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). 

Read More 

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.

Read More 

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.

Read More 

Previously when someone asked me whether HSMAdvisor works on linux or Mac I would steer them towards using VirtualBox or Parallels or some other virtual machine to run HSMAdvisor in the virtual Windows box.

As it turns out it is not always necessary.

Our customer has just managed to successfully run HSMA on Linux using package called Wine.

All he had to do was to use wine in 32 bit mode.

I, personally, did not think it was possible to run an app as complex as HSMAdvisor on linux without any modifications on my side. But i was wrong!

Here is a helpful link if you are running 64 bit version of linux and your Wine refuses to launch HSMAdvisor in 32 bit mode:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/136714/how-to-force-wine-into-acting-like-32-bit-windows-on-64-bit-ubuntu

Reportedly Reference and Geometry tabs do not work. But this is not surprising, since they use Internet Explorer to show the information.

Also pressing ENTER key causes the app to crash.

I am going to install a test Linux system on my workstation in the near future and figure out how to fix those issues and make Non-Windows support more readily available.

On another news.

Having made a new FSWizard App design and right before publishing. I decided to rewrite the whole core almost from scratch.

This was needed to make room for new modules like User Tool Libraries and Machine Profiles.

The work is going ahead at full speed and in due time i will roll our the brand new spanking FSWizard!