Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!

Hopefully, you have weathered this pretty horrible year in good health and spirits.

Anyway here is 30% off for all products in the HSMAdvisor store ONLY!

Machined this 2-piece utility knife on my ProLIGHT2000 benchtop CNC.

Just one little lock left!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eldar Gerfanov (@hsmadvisor)

I have just released a big update for our HSMAdvisor for MasterCAM.

Plugin v2.1.12 now supports Mastercam 2021, 2020 and 2019

Features for all versions are now aligned to the latest HSMAdvisor code!

Check it out here: https://hsmadvisor.com/?page=HSMAdvisor_for_MasterCAM

Cheers!

It only recently occurred to me that since the introduction of the HSMWorks Tool Library import feature, HSMAdvisor users can import all kinds of libraries designed for F360!

Thanks to the popularity of F360, many tool manufacturers offer their stock in Fusion format.

You can see and download them all from here:
https://cam.autodesk.com/hsmtools

You can download and import the .hsmlib file you need into HSMAdvisor using the Tool Database ->Actions->Import->Import HSMWorks Tool Database menu.

For example, Harvey offers HSMWorks Tool Libraries for all of their tools over here:
https://cam.autodesk.com/hsmtools?p=%20Harvey%20Tool&utm_source=Pardot&utm_medium=Redirect&utm_content=Harvey_Fusion&utm_campaign=CAM_Tool_Libraries

I tried it with their endmill database.

It is huge, contains about 16 thousand tools, and rendering all of them on the same page takes about 10 seconds on my computer.
It is not too bad, though, since you can use filters to limit the number of displayed tools and find the one you need faster.

Perhaps I should include the ability to download them directly into HSMAdvisor without having to go to the website?

Let me know what you think about it!

HSMAdvisor/FSWizard got featured on DIY Engineering!

It seems like HSMAdvisor's machine profile settings and power compensation work just fine even for as small of a CNC machines as  Nomad  Carbide 3D:

Great news for our many Fusion 360 users!

Starting with HSMAdvisor v2.1.0, you can import HSMWorks hsmlib files into the HSMAdvisor database.
Holder import is not yet supported, but I will add it in one of the next updates.

Please have Fusion export the tool library in HSMWorks .hsmlib format

Not sure what to do with allowing HSMAdvisor to export tools into F360...
Please let me know if you are interested in this functionality, and I will work on it.

Take it for a ride and let me know if there are any issues with it!
https://hsmadvisor.com/?page=Download

Cheers!

F360 Tool Database Import

I just uploaded a new standalone and Mastercam 2021 hook version of HSMAdvisor Machinist Calculator.

In it fixed the issue with the loading of older database files and updating DB UI.

Also from this point on HSMAdvisor will switch to Semantic Versioning in the following format: major.minor.build

• Major: big update that makes older version non-forward compatible.
• Minor: a minor update that does not break any existing functionality
• Build: a bug-fix that does not add new features, but fixes the existing ones

Check out the latest version here: https://hsmadvisor.com/?page=Download

Have an enjoyable and safe weekend, everybody!

In version 2 we tried to keep the familiar layout of HSMAdvisor.

HSMAdvisor 2 is currently at the "Release Candidate" stage.
Every month I will be publishing an update that will reset its trial counter, so people can use it for free until it is finally production-ready.

The best thing of all is HSMAdvisor 2 license is completely compatible with its predecessor!

Download HSMAdvisor 2 from here!

On the heels of the previous post.

YouTuber Breaking Taps has just published another of his interesting videos:

In it he is testing various High-Speed Machining techniques on his benchtop CNC router.

Also it is mentioned that HSMAdvisor does not seem to like those small high-feed cutters: at some point some calculated values become negative.

This is a legitimate criticism and it actually happens because default cutting depth of 0.024" becomes too large for the 0.24" Lakeshore high feed and mill and an actual Flute length of 0.015" must be entered in order to get proper values:

With actual 0.015" flute length entered the recommended speed and feed values are now in the safe end of the ballpark suggested by the manufacturer.

Task added to the issue tracker!

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.