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.

Because the latest version of MasterCAM 2020 was just released last month, we too had to create an updated version of HSMAdvisor plugin.

As usual you can get it here: https://hsmadvisor.com/?page=HSMAdvisor_for_MasterCAM

There were quite a few changes on the back end, but users would not notice any of them, so why bother with proper release notes?

Just download, install and enjoy!

Do not forget to tell you MCam-loving friends about HSMAdvisor!

Cheers!

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

IF you were wondering if i had fallen of the face of the earth, here is what i was up to.

I have been developing a new cleaner look for HSMAdvisor (see the attachment).

First thing you notice is the Dark background color. I plan to make that the new default background.

The color theme will be configurable to appeal to those who want to stay on the light side.

Label positioning will change to above the input fields, because it seems to make it easier on the eyes to associate the label and the field.

The Tool and Cut drop-downs will be removed along with the "menu" buttons on the right of them. Tool and Cut selection will be moved to "Load Tool/Cut" buttons.
I believe the Load Tool/Cut dialog to be the better option.

Tool Limits and Speed and Feed Overrides expandable panels will be merged with Gauges and Cut Data panels respectively.
This will further lighten up the interface.

Soon I will publish a test version for our users to try out before i make it an official update.

Do you have any feedback on the changes I am making?
Make it known, because it is supposed to be done for your convenience!

Best regrards!

New Dark Design Old Light Theme

I have just released FSWizard for android to public beta testing.

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.beta.fswizard_lite

Sign up and run it through its paces!

Hello everybody!!

Hope each one of you had a lot of fun during the holidays!
I have just uploaded HSMAdvisor version 1.521 but because of huge amount of changes, i will not release it to the wild right away.

There is a week or so of testing in it as I see it.
Any one of you could help me out a bunch by downloading and  trying the updates.

Plugins: HSMAdvisor for MasterCAM

Standalone: HSMAdvisor

Let me know if you find anything wrong with it!

Cheers!

I personally would like to wish every one of my supporters Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

I like to consider every sold seat a start of new partnership with the goal of making Your work easier and more productive every day.

New year will bring lots of very cool developments and I am glad, that since all of the licenses we sell never expire, every single on of my customers will be able to enjoy the latest improvements.

Cheers and Have Great Holidays!

I have just uploaded the HSMAdvisor hook for MasterCAM 2018.

That calls for a drink!

The C++/CRL interop that runs on the back end has been developed over 2 years ago and i have not opened it much since.
Because there were some breaking changes in 2018, i had to reopen the can of worms and ... whew! That was not eazy to remember all the horrible things i have done so long ago ago!

Any way. Now we have a nice lineup of HSMAdvisor plugins for 3 latest MasterCam versions (X9, 2017 and 2018). 

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.