I have just uploaded the latest version of HSMAdvisor

In this one I made some changes (again) to the layout of the FSWizard tab.

Changes were made according to Your feedback, so i hope you guys like it!

As you can see from the screen shot above Tool Type selection drop-down lists have been moved to the Tool Data panel.
This was made to make it more obvious which values get saved and loaded when user does operations with saved tools.

For the same purpose Saved Cut drop-down is now located on top of all cut parameters that it affects.

The top-most panel (Workpiece) now contains Machine and Tool Library drop-down lists.

I urge everybody to download this update as it fixes all of the existing issues regarding layout changes.

Also in the previous version, when Trial version gets expired, the Splash Screen blocks the License Activation dialog, which would make it impossible to purchase a license or enter your license information.

This glitch and many others have been fixed and i would like to ask everybody to download the latest release as soon as possible!

Cheers!

In the latest update to HSMAdvisor i have added Machine Definition Import and Export.

To bring a new machine in to the active machine list

• Click on "Edit" button next to machine list on FSWizard screen
  Machine Definition manager opens up and there you click on "Import" button.
• A standard windows file-open dialog appears prompting you to select a file that contains the machine you wish to import.
• After selecting a file and pressing OK, you will be asked to choose which machine you would like to import from the file.
  This is necessary as each file may contain many definitions.

To Export a machine or many to an outside file

(to share it with your friends, coworkers, or maybe even me)

• Click on "Edit" button next to machine list on FSWizard screen
  Machine Definition manager opens up and there you click on "Export" button.
• A dialog appears where you are prompted to choose which machines from your current list you would like to export.
• After choosing your machines, click OK and select a file where you would like to save your machine list.

I know you guys have created your own machines for your self.

If you could use this new feature and send me your machines, that would be super sweet!

You can also upload them onto our support forums by creating a thread.
If there will be enough interest i will create a forum sub-category where users would be able to share their machines with each other.

This weekend was very productive

I have finished work on floating license scheme and volunteers have begun testing it.

Licensing like that requires a lot of work on both the web side AND the client side. So a lot of things can go wrong and hopefully testing exposes all of the possible problems before a paying customer has the opportunity to face any.

Aside from cleanup here and there i have added the material search feature.

"Material" panel is now expandable and it is hiding a search field.
When you type anything into that field, material list right above will filter out items that contain the text being searched.
To clear search results user can just click the red x button to the right of the search field.

Here is how it looks:

You don't really need to click on the magnifying glass button as searing and selecting of material is done in real time as you type text.

In fact in many cases simply typing things like "D2" will select the material you need.

What's New:

• Material Search Feature
• Added several new machine profiles to the default machine list
  (When you install over existing installation, use machine import function to add them to your current machine list)
• Finished floating license module (pending testing)

What's improved:

• Added Aluminum 6061-T4 to materials list
• Fixed missing Aluminum 6061-T6
• Added floating pop-up box to pretty much all fields on the FSWizard screen
• Cleaned up various things.

I have recently published an update for both Android and Iphone versions.

Mainly i have fixed radial chip thinning for ballnose endmills.

I also added Axial, Radial and Compound Chip Thinning factors display in both cut depth/width panel, as well as Result panel.

So now you can see how parameters, you are entering, are affecting your thinning factors.

Observe the attached screenshots and download the update it you have not already!

Cheers!

Cut Panel Result Panel

One of the latest additions to HSMAdvisor speed and feed calculator is the ability to set manufacturer-recommended speeds and feeds for work-piece materials and groups of materials.

Here is a YouTube video walk-through showing how to add S&F tables into the program https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJOgWfgy99U

HSMAdvisor uses Brand Name and Series Name to assign speed and chipload tables to tools.

A new "Speed and Feed Source" (S&F Source) indicator has been added to quickly tell user which speed and feed table is being used right now.

Read More 

The latest release of HSMAdvisor is now available on Download Page

There have been many important improvemnts. So please download this update ASAP

• Important!: Add Tool Error fixed
• Expanding and then contracting window would sometimes cause layout to break. This issue has been fixed
• Layout problems when using non-standard Windows scaling were fixed.
• Window resize by dragging one of its edges has been turned on.
• Program Launch Time was improved

I sometimes get email letters from beginning CNC machinists thanking me for making the FSWizard Online Speed and Feed Calculator available for free and asking for some tips and hints.

I always answer and try to encourage people.

Looking at my own CNC career I realize that the thing that is making me successful in my eyes is my own laziness.

Because of how lazy I am I always try to make things the fastest and easiest way possible.

At my previous day job I earned several awards for improving various processes many times saving the company thousands of dollars and many man-hours as a result.

So the main advice I have for those willing to advance is "be lazy"

Always try to improve on your work and make things work faster and better, so you do not have to work hard. If you are successful, your boss will notice.

Bill Gates - the founder of Microsoft once said that he would always give the hard jobs to lazy people, because they always manage to find ways to do them easy.

One of the awards i received

Hello guys,

I have just uploaded a latest release of HSMAdvisor v0.801.

In this update i only added a few calculators to the new Reference Tab.

Lets review all those calculators here.
And since i last time got repremended by mr rlockwood for making my post too long and dry, i will spice it up with a ton of pictures and even a download link. BTW you can download the updated version over here http://hsmadvisor.com/index.php?page=Download

There are 3 new calculators.

Those are:

• Scientific Calc -a child of my labor over this weekend.
  The standard Windows calc was driving me crazy with its small buttons, so i whipped up this one. Maybe later i will make it a separate pop-up window or something
• Drll Point Calc - a handy tool that allows to calculate depth required to make a countersink of set angle, and tip flat size
• Partial Bolt Hole Calc- allows to find location of equally spaced holes laying on an ark. 

Here is a full list of calculators available at this point in the Reference Tab:

Scientific Calculator

Bolt Hole

Bolt Line

Drill/Countersink Point Calculator

I plan to keep adding more and more new calculators and features and improving existing ones.

Should you have any suggestions, please let me know.

I think it is time to reflect on latest changes to our HSMAdvisor and look at survey results.

Thanks to your input I was able to make changes that I believe addressed some of the issues you guys were having.

You can download and try HSMAdvisor for 30 more days here http://hsmadvisor.com/index.php?page=Download

This update resets your trial counter back to "30 days left", so if your old trial expired, you can use it for one month more.

First of all, I put all of the available overrides on plain sight. Now you do not need to expand a panel to access speed/feed overrides.

I also added cutting speed and chipload to the collapsed view.

Machine Panel now has  Max RPM on collapsed view.

Gages panel now is not expandable and has Read More