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

As you know the long-awaited standalone version of FSWizard is being prepared for the release right now.

I am changing the name it is going to be marketed under.

Down the line The product is going to consist of many modules.
And in order to give it a name that would encompass a wide variety of tools under one umbrella it has been decided to change the name of the solution to HSMAdvisor

A new website is being constructed right now around new product

It is going to be located at HSMAdvisor.com

But we are not forgetting where we came from.

FSWizard is becomming one module inside HSMAdvisor solution.
So you will still see FSWiz name popping up here and there.

Also as i said earlyer and robably against better judgement i will keep HSMAdvisor(FSWizard):Online Calulator you have come to love and depend on free for everyone to use.

Tired of printing out Operation lists and then wasting time adding setup information by hand?

There is a neat and easy way to replace standard Operations and Tooling lists with something very compact and usable.

Here are config files i use at my work to create Setup Sheets and tooling lists right from SurfCam.

1. First make sure you backup you Operations.cfg and Tooling.cfg files in case you want to go back (VERY NOT likely)
   Those can be found inside your V5 or V6\Config directory.
2. Unpack contents of the attached ZIP folder.
3. Copy .CFG files found within into your V5 or V6\Config folder.
4. Copy folder "images" into "C:\Surfcam" directory, if you want also tool images to show with tooling list.
5. Go to SurfCam Options and in section Setup Sheet select "Current" from several other choises.

Thats it!!

UPDATE!!!!!!

• Operations list NOW highlights table rows when you move the mouse over them.
• When you select ANY text on Operations List, the same text will be highlighted over the whole page!!!

Download current file below

Samples are below:

Surfcam_custom_operations_cfg.zip Size:0.11 MB

Using Peck Cycle is often needed when drilling deep holes.
When using proper feed and speed no peck is required at depths of up to 3xDia for regular or 5xDia for High-Performance Parabolic drills.
At depths up to 10x, up to 5 pecks are required for regular  drills and up to 3 for Parabolic.
Anything over 10x Dia requires constant pecking of 0.5-1x Dia for regular drills and 1.5-2 Dia for Parabolic.

Since for programming you need a peck amount. Here are the numbers:

Of course our HSMAdvisor Speed and Feed Calculator suggests not only the Speeds and Feeds but also the proper peck depth for various drill types and depths of the hole.
It in fact was the first machinist calculator to do so. This feature was much later borrowed by our competition.

And here is a pretty image showing Peck VS Hole Depth for regular twist drill:

This not only means that peck amount should be different for different styles of drills and depths of holes.
But also that peck distance should be different for different stages of drilling the same hole.
Ideally we should start the hole with large pecks, that continually reduce as the hole gets deeper and deeper.

Let's find out how we can apply this knowledge when programming our toolpaths.
This is format for normal Pecking:

As part of FS Wizard's development. 2 drills were tested today on T6061 Aluminum.

0.312 Dia and 0.390 Dia Dormer A002 Drill Jobber Drill with TiN coated tip.

Helix:30Deg

Point:Split, 118Deg.

Hole depth for both was 3.0"".

Peck equaled 1xDia

Speeds and Feeds for 0.312 Dia drill were

Recenty ordered a 3Flute High Performance End Mill From NIAGARA.
Was very glad and slightly surprised that when punched in all of the endmill's data into my Calculator nothing broke down.I had a rason: At 5000RPM and 3/8" Deep slot cut. The feed came to around 92.0IPM. Chips were making this nice ringing noise that sounds like money.

Setup:
HAAS VM-3
Hudrolic Tribos Holder
3/4" 45DegHelix 3Flute 1.625FluteLen, 2.375"Overhang TICN HP End mill

S:5000RPM
F:92.0IPM
DOC: 0.375" Slotting
Coolant:FLOOD

The calculation was pretty much dead on.

Out Company used to have somebody else plasmacut cutting anvils for us.
This was expensive, plus heat generated by plasma caused already unstable anvils to warp like crazy making them very hard to grind flat.

So when foreman told me to machine one on CNC i immidately asked him to buy one of those nifty Hanita TiALN coated Varimill cutters.
Too bad they are too expensive. So the company bought same style of cutters made by Niagara. 0.5" end mill there is x3 cheaper than hanita's. Plus i believe cutting tools made to the same specs, out of the same materials are performing identical.

The machine we ve been using for this is really shaky and busted, so dont laugh at speeds and feeds that we came up with.

So basically, Specs Are:

• Material: Hardox pre-hardened steel Rc 45-50
• Cutter: 4 Flute, Stagger Flute TiALN coted 0.5" Micrograin Carbide End Mill, 2.5" Overall, 0.625" Flute Length, 1" overhang
• Operation: Slotting
• Speed: 1200 RPM
• Feed: 4.8 IPM
• Depth OF Cut: 0.125"
• Plunge method: 2.5 Deg Ramp/Helix, Or Plunge into 0.281Dia pilot hole at 3 IPM
• Coolant: Airblast + Oil

Lately we've been doing alot of anvils out of 3/8 or 1/2" Hardox steel (Rc 45-50)
Aside from having to machine profiles and pockets we also have to drill some mounting holes.