Happy Good Friday and a Happy Easter!

It has been over one month since the last sale. And i would like to kick this one off by releasing the latest improved version of HSMAdvisor.

Starting Today all HSMAdvisor licenses are on 25% discount!

Well, i actually released it a day ago. Just could not hold it to my self and wanted to share it with all the customers who are anxiously awaiting for something new!

As i mentioned before, in this update i completely redesigned the Speed and Feed Calculator's interface.

Typical workflow would consist of filling up all available information top- to bottom.

The most important input fields are now located on horizontal panels.

Each panel has a name and carries a certain set of data:

But wait, there is more!

Read More 

I have received a lot of praise and thanks for the easy to navigate interface in FSWizard:Mobile calculator.

Those collapsable accordion-style sections that carry some information in header portion come in really handy when having to put so much information on one small screen on your Android or Apple device.

Lately I felt the need to do something like that for HSMAdvisor as well. It has been over two ears since I came up with that design. And since then massive amount of features I believe overloaded the visual part of it.

It seemed very crowded and busy looking.

So, knowing that collapsable accordion panels do work, i moved all UI elements into them.

This has somewhat changed the percieved workflow of the program and at a later time I will release a series of videos showing off major hints on how to use my tool efficiently and achive best results.

For now please download the latest update. Take it for a spin and tell me what you think.

My email and forums are always open for questions and suggestions

I have just released another update to FSWizard for android OS.

In this one I added Bolt Hole Line calculator to the mix.

It allows to set the angle of the line and get point positions in polar mode.

Also when you click on any input field, a corresponding dimention lights up on the drawing showing which one you are currently editing.

IOS update will be published a little later.

Bolt Hole line calc

Our most recent sale is over and it has been a huge success.

I would like to thank everybody who helped me make this software better with every update.

I just wanted to tell you about an incoming update here.

One of early users- Kevin, expressed his desire to install HSMAdvisor on 9 CAM computers in his shop. Now all computers are connected to the network, so he was wandering if it was possible to make all seats share the same tooling database.

It was not possible back then, so I decided to add that functionality in there.

The testing is almost complete and soon everyone will be able to download an update that lets multiple users share the same tooling database over the network. You could even share it over the internet if you use software like DropBox.

I bit later I will create a tutiorial on how it is done. 

This goes to show how important user feedback is for software makers like me.

So if you have any idea and would like to see it implemented, please let me know.

It it looks stupid but it works, it is NOT stupid!

I have uploaded the latest version of HSMAdvisor today.

It is a minor update that adds in-app registration for existing users with unused seats.

Also have just completed MasterCAM x2 integration profile for the Capture Wizard.

I did not have time to include it into this update yet, but you can download it below.

MasterCAM Mill X2 MR2 SP1 English.xml

Another week another update!

A few days ago a topic popped up in CNCZone's BobCad-CAM forums regarding why speeds and feeds in above mentioned BobCAM were so crazy and unworkable.

Users were complaining and raving about such a "simple" thing like a good speed/feed calculator being missing from there.

This is actually a trend in pretty much any other CAM software package.

They sell tool to create toolpaths.
Many give tools to create 2D geometry and even real solids.

But very few CAM packages offer anything that even remotely resembles working starting cutting parameters.

It does seem bizarre and strange. But every CAM program "knows" type of material being worked on. It knows type of tool, its diameter and length.
It even knows flute length, cutting depth, width, ramp angle... pretty much everything.

But given all that they are unable to combine all this data and produce Speed and Feed that would not either break the cutter or melt it into the work-piece!

Anyway. Back to the topic.

Someone on that forum thread mentioned my old FSWizard.
It sparked quite a lot of interest, and i popped in and dropped a link to the latest version of HSMAdvisor, so that they actually try and see what a good calc can do.

As a result i have received a ton of emails filled with suggestions and thank-yous.

Apparently many did not even know anything about it and were surprised how well it worked for them.
One guy who just bought a license even said that his copy already paid for itself several times over within the first couple of days of using it!

To thank for enthusiasm, i quickly implemented some of those suggestions and i am now releasing them in this version 0.710

New thing are

• Adjustable font size and style. (in Settings) Allows to adjust global application font.
• Adjustable default values for Speed&Feed Overrides, Tool Productivity, Deflection and Torque Limits. (in Settings) You can now set values to which overrides reset by default.
• New Plunge Feedrate field shows up for milling tools.
  Non-Center cutting tools like Indexed endmills etc. will have plunge feed equal Zero.

Thanks everybody for support and suggestions!

As usual you can download the latest release on the Download page.

After almost 2 months since the last release the next update has just been uploaded to the google Play Store.

Version 1.32 follows in the footsteps of the HSMAdvisor.

It now too has latest material definitions and an updated custom material drop-down list.

This list now expands to the size of the screen overriding default Samsung's scroller (that they stole from iPhone).

Biggest update yet is a new Tap and Form Tap tool types.
You can now get not only cutting speed and feedrate for taps, but also calculate the best drill size for desired thread percentage.

New material list Tap Tap hole parameters

I have made several changes to the layout of the frontpage.

First of all, annoying sales pitch on top is gone. It used to take to much space.

Second, i added a new side panes to the Support Forums page.
It now shows 10 latest forum topics.

On a side note. Work on FSWizard:Modile update went into really deep waters.
I kind of broke everything needlessly, and now trying to make it better than before.

Will keep you updated!

In this update i fixed some of the annoying things that were present in my app before.

Firstly i have totally changed the way app renders. Instead of using gradient backgrounds i am now using background images everywhere. This prevents glitches that some users reported before.

Then main menu now takes the whole screen. Small but descriptive icons were added to ease the navigation. Also scrolling problems for all of the devices were fixed there.

Phone Back button now exits the main menu or the virtual keyboard.

To shut down the app you have to tap Back key twice. This prevents acidental exits.

Phone Menu button opens main menu now. So the workflow is a lot like in the rest of android apps.

As a test i gave it to my wife to try out. She was pleased and managed to run through the whole app within a couple of minutes and never got lost. She especially liked menu icons, said they looked cool.

Email me or post on forums if you have any feedback.

main menu updated keyboard

In this release I have added CAD/CAM integration.

Please read the latest tutorial in HSMAdvisor Tutorials section here
This is a pretty Unique way of doing it.

It is still in the beta-mode.
But it is fully functional. I have tested it on MasterCAM and SurfCAM with great results.
While some functionality is not supported well on all cadcam packages, it is still much better than nothing.

Please send me your feedback on how it works with your CADCAM package.

I have also added a list of recently used materials.

Now material list will have 6 recently used items at the very top of it.
Later on i will allow user to enter whatever number of recent items he wants to see there. But for now its just 6.

New Computer ID and New License keys

Starting from this release i have changed how Computer ID keys are generated.
This was done to fix problems some of the users experienced when they added or removed additional hardware on their computers.

New Computer ID's mean License keys have been changed for all users as well.
Not to worry though, License keys will be automatically updated for all of our users, so no action from their side is required.

If you have active license. You will get a message telling you what happened and your license file will be updated automatically.

Some bugs got fixed as well.

All of them were pretty minor, nothing to write home about.

Material definitions got updated as well.

Added several materials, updated speeds and feeds for tool steels and stainless steels.

I still have to add some of the previously requested materials (like Weldox Graphite, etc) to the list.
And i am planning to add it in the next release.

Chiploads for micro-milling were changed as well.

Chiploads for micro-endmills (below 1/16 dia) were reduced significantly.