Better Material Cross Reference

Yes you can now use HSMAdvisor with non-US/UNS material standards!

Our users have asked for better integration between HSMAdvisor's built-in Materials library and the thing called Cross Reference table and finally here it is!

Now when you click on the "More" button next to the "Material" drop-down list...

... the updated Material Cross Reference dialog appears.

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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:

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Before we start milling away our stock we first need to get down to the required depth.

This is not a problem with external features when we can plunge outside.

When machining closed pockets, however, we need to find a way to get down to the machining depth first.

As usual there are several ways to get the job done. The plunging methods listed here are not ordered by their preference.

For various machining operations on different materials some may be more preferable than others.

Straight Plunging into a larger Pre-Drilled hole

This is one the best ones in my opinion.
Very few machining modes can compete in effectiveness with drilling and this method will get you the best combined tool life on most materials and (in case of many deep pockets) the least machining time, even when tool change time is factored in.

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What is new and improved in this update:

• Added Custom Speeds and Feeds Tables selection on the Speeds and Feeds page
  You can now quickly apply custom settings to all tools in one click
• Materials that have custom Speeds and Feeds specified for them are now highlighted with green color in the drop-down
• Redesigned Custom Speeds and Feeds module.
  It is now on a separate dialog and is accessible not only through Edit Tool Dialog, but also from Speeds and Feeds page by clicking on "Custom Tables" Edit button.
  Dialog now uses Result "in/mm" setting for displaying default units.
• Fixed error on adding a Tool Library from Database Actions drop-down
• Improved layout drawing and resizing speed.
• Improved cut balancing for End Mills

As usual the latest update can be downloaded over here: http://hsmadvisor.com/?page=HSMAdvisor

Check this out, guys.

Been working on this for the past couple of weeks:

New FSWizard Speeds and Feeds Calc will have not only modern improved design. But latest tools and materials.
Special attention is being paid to have it produce EXACTLY the same results as our HSMAdvisor desktop app.

It is not complete yet, but it is almost there - making it catch up to the latest HSMAdvisor code is a big job.

The new calculator will replace our online calculator as well.....

Yes, you heard that right! You will be able to run exactly the same FSWizard Speed and Feed calc on your mobile phone, desktop and even Windows Mobile.

Heck, it will even work on Mac!

Best of all, it will be published as an update to our existing apps, so our existing customers will not have to buy an upgrade, unlike what some other "Machinist Calculator" has done in the past.

I will keep you posted.

Cheers!

Hello Frends,

After the latest changes in HSMAdvisor and addition of free features lots of people ask me to clarify (repeat?) what those are.

So those include:

1. Thread Reference.
2. All Geometry Calculators (Bolt Hole, Triangle, etc)
3. Screw Reference.
4. All Tool Database functions including access to Speeds and Feeds page where you can edit parameters of the tool.
5. Full Acess to Speeds and Feeds for One material (1018 steel)

Basically ALL functions except Speeds and Feeds calculations are included for Free.

Check it out here, if you haven't already : http://hsmadvisor.com
Regards!

Have you ever wondered how much tool life can deteriorate when using coolant with High-Speed Machining (HSM)?
Or maybe you never really saw the boost in tool life when using HSM techniques because you had to use coolant?

Well, here is a test result I just got from running the same tool at the same Speed and Feed with and without coolant.

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We all have heard hundreds of times that when chatter is happening during machining, we should reduce our feed rate. The same advice we also hear for compensating for extra-long tools and unstable setups.

Let me explain why I think this is mostly incorrect.

Let’s list  the effects of reducing the feed rate:

1. Reduces tool life.
2. Reduces productivity.
3. Increases deflection.
4. Causes chatter.

Let me explain from my own experience and research I have made each of these points and a simple way to avoid chatter's adverse effects.Read More 

Latest advances in tool technology make milling of high carbon and tool steels as reliable and predictable as benign aluminium alloys.

In this video a large 4140 steel component is being roughed out at 2700RPM and 600 inches per minute.
While achieving  impressive material removal rate (20 pounds of steel machined off in a matter of half an hour!) the tool life puts the old school square shoulder endmills to shame.

Yes, it could(and should) have been machined using a bigger cutter, but I wanted to put the tool to the test.
And it performed beautifully: Was able to surpass the recommended starting speeds and feeds by at least 170%!Read More 

Look for the HSM machining of the round central pocket in the beginning.
Here we have a 12mm 6 flute Coated hi-performance endmill, cutting 1" deep at 0.047" (10%) rWOC.
at 10000 RPM and 300 ipm feedrate. the chipload works out to be 0.005". Material is 4140 pre-hardened steel.

Impressive isn't it?
Those results have been achieved with uber-expensive BlueSwarf tap-test technology.

This is one video that caught the eye of one of my HSMAdvisor trial users:

Being a geek and wanting to help the user make the right decision I immediately punched the numbers into my HSMAdvisor app.

Here is what I've got:Read More