An attachment like this is sure to save you some time and money running your lathe unattended

And here is a sketch that i used to make it

drawing Side view Front view

Some time ago an unknown colleague had borrowed an end mill from me.

Have i had been there i would have stressed that it was aluminum specific cutter and that it should not be used on steel.
Unfortunately i was not and it did not occur to him to ask somebody who would have known better.

Next time i look into my drawer i see this.(first picture)

Now we have a tool and cutter grinder to sharpen the OD of an end mill, but chips were so big, i would have to grind off maybe 20 thou of the diameter on order to get rid of them.

Our TC grinder does not allow to re-flute end mills, so i had to do it holding end mill in my hands.

First i picked up correct angle, and then i slide end mill upwards, turning it at the same rate as to follow flutes.

It came out better than i thought.
I was not planing to use it for finishing anyway.

And it lost only 5 thou in diameter after this hack-regrinding.

Before during after

Over the weekend a new feature was added to support forums!

Now registered users can upload multiple (SMALL!!) files.

Please use with caution and dont abuse this feature.

It was done in order to allow people upload their screenshots,pictures and library files.

Make sure you resize and compress large files before posting.

Here is how it looks:

tool Random picture

Things new in this version:

• Added Lead Angle/Taper Angle/Tip Angle switch that allows to specify the angle of the cutting edge.
• Added V-Bit engraving cutters.
• Added wood materials
• Stainless steels from Medium and Easy groups have been revised.

Tool library changes:

• Tools no longer carry any information about material or engagement- all that extra data is now saved with Cuts
• Fixed a small bug with copy/move function.

HSMAdvisor 0.018 is avilable for download.

First of all we have a new feature.
It is Machine Profiles now users can maintain their own machine types.

Inside machine profiles users can specify machine power curve that allows to warn user if power required to make the cut is outside machine power curve.

Because of added new features version 0.018 now requires .NET 4.0 or later

Also several bugs have been fixed:

• Serial Key bug that caused some keys to malfunction and not recornise by the program.
• Comma/Dot decimal point in some locales have been fixed

Sometimes people ask me: "I tried your calculator, and i liked it, but it seems to me a little too aggressive...do you actually do any testing?"

Well, to those I say that not only i do testing, but i run production jobs 100% calculated with my own HSMAdvisor.

Many machinists say that nothing beats an experienced operator holding his hand on feed hold button and playing with speed and feed override trying to find the "sweet spot" where cutting speed and feed rate are maximized and chatter is eliminated or reduced.

And it is correct, but not any machinist is experienced or actually knows what he is doing.
Many machinists also finish their apprenticeship program and never learn a single thing about new tooling types and materials since. They bag years of experience, but their knowledge is stuck on a level it was when they first got their license.

Also not a single person can possibly know cutting conditions for hundreds of materials and remember all of the jobs he had ever ran.

This is where tool database comes in.

Not only can you save tools to cut down and in many cases eliminate entering parameters for every calculation.
But you can (and should) save cutting data for each particular case.

A single tool entry can contain an unlimited number of cuts attached to it, so machinist never has to remember everything.

Here is a i made video of slotting D2 with variable helix hi-performace endmill.

Material: D-2 Tool Steel 200-250 HB
Tool: 0.500in 4FL Carbide TiAlN coated Solid HP End Mill
Speed: 360.0 SFM/ 2751.6 RPM
Feed: 0.0023 ipt/ 0.0094 ipr/ 25.76 ipm

Engagement:  DOC=0.330 in   WOC=0.500 in

Quite often in order to start cutting in x-y direction you need to first plunge into the material.

Here is a compliled list of recommendations for different kinds of plunging that works in most if not all cases.

Plunge with center cutting endmill:

• Regular Chipload/Number of flutes , half the cutting speed. (for 3 flute endmill divide normal chipload by 3)

Ramp:

• Ramp Radius (For Helical ramping): .90-.95 of cutter radius

• Ramp Angle: Indexed/non center cutting endmills: 1-2.5 degree; Center cutting endmills- Up to 45 deg

Ramp chipload ajustment for 4 flute Center cutting endmills:

• 0-2.5deg=100% of normal feedrate
• 2.5-5deg=75% of normal feedrate
• 5-15deg=50% of normal feedrate
• 15-30deg=25% of normal feedrate
• 30-45deg=5% of normal feedrate

Dont forget to reduce cutting speed for ramping above 5deg by half!

I have just released HSMAdvisor build 0.017!

First you should uninstall the previous version.
As some of the data files are not compatible with the version 0.017

After downloading and installing it you will receive another 30 days to play with my software.

New things:

• A bunch of new materials
  Structural steels added 1035, 1045 and some other
• Grooving turning tool added to the tool list
• Several Tools and Cuts can now be selected at the same time and deleted or moved to a different Library
• Double click on myCut ToolLibrary now causes the Tool/Cut to load
• HSM Cutting speed compensation now only turns on when HSM/Chip Thinning is checked.
• Huge number of bugs fixed.

Get it HERE ->http://hsmadvisor.com/

Enjoy and don't forget to leave your feedback.
You can do so support forums.

Unfortunately because of high number of spam messages You will have to register first (unless you already did)

Forums are located at http://zero-divide.net/index.php?page=forums&shell_id=170&category_id=1123, a simple registration on my web site (zero-divide.net, register) allows you to post your questions/feature requests/suggestions.

Need i remind you that registered users who actively participate get full version for FREE?

Well, subject says it all.

It seems like the server performance is back to to its original level of medium crappiness.

In the mean time i was able to improve performance a little bit while investigating the reasons for the slowdown.

Which is in a way a good thing.

Now this proprietary site loads faster than joomla!

Sigh only if i could afford better hosting.

Lately there has been a considerable lag in server performance.

Apparently the company that hosts this web site is transferring its data-server to another facility.

They promise faster and better experience than ever before.

Please hang tight and wait a for couple of days. 

They promise things will get better soon.