble and leave a review. Good reviews mean more sales and more incentive for me to further improve on this app.
FSWizard Lite and FSWizard PRO are iPhone/Android machinist calculators that do not require internet connection. PRO version has all the latest material lists and speed and feed technology.
Lite version has all the same features, but it only has tool steel, mild steel and aluminum in its material list. It still has all the tool types and tool materials found in online and standalone versions Both Lite and Pro versions have unlocked tapping data.
Lite versions have limited geometry calculators.
This app is intended not to replace but to complement my much more powerful standalone Windows application called HSMAdvisor.
This release features some pretty major updates and features.
First of all, Tool deflection model has been radically improved over previous versions. Now model fully considers not only the flute length, but also depth of cut and how it affects deflection!
No other speed and feed calculator alows you to do that.
Calculator now helps getting full advantage of those Hight Axial engagement toolpaths.
New things
HSMAdvisor can now print! For now you can print a screenshot of application window. Make sure to select "Album" layout in your printer settings, otherwise portion of the window may get cut off. Tool library printing is next in line to be done.
User Library Export and Import in XML format is now available. You can use it to back up your tool library and share library files with others.
Library Tabs are now right-clickable by mouse- this allows to right click on the library tab and select desired action like "Delete" "Merge" and "Rename".
Speeds for some tool and stainless steels have been revised. Couple of materials were added.
Things updated and improved
Improved tool deflection model.
Improved and fixed machine and tool limits trigering.
Creation of new Tool or Cut now forces newly-created tool/cut to get loaded, so you dont have to search it from the drop-down list- it becomes active right away.
Viewing and editing of tool/cut info in myCutDB page now does not close opened tool tree.
Tool material and Work Material are now a single column. Its called Tool&Work Material and it shows tool material for Tool rows and work material for Cut rows
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.
Radial Engagement vs chip thinning factor
100%
1.0
50%
1.0
30%
1.091
25%
1.212
20%
1.641
15%
2.1
10%
4.375
5%
6.882
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
This HSMAdvisor v0.200 release is a major step forward.
Aside from major rewrites that i did to improve stability of the code there are also new features that will improve user experience and move us one step ahead towards making it the best tool for machinists.
New Features
Circular Interpolation feedrate compensation Now you can get compensated feedrates for milling inside and outside round features.
HSM and Chip Thinning are now two separate check boxes. Chip thinning allows to compensate for thinning chip thickness at low radial and axial engagements. HSM allows to increase cutting speed when chip thinning occurs.
Manufacturer's Speed and Chipload input For when you need to enter manufacturer recommended S&F values.
.NET 2.0 Framework Starting from this release i have downgraded required framework version from 4.0 to 2.0 This will allow us to target wider audience as it immediately drops requirements for Windows computers.
UNEF and UNS threads New thread sizes were added into the Threading section.
Drill Chart was expanded to drills up to 1.5" in diameter
Bugs Fixed
All the existing bugs were tackled when code re-write happened. I took a long time testing and fixing all of the problem and suspect areas, so at this poing it should be bug-free.
You may freely reproduce information presented herein without any consent from me, provided you include link to this site. In case when i am not the copyright holder, you may want to contact proper owner of material. Anyway, they are freely available on the Internet. If you hold the copyright right for any of the materials on this site and want them removed, please contact me here
Originally Posted by Mtndew 
even if application does not merit that
