I have not announced the previous update here, so i am going to cover the latest changes here.

New and Improved Things:

• Fine-tuned Speeds for drilling tools
• Added more database self-repair capability
• Added "Uddeholm" vendor' material family

An update to port those changes to Android and IOS apps is under way

Would like to thank everyone for their continuous support and feedback.

I do not know what i would do without you guys!

Thanks!

We have finally reached version 1.00!

Here is a list of new and improved features:

What's New

• Material Drop-Down list now shows 'X' on the row when the current Library Tool has Custom Surface Speed and Chipload settings.
• Load Tool dialog box now has Tool Type Icon. The same column shows a readable Operation Type Icon for finishing, roughing, etc.
• Drilling Tool Types now allow user to enter a custom Pecking value
• Milling Tool Types now have Editable Plunge RPM and Plunge Feedrate
• Milling Tool Types' updated Circle/Ramp Dialog now allows to specify whether ramp settings apply to Plunge feedrate of Milling feedrate

What's Improved

• Custom Speeds and Feeds tab on Edit Tool Dialog was improved with new buttons to reset custom Surface Speed and Chipload settings
  Glitch with certain diameters in metric mode being missed is fixed
• Load Tool/Cut Dialog box' Search was improved
• Load Tool/Cut Dialog box now features much improved tool and cut list with better readability and usability
• Ballnose Tools have been improved to better show changing effective diameter for different depths of cut.

Now, because a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some screenshots as well.

Updated and Improved Load Tool/Cut Dialog:

Note new Tool Type and Cut type Icons in the third column.

Happy April Fool's day!

Seriously though, i have just published another update.

This update adds a floating Speed and Feed mini-window that stays on top and displays most relevant information to help users with populating S&F values on their CAM software.

To show/Hide this window, click the red-and-white "Float" button in the status bar.

Upon right mouse click on the floating window you can choose what kind of information you would like to display in there.

Also one bug was fixed where when no machine was selected from the drop-down list, deflection and torque limits were not firing for milling and drilling tools.

But wait! There is more!

I will not open all my cards, but right now i am working on a massive update to HSMAdvisor's Tool Database.
Keep tuned in.

This is my first try at making a tutorial.

I wanted to show how to set up integration with you CAD/CAM program usi g drilling cycle as example.

The best online cnc speed and feed calculator FSWizard is now available as an app for iPhone and Android.

CNC Milling and Turning Speed and Feed Calculator For Machinists on the palm of your hand!

Go To FSWizard Online Calculator

Note: Certain HSMAdvisor Licenses Include FSWizard PRO For Android for Free!!
Check out our HSMAdvisor Web Store for 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.

FSWizard LITE Free
FSWizard PRO $49.99
FSWizard PRO $39.99 Multiplatform License for iOS and Android Purchase through PayPal

2013-07-06_15-51-40.png 2013-07-06_15-51-50.png 2013-07-06_15-52-04.png 2013-07-06_16-03-27.png 2013-07-06_15-52-51.png 2013-07-06_15-52-27.png Fillet Calculator Oblique Triangle Calculator Pipe Taps New Layout Bolt Hole calc Bolt Hole Line Calculator Bolt Hole Particial Calculator SHCS Reference 82Deg FHS Reference

New things: None.

Well not really.

First of all alot of small bugs has been fixed.

Second of all i added a neat picture to Drilling operation.

It now shows what each drill specific field means

Also. Unfortunately all current license key holder will have to get new license keys.

If you currently have a license key, please e-mail me your new Computer-ID
And i will send you a new license key.

NOTE:

If you are installing over previous version of HSMAdvisor, you are encouraged to perform complete uninstall of the old version.

Othervise what happens is old settings file is not compatible with the new one.

This will cause Default Tool Type, Tool material and Coating presets to get lost and you end up with a funny looking FSWizard page.

Correcting this is extremely easy:

You need to select some tool type (IE: End Mill), select some Tool Material (IE. HSS) and finally select some Coating (IE. NONE)

This will fix the problem.

Attached below is a screenshot of what it looks like when settings mismatch happens, not a pretty sight i agree, but there is no need to panic.

(Note to self: add version check for every file)

Drilling Settings version mismatch

Needed to do alot of side drilling/milling/tapping on our moulds lately.

So I quickly designed and whipped up this custom indexing fixture that allows me to mount almost anything to it.

Face plate has several tooling dowel holes on front side to locate work piece.
On the back of face plate there are 36 3/8 dia reamed holes spaced 10 Degree apart.

Housing has a big 5.0"Dia pocket in the front into which the face plate's hub fits in with 0.001" clearance
Housing also has corresponding 3/8dia reamed holes spaced apart 9 degrees. This allows me to index the face plate with 1 degree increment.

Design time:2 hours, Machining time: 2 hours.

Pictures are here:

Using Peck Cycle is often needed when drilling deep holes.
When using proper feed and speed no peck is required at depths of up to 3xDia for regular or 5xDia for High-Performance Parabolic drills.
At depths up to 10x, up to 5 pecks are required for regular  drills and up to 3 for Parabolic.
Anything over 10x Dia requires constant pecking of 0.5-1x Dia for regular drills and 1.5-2 Dia for Parabolic.

Since for programming you need a peck amount. Here are the numbers:

Of course our HSMAdvisor Speed and Feed Calculator suggests not only the Speeds and Feeds but also the proper peck depth for various drill types and depths of the hole.
It in fact was the first machinist calculator to do so. This feature was much later borrowed by our competition.

And here is a pretty image showing Peck VS Hole Depth for regular twist drill:

This not only means that peck amount should be different for different styles of drills and depths of holes.
But also that peck distance should be different for different stages of drilling the same hole.
Ideally we should start the hole with large pecks, that continually reduce as the hole gets deeper and deeper.

Let's find out how we can apply this knowledge when programming our toolpaths.
This is format for normal Pecking:

Here are some Okuma Captain 1200 program samples for work with live tooling.
Samples are quite big so READ full article