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.

In this update i fixed some of the annoying things that were present in my app before.

Firstly i have totally changed the way app renders. Instead of using gradient backgrounds i am now using background images everywhere. This prevents glitches that some users reported before.

Then main menu now takes the whole screen. Small but descriptive icons were added to ease the navigation. Also scrolling problems for all of the devices were fixed there.

Phone Back button now exits the main menu or the virtual keyboard.

To shut down the app you have to tap Back key twice. This prevents acidental exits.

Phone Menu button opens main menu now. So the workflow is a lot like in the rest of android apps.

As a test i gave it to my wife to try out. She was pleased and managed to run through the whole app within a couple of minutes and never got lost. She especially liked menu icons, said they looked cool.

Email me or post on forums if you have any feedback.

main menu updated keyboard

The sale is officially over!

I would like to thank everybody who INVESTED in HSMAdvisor and FSWizard development.

Thanks to your support and funding i am able to continue working and improving upon my and YOUR software.

In a little over a year we have done a lot of work and there are many more amazing features in the pipeline. Anything we can dream of can be acomplished if enough effort is made.

Thank you.

Today i got another review on my free FSWizard Android app.

It wasnt bad. The guy gave 4 out of 5 stars, but then he added that he would gladly pay 4-6$ and that 18$ for the pro version is beyond reasonable.

I should have shut up.

But i never can.

I replied that the price is what it is, explaided my point of view and thanked him for a good review.

He then changed his rating to just two stars...

And then denied that he initially gave me 4!

Sir. Take your business somwhere else.

Update: guy changed his rating to one star and wrote he does not know what 4-6$ i am talking about.

Friends, if you know a guy named David Alwine, keep away from him. He is an utter lying jerk!

latest round latest edit

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.

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.

FSWizard for android now has a bolt circle.

Center loacation, bolt hole dia, number of holes and a starting angle can be specified

2013-11-05_20-19-24.png

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 

HEM is a relatively new term.

It means High Efficiency Milling. It only became available when constant tool engagement toolpahs became almost standard on most of the CAM software.

Unlike HSM that utilizes chip thinning effect, HEM relies on much larger widths of cut and thus chip thinning does not occur. What gives it its name is much higher material removal rate that would normally be possible.

When you are machining a pocket you are most often only milling at about 50% WOC. But nevertheless you need to calculate speeds and feeds based on the fact that the very first move and every corner will be full slotting action. Which means that the whole pocket needs to be machined at lower feedrate.

HEM uses constant engagement toolpths to make sure that this never happens and that Width of Cut remains optimal. Tool never needs to make a full slot so you can ramp up the feedrate as if you were doing outside profiling.

Here is a video of a 1/2" 3 flute endmill machining a 5/8" deep pocket in aluminum at full depth. Normally this pocket would have been machined in 2 steps at 150 inches per minute.

Using Constant Tool Engagement toolpaths we can go full depth at 0.175" stepover and 275 inches per minute.

The advantage of this method is obvious- Higher Productivity.

HEM is not ideal for all cases and each application merits its own method of machining, but its always nice to know more than one way to do your job.