I have just completed revising HSMAdvisor's material library.

Around 20 different materials have been added.
Some speeds and feeds were adjusted as well.

New library is not yet available in the official release, but you cen get it as a separate file from here

Just scroll to the bottom of the page there and download the file.
Instructions of how to use it are there as well.

Once a new update is ready to be published i will include the new library into the official release.

The list of added materials includes Toolox, Weldox and other pre-hardened steels.

Also graphite was added to hard non-metals.

I have decided to keep the sale on HSMAdvisor until November 11.

This should give everybody just enough time to make up their mind.

Update

The sale has been extended until November 13 th.

I have received not one but two letters asking me what happened to the sale prices and why it ended so soon.....

Well, you guys have 2 more days to decide!

Also i have uploaded an update to HSMAdvisor that fixes problems with the integration module giving out errors.

Now everything works fine.

In this release I have added CAD/CAM integration.

Please read the latest tutorial in HSMAdvisor Tutorials section here
This is a pretty Unique way of doing it.

It is still in the beta-mode.
But it is fully functional. I have tested it on MasterCAM and SurfCAM with great results.
While some functionality is not supported well on all cadcam packages, it is still much better than nothing.

Please send me your feedback on how it works with your CADCAM package.

I have also added a list of recently used materials.

Now material list will have 6 recently used items at the very top of it.
Later on i will allow user to enter whatever number of recent items he wants to see there. But for now its just 6.

New Computer ID and New License keys

Starting from this release i have changed how Computer ID keys are generated.
This was done to fix problems some of the users experienced when they added or removed additional hardware on their computers.

New Computer ID's mean License keys have been changed for all users as well.
Not to worry though, License keys will be automatically updated for all of our users, so no action from their side is required.

If you have active license. You will get a message telling you what happened and your license file will be updated automatically.

Some bugs got fixed as well.

All of them were pretty minor, nothing to write home about.

Material definitions got updated as well.

Added several materials, updated speeds and feeds for tool steels and stainless steels.

I still have to add some of the previously requested materials (like Weldox Graphite, etc) to the list.
And i am planning to add it in the next release.

Chiploads for micro-milling were changed as well.

Chiploads for micro-endmills (below 1/16 dia) were reduced significantly.

NOTE. THIS INTEGRATION MECHANISM HAS BEEN DEPRECIATED AND REMOVED FROM HSMADVISOR.

PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR MASTERCAM X9 AND MASTERCAM 2017 HOOKS FOR MASTERCAM

One of the most requested features in HSMAdvisor has long been integration with various CAD/CAM solutions available on the market.

There are two possible ways of achieving said task.

First way: using CAD/CAM API to create plugins to enable HSMAdvisor to "talk to" various software packages.
This road could produce the best results, however implementing it would be laborous and results not always very convinient to use.
Also developer(me) would have to create plugins for many dozens of cad/cam software packages. Muliply that by the fact that with each CADCAM release, a new version of plugin would need to be produced, tested and debugged. This work is for a whole software department and would call for a product far more expensive than what a lot of my customers could afford.

Second way: Grab tool, speed and feed data directly from the CAD/CAM window, process it and then update required information when the calculation is done.
This solution is easyer to implement and could prove to be the most convinient for user as well.

Need i tell you that i have chosen to go the easy way?

Without further delay let me introduce the first Speed and Feed calculator that can be integrated with a CAD/CAM solution by a user himself!

This is How it Works

Step One: User launches CAD/CAM solution. We will use MasterCAM x2 in our case.

A toolpath is programmed the usual way, a proper tool is selected and when it is time to enter your speed and feed data you launch HSMAdvisor.

On FSWizard page you first select Read More 

Haloween sale is ON!

All HSMAdvisor Licenses over $90 are currently 15% off!

You can buy a 3 Year Floating License Subscription Or a Permanent License now for just $82

Life Time Subscription is only $165 And Permanent License with LifeTime updates is $186

 Cheers!

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 Read More 

Hello gentlemen,

On September the 1st HSMAdvisor will turn one year old.

At that point 75$ for life deal will stop being offered.

Prices will go up.
New payment plans will be introduced.

Considered packages are:

• Current Release Single Seat License (1 key): xxx$
• Current Release Five Seat license (5 keys): xxx$ (30% savings)
• Current Release Company-Wide License (Unlimited seats within company premises): xxx$

Program Upgrades (Upgrading from version 1.xx to version 2.0):

• Single Seat License Upgrade: xx$
• Five Seat license Upgrade: xxx$
• Company-Wide License Upgrade: xxx$

I am not exactly set on pricing right now, so i can not say just how much things will cost.
I can only promise that pricing will continue being more than reasonable and very competitive.

Until September i will release several updates, but I will no longer offer trial extensions after September the 1st.

Announced changes will only affect commercial HSMAdvisor.

Free Online FSWizard will remain free for everyone.

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

This is a bug fix release.

Because of amount of new features that was added to the front and back end in the previous version some bugs have crawled in.

Bugs fixed in this update

• Fixed the behaviour of Manufacturer Settings- Speed and Chipload

• Fixed Slotting Checkbox getting stuck when it was supposed to be unchecked

• Fixed Edit Tool and Edit Cut dialogs that did not update changed data properly

• Click on DOC label in turning mode now resets DOC to default

• Removed the nag screen that appears after 15 days of usage - was never inteded to be there

Again thanks to everybody sending their bug reports and suggestions to me.

Without you my job would have been much harder.

HSMAdvisor v0.1 is now available.

(newest version is 0.101)

A decision has been made that updates containing new features will increment by 0.1 each time

Bug fix updates and improvement updates will increment by 0.01

This should be a hint that first fully commercial release is in sight. (you still have another 6 months or so of free updates).

There is only one major feature

• Machinery with gear boxes is now supported- users can enter a list of RPM machine can have set and FSWizard will force all calculations to stick to those pre-defined numbers.
  There is a sample machine called "Manual Lathe" that demonstrates this feature. You can use "Import" function in Machine Definitions dialog to load that machine and see how it works

Several bugs have been fixed

• Manually entered RPM for lathe tools have been fixed
• Minimum RPM entered in Machine Definitions dialog now actually forces FSWizard to not go below that value and generate a warning.

How Sticky RPM works:

• Create new machine in Machine Definitions by clicking Add button and giving it a name you would recoginze.
• Fill up all of the input boxes including Min and Max RPM, Horse Power and Torque.
• Enter list of RPM values your machine supports into the Power Curve table.
  (Note RPM values HAVE to be in incremental order)
• Against each RPM row enter the max Horesepower your machine has (because its a gear-box, machine HP value is constant at any spindle speed)
  Tip: if Max torque was unknown, now you can enter the highest value you see in Torque row.
• Check Calculations Stick to pre-defined RPM only check box (Yes i know the picture shows that box unchecked, but you have to CHECK it)
• Check Use Horse Power Curve Compensation check box

Thats it!

Now FSWizard will force calculated RPM to match the closest RPM value from the table.

Sticky RPM