Just found a very good video of testing a table-top gantry router cutting mild steel.

YouTuber named "Breaking Taps" used speeds and feeds generated by HSMAdvisor to get a starting point.

To see where exactly he was in the calculations I decided to reproduce all of cuts in HSMAdvisor.

A couple of assumptions i made:

1. Tool Type: Solid End Mill. It is not recommended to use the HP/Roughing tool type on such light machines, so i assumed this is the tool BT used.
2. Tool Stick-out looked like about 3/4" so I used that number.
3. Material was set to A36 Hot rolled steel.

Test 1) Minute 4:52

Good, slow and very safe starting point.

Test 2) Minute 6:20

Twice as aggressive as before, but we can still push it further.

Test 3) Minute 7:10

Here we can see the lack of machine rigidity starting to show. But at 65% feed rate it is still alive.

Test 4) Minute 8:30

This last test did not go well at all.

The machine has finally hit its limit and the endmill broke at all S&F overrides at about 100%

Was this fault of the software? Not really!

If that were a heavier machine, the last cut would not even be considered that difficult.

Here is a full slotting cut on a Matsuura VMC:

And here is the calculation that was done using HP/Roughing End Mill tool type:

If i were using the "Solid End Mill" tool definition, i would have to dial the feed override to 176% to match the 45ipm feed rate!

So what can users of light machines do in order to not break taps end mills?

First of all make sure the spindle torque curve is built and enabled in your machine profile settings.

The easiest solution is to de-rate the spindle. There is "Warning at" level in machine profile settings. Set that to 50% for starters and it should save you from exceeding the machine's capabilities.

Overall this was a great test of this little machine's capabilities and of the great help that software like HSMAdviasor can lend in discovering them.

Please head over to Breaking Taps YouTube account and subscribe.

FSWizard Machinist Calculator Update that iOS users will like: new big drop-down select boxes replaced the standard iOS spinners make it easier to select Tools, Tool Materials and Coatings. Because of this we will soon also be able to show tool images as well!

In this update a lot of work was done to make it work flawlessly for iOS devices.

Check it out here: https://FSWizard.com

Screenshot

The HSMAdvisor hook for MasterCAM has been updated!

• Updated HSMAdvisor Hook to the latest improvements of HSMAdvisor standalone app:
  
  • Tapered End Mill Display: The work-piece material boundary now matches the angle of the cutter.
  • Shoulder Diameter: Default shoulder diameter is now equal to either the diameter of the Shank or top of Fluted portion, depending on the tool configuration.
  • Tool Ordering: Fixed ordering issues.
  • Improved Default Tool Library behavior.
  • Added Kovar material
• Fixed Set Material issue in MC2019

This update marks a major pivot in HSMAdvisor development.

Behind the scenes the groung-work has been laid for tight integration between HSMAdvisor and FSWizard.

Next steps will include sharing of the tool and cut data with the FSWizard mobile app.

Whats new in this HSMAdvisor update:

• New materials: DME Steel 1, 2,3 & 7 and others.
• Improved Machine Definitions: Program now does not allow to upload duplicate machines to the cloud: you need to clone your machine first.
• Fixed issues with acessing CutCloud Fixed labelling and incorrect cut filtering

Thank you, our supporters, for the continuing feedback and support!

It has been long time since FSWizard iOS app was updated.

Now finally the wait is over!

With new design, new materials and tool types....

And with the new instant update functionality, that allows me to publish updates within hours for both the iOS and Android platforms, new features will be soon and many!

Check out the new FSWizard apps over here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/eldar-gerfanov/id741521900?mt=8

Also you can get FSWizard for Android here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beta.fswizard_lite

By the way. The only difference between the Lite and the PRO version is limited number of materials. All other restrictions have been permanently removed!

After more than a year in development and having its entire code base rewritten FSWizard Android app has finally been released to production!

The main goal of the initial production release was to not drop the ball. So the number of new features is relatively small.

The biggest visible improvement is the new design that conforms to the mobile UI standards.

We also support more materials in the lite version of the app than ever:

For HSMAdvisor customers all the available materials will be downloaded after the Login.

Another improvement is the sliding Speed and Feed overrides that are now located not only on the usual Overrides panel, but also on the Result panel:

This allows you to see the effect your changes make in the real time.

The new version of the app also allows to push immediate updates and hot fixes.
So expect a lot of new features delivered to you faster.

As you might have guessed I did not re-design the whole app just to add a couple of new sliders and a new design.

My plans is to fully integrate FSWizard with HSMAdvisor having them exchange tool libraries and cutting data.
Ant the core design changes that i made will allow for this work to proceed forward.

New FSWizard. Check it out if you have not already!

PS. for now the update is only available for Lite Android version of the app. FSWizard PRO Android and all version for iOS are still sporting old version. But I expect to update them within a week as well.

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!

I have done quite some work on HSMAdvisor in the last couple of weeks.

Let's just cover real quick the new things in this update.

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.

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.