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!

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!

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:

Every time we add a tenth to HSMAdvisor version number our users know we are up to something completely new and exciting!

Please welcome HSMAdvisor 1.5

Now with International Language support!

I know this feature might not be as interesting to our English-speaking users, but I believe it is a major milestone in maturity of any application.

I have been semi-secretly working on this feature for the past year or so.

Let me just quickly show you how to switch between languages

• Download and install HSMAdvisor 1.5 as usual
• Launch HSMAdvisor and go to Settings->General
• Find button called "Select Language" and click on it
• Simply select an available language from the list and click OK
• You will be offered to shut down HSMAdvisor as you can not right now apply the new language mid-flight.
• When you launch HSMAdvisor again, the language of the User Interface will be of that you have previously selected

If you do not find your native language in the list, do not get upset!
You can easily create your own translation.The proper process for translating HSMAdvior to other languages is described here: http://hsmadvisor.com/?page=help&shell_id=241&article_id=4883_international-language-support

What is next

• In the coming months we will introduce tools for creating translations on the fly without the need to use a third-party tool.
• We will add ability for users to earn their free HSMAdvisor license by participating in translation program.
• And the main thing...

We will continue our hard work to stay the best software tool for CNC machinists!

By the way here are other changes that were introduced in this update:

• Fixed typos and improved the look of ToolTip messages
• Fixed 0 - WOC reset when changing tool type

Best Regards

As unhappy I am to learn that something may be wrong with the software I develop and love, negative feedback is essential in learning whether i am doing everything right.

So a couple of days ago I received an email from a somewhat disappointed user. 

He (lets call him Peter) was complaining that HSMAdvisor calculator gave him "excessively high" speeds and feeds for his 3/4" 4 flute 3.0 LOC  end mill in aluminum.

With the data Peter entered he was getting around 10000 RPM(SFPM 2117) and the feed of 270 inches per minute while usual practice in the shop was side-milling aluminum at that (2.8" axial) depth at only 325 SFM

After double-checking the numbers I replied that in fact his numbers seemed very slow and if for some reason he HAD to run that slow (heck, i machine most steels faster than 325 SFM) due to some conditions, perhaps, he was ought to change the conditions themselves.

This is what I am getting for Peter's end mill setup:

Before we run any G-Code program, we need to tell the machine where our part zero is.
A Part Zero is simply a bunch of numbers that offset the axis to give the machine a new coordinate point to work from.

Work Offsets is one of the most basic pieces of knowledge any machinist must-have.

Let us account for all the basic coordinate systems and definitions, available in a generic CNC machine

• Machine Home and (Absolute) Machine Coordinates
• Work Offset Coordinates
• Tool Length Offsets

Machine Home and Machine Coordinates: G53

Machine Coordinates (or Absolute Coordinates) is the absolute and constant representation of the machine axis position.
These coordinates never change between Machine Restarts and must remain such. In fact, there is often no way for an operator to adjust the Absolute Machine Axis Home position.

Machine Home is simply that magical place where all Machine Coordinates should become Zero.

To Home the Machine is to start a machine operation, that will move all Axis to their soft limit position where X, Y, and Z-axis reading will be set to zero.

Homing must be done every time you restart your machine. Without it machine does not know where is the position of its table or spindle.

When homed your machine coordinates will read X=0 Y=0 and Z=0 and it is going to look like this:

The point where Machine X and Y intersect is called Table Home Position and the one where the Machine Z-axis starts from is called Spindle Home.

Now, there is no agreement between machine tool manufacturers on where the machine home should be.

Canned cycles are used every time we need to drill, ream or tap holes on our CNC machine

Standard Fanuc G-Code language supports more than a dozen canned cycles.

The most common cycles that will cover 99.9% of your g-Code CNC programming work are:

Subsequent holes

You can drill additional holes After your canned cycle has been initiated.
Any line with X Y position will be treated as another hole position.

Each position can have its own Retract value, feed rate and retract height modifier.

G80 - Canned Cycle Cancel Code

After all the holes of the canned cycle have been drilled, it is required to call G80 code in order to cancel the current cycle.

New and updated features

• New workpiece materials
  Cutlery stainless steels have been added
• Better scaling and control positioning on "Speeds and Feeds" page
• Tool Database page now displays Libraries in multiple rows, which makes it easier to find stuff.
• HSMAdvisor now installs by default into "Program Files (x86)" folder
  It will still copy data files into your "AppDataRoamingHSMAdvisor" folder. So it will still pick up your old tool library and license file.
• HSMAdvisor.ZIP archive now does not contain installer files, but rather ready-to use application folders, which you can unpack and use without installation.

As usual check our downloads page to get the update.

Now i know you are wondering when i will release updates to the mobile versions as well.
That should (hopefully) be done by this Monday.

Cheers!

I would like to thank everyone who has helped with the development of our software by investing your time and money, making suggestions, reporting bugs, recommending our software on various professional online message boards and to your colleagues.

Every bit of money I charge for our software goes back to development.

Unlike most other software developers, who often hold back on features to not allow their products to compete with each-other, every useful feature available on mobile FSWizard goes to the desktop-based HSMAdvisor and vise-versa. Even if it ends up hurting overall sales.

I was the first developer who was able to bring a speed and feed calculator as complex as FSWizard to the mobile platform and I have just uploaded another update to FSWizard Mobile app, that makes it even more powerful. Almost as powerful in fact as HSMAdvisor.

Why bother? Why create a competing product that does almost as much, but costs almost 3 times cheaper?

Because I know that most of our mobile users are not only unable to buy a more expensive desktop product, but they are also often younger, less experienced and hold machinist positions without access to desktop computers.

These users deserve every help they need to grow skills and their careers.

And when they grow to be CNC Programmers and get to sit in the office, they would need something more convenient and more powerful.

I hope they then remember that the same guy who develops FSWizard:Mobile also develops an even cooler desktop application called HSMAdvisor, that will certainly help keep their bosses even happier than before!

Once again, thank you, guys. Please have a Safe and Prosperous New Year.

Here is the list of recent changes to FWizard:Mobile v1.38

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