There have been some improvements in the purchasing system that I think our users will find VERY useful.

From now on here is how you can upgrade your HSMAdvisor license:

1. Adding More Seats to Existing License (OLD)
   As before you can add more seats to an existing license.

2. Upgrade from 1 and 3 HP Licenses (NEW)
   If you're currently using a 1 HP or 3 HP license you can upgrade to either the Unlimted Floating or Unlimited Permanent license.

3. Transitioning from Cancelled or Active Subscription (NEW)
   You can now switch from a subscription-based model to any other license type.
   Your current subscription will be canceled (if it isn't canceled already) and a new license will be sent to you.

In all cases, you will only have to pay the difference between the new and the existing license.

The minimum upgrade fee is USD 10

Please read more about the upgrade process here: HSMAdvisor License Upgrades

Cheers!

Did some testing for HSMAdvisor in A36

Tool: 3/16" 4 FL 0.25" LOC 0.7 Stickout

RPM: 5000 Feed: 32.0ipm

Original engagement DOC:  0.25, WOC: 0.083

Was successful and sounded nice, but the TTS holder started to pull out. Had to half both DOC and WOC for the video:

After almost one month of waiting for parts, tracing wires, testing, soldering, and assembling. Here is the finished product!

Milling case hardened t-slot nuts:

Quick Tool change action with Tormach TTS holders:

Often times CNC programming tutorials only teach you how to create the tool-paths and not enough attention is paid on showing how to properly hold parts being machined.

At the same time efficient workholding is an art in it self and mastering it could drastically improve shop productivity and accuracy.

Without further ado let's jump into the workflow.

Step 1. Analyze the Drawing and the Model

We would have to look at the drawing, tolerances and the CAD model to develop the machining strategy.

This particular part has tight (+/- 0.001) tolerances between the features located on the top and the bottom sides. In addition to that it has a 2.5 degree draft angle on external walls.

Thus I decided to not use the soft jaws approach and machine it in a fixture. Soft jaws are generally OK for tolerances down to +/-0.001" but because of the draft angle the part would always want to pop out of the jaws.

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1. Finished Part 2. First Op: Before 2. First Op. After 3. Machined Fixture 4. Second Op: Bearing Seat 5. Third Op: Finished Part

I came across a very educational post on Practical Machinist.

The topic-starter used over-aggressive speeds and feeds for his tiny BT30-taper machine and the retention knob (a.k.a Pull Stud) snapped causing the holder to drop lower, disengage from drive lugs and mess up the spindle bore in the process.

Just in case you don't know. Retention Knob looks like this and is used to pull the tool holder in to the spindle bore, thus holding it in place:

(Retention knob is the detail on the right)

This whole article is to remind everyone the importance of proper tool holder and retention knob maintenance.

Retention Knob Tips

• Retention knobs (according to HAAS) have service life of about 6000-8000 hours.
  That means that if a tool holder is used 3 hours a day, you should replace the knob after 8 years in service.
  For smaller BT30 knobs, you should probably replace them every 4 years.
• Retention knobs should be lightly oiled or greased (if TSC is used) once a month to lubricate the draw bar.
• There should be no visible damage or rust on the knobs.
  
• Do not exceed the maximum cutting force recommended by your machine manufacturer.
  Some of those high-helix end mills create large down-force that could in certain cases cause the knob to snap!
• Also retention knobs should be torqued to manufacturer specs and the tightness should be regularly checked. Overtightened knobs may lead to taper of the tool deforming and causing uneven contact with the spindle bore.

Tool Holder Maintenance Tips

• Keep Tool Holders clean. Especially the taper part that is matching to the spindle bore.
  Wipe them with a clean cloth. 
• Do not use sand paper to clean tool holders! Soft Scotch-brite is acceptable to clean very dirty ones.
• Repair dings and notches on the taper.
  Even an aluminum chip will cause a ding, that will create a high spot around it.
• Replace worn-out tool holders with new ones.
  Signs of ageing is uneven contact with the spindle bore and fretting (blackening of taper in certain spots)
• It is also a good idea to re-grind the spindle as well when replacing the tool holders - there are lot's of services that do that for very reasonable price.
• Like wise when a new machine is purchased, only new holders and retention knobs should be used. Using old worn out holders on a new spindle bore will lead to its premature wear and even damage.

Those are all the things I could think of at the moment.
Let me know if there is anything missing.

Have a safe and productive week!

3D Prining is about to to take over traditional machining the same way CNC Machining took over manual machining.
Eventually 3D printing will replace casting too.

Since 3D Printing does not require complicated setup and programming, this in turn will lead to massive loss of machining-related jobs.

Read more to see if this is true!

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Better Material Cross Reference

Yes you can now use HSMAdvisor with non-US/UNS material standards!

Our users have asked for better integration between HSMAdvisor's built-in Materials library and the thing called Cross Reference table and finally here it is!

Now when you click on the "More" button next to the "Material" drop-down list...

... the updated Material Cross Reference dialog appears.

Read More 

Before we start milling away our stock we first need to get down to the required depth.

This is not a problem with external features when we can plunge outside.

When machining closed pockets, however, we need to find a way to get down to the machining depth first.

As usual there are several ways to get the job done. The plunging methods listed here are not ordered by their preference.

For various machining operations on different materials some may be more preferable than others.

Straight Plunging into a larger Pre-Drilled hole

This is one the best ones in my opinion.
Very few machining modes can compete in effectiveness with drilling and this method will get you the best combined tool life on most materials and (in case of many deep pockets) the least machining time, even when tool change time is factored in.

Read More 

This website has recently become a target of relentless spam attacks.
Some dumbasses (probably bots or worse Russian hackers) post unrelated messages and such. Possibly looking for exploits in the security system.

I pride my self in openness to any meaningful content and do not want to pre-moderate comments or make registration (with email verification) mandatory.
So I subscribed to https://www.abuseipdb.com free API service that checks user's IP address before allowing to post any comments.

If you by any chance are wrongfully denied access, just let me know and i will clear the block.

On my part i will ban and report spammers with extreme prejudice. Let's make internet spam free one IP at a time!

For webmasters here is plain PHP code i used to enable IP checking and reporting:

Read More 

I have been several times asked to add a right-angle triangle to the Geometry calculators list.

And every time i dismissed the idea because there is already an oblique triangle calculator, which works exactly like a right-angle if you set one angle to 90 degrees.

Basically i was being lazy to add it because i felt like users of my software should not be so lazy and use the Oblique triangle calc instead...

Finally someone asked for the Right Triangle in the new Suggestions form (the blue balloon on the bottom task bar) and having no way to contact the author (suggestions are anonymous) i have decided to finally implement the damn calculator!

So. Enjoy, guys!

Also in this update I fixed one glitch with the S&F Calculator as well.

You can download the update over here: http://hsmadvisor.com/