Gonna leave it here because someone might find it useful and my googling didn't come up with the answers that I liked.

So. I successfully switched my TerraMaster D2-310 from RAID1 to SINGLE mode, where each physical drive corresponds to a distinct logical one. Despite multiple sources stating that such a switch requires wiping the drives, I found a method that worked for me. Keep in mind that results may vary, and this might not apply to all enclosures.

Here are the steps:

1. Power down the enclosure, disconnect it from your PC, and remove Drive 2 from the enclosure.

2. Connect Drive 2 to your PC motherboard using a SATA cable.

3. Turn on your PC and ensure Drive 2 functions properly, allowing you to read and write data.

4. With the enclosure powered off, switch the MODE setting on the back of the device to SINGLE mode. WARNING: Do not, DO NOT press the Reset button, as it will most likely wipe your drive!

5. Power on the enclosure with Drive 1 inside and connect it to the same PC where Drive 2 is already connected.

6. Windows cannot mount Drive 1 due to its signature matching that of Drive 2, which is desired.

7. Open Disk Management, locate your "Offline Disk," right-click on it, and select "Online." This action changes the signature of Drive 1, effectively removing it from RAID.

8. You can now navigate to the root of each disk and delete any hidden folders containing RAID information. I removed the 2 folders starting with a "." (dot).

That's it. Aside from other obvious benefits of NOT having to tie 2 drives together, I believe I will get better longevity of my second drive now because I will use it to back up only the important stuff once a day.

New feature coming to FSWizard - the ability to save your tools (and later cutting parameters) online for re-use later.

It is now a feature in development, but the online app already has it enabled: https://app.fswizard.com.

Take it for a spin!

This was initially planned only for the HSMAdvisor app. But since it is easier to develop for FSWizard, I decided to implement it there first. Iron out all the kinks and the flow and then roll it out for HSMAdvisor as well.

Yes, that's right. You will be able to share tools between FSWizard and HSMAdvisor!

Cheers!

I have been hunting for a very rigid but small machine for the last year or so.

And when I finally found one for sale on an auction in Minnesota, I could not pass.

Now the machine is in my garage.

It is a surprisingly heavy machine with a solid epoxy granite frame.

The features are as follows:

• 1.5HP 5000 RPM spindle
• Closed loop servos on all axes
• Power draw bar and a rack tool changer assembly

I built a table with casters for it and upon plugging it to a computer it turned out that.... It's dead!

The proprietary Animatics control in the back is not working, which means 95% of all electronics in the back must be replaced.

I was actually almost hoping for that because the original software is DOS-only. It is hardly convenient to work with it.

I want it to work under mach or LinuxCNC

So I ordered the required parts online and when all of them are here, I will start the retrofit process.

I will be documenting my process in comments.

Wish me luck!

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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!

Read More 

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!

I try to not comment on things outside of my immediate area of knowledge or specialization.
But this one caught my eye and I thought it would be interesting to share with you guys.

So the news in a nutshell is Amazon applying discounts to products that third-party vendors are selling on its platform.

For example. Company "A" is selling its smartphone for $1000.
That is the price of the product on their online store and brick-and-mortar stores and other platforms like for example Amazon.

Read More 

I have just uploaded the HSMAdvisor hook for MasterCAM 2018.

That calls for a drink!

The C++/CRL interop that runs on the back end has been developed over 2 years ago and i have not opened it much since.
Because there were some breaking changes in 2018, i had to reopen the can of worms and ... whew! That was not eazy to remember all the horrible things i have done so long ago ago!

Any way. Now we have a nice lineup of HSMAdvisor plugins for 3 latest MasterCam versions (X9, 2017 and 2018). 

Read More 

Howdy everybody!

I hope you guys enjoyed your weekend.

Mine was a productive one.

FSWizard Online has had a big update and now Materials list contains all material groups:

There is a catch, however: In the free version, ONLY material groups are available.

To get all the avialable materials you need to go to Settings, click on the "Customer Login" button and enter your FSWizard PRO credentials.

Read More 

As you might have noticed, our FSWizard.com Online Speed and Feed Calculator has a limit of just 3 workpiece materials.

But if you are our customer you can get access to all the latest materials using your FSWizard login details.
Just go to Menu->Settings->Customer Login and enter your First name, Last name and email.

Read More 

As you might know after i pulled online FSWizard, I set on a huge task rewriting its code to reflect better on all the great improvements HSMAdvisor has had in the last 4 years

So far I have completed rewriting FSWizard code for all Endmill tool types.

Special attention is being paid to have it produce exactly the same results as its big brother:
 

Do not mind the mobile phone frame around the new FSWizard. It will be available online in your desktop browser as well!

I am going to continue posing here about my progress.
So far it seems I will be publishing a first online alpha version in a few weeks.

Best Regards.